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iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

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Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#341

Post by [deleted] »

tekknik wrote: post #338
supermatt wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That depends on the interpretation of a market, which is why laws like the DMA establish a market based on its size. In the iOS market, apple have a monopoly. EDIT: Downvotes for what? That’s literally what the DMA is for. If you don’t like it, take it up with your representatives - it’s nothing to do with me.

> In the iOS market, apple have a monopoly. So if a company creates a widget and sells that widget, thereby creating a market, they are automatically a monopoly? how is anything invented without creating a monopoly? Also why is it an iOS market and not a mobile phone market? if we compare features of devices then there’s not a lot of difference between modern phones, so segregating them by what OS they run seems odd.

[deleted]

Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#342

Post by supermatt »

tekknik wrote: post #338
supermatt wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That depends on the interpretation of a market, which is why laws like the DMA establish a market based on its size. In the iOS market, apple have a monopoly. EDIT: Downvotes for what? That’s literally what the DMA is for. If you don’t like it, take it up with your representatives - it’s nothing to do with me.

> In the iOS market, apple have a monopoly. So if a company creates a widget and sells that widget, thereby creating a market, they are automatically a monopoly? how is anything invented without creating a monopoly? Also why is it an iOS market and not a mobile phone market? if we compare features of devices then there’s not a lot of difference between modern phones, so segregating them by what OS they run seems odd.

https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/index_en

Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#343

Post by heavyset_go »

dwaite wrote: post #322
heavyset_go wrote: post #32

Currently, on the AirPods side and not iOS side like the article covers, Apple breaks Bluetooth feature parity with other devices by not sticking to the Bluetooth spec with AirPods themselves. For example, you need to root and patch your Bluetooth stack on your phone if you want to use all of your AirPods features on Android, and not because Android is doing something wrong, it's because the Android Bluetooth stack a…

> For example, you need to root and patch your Bluetooth stack on your phone if you want to use all of your AirPods features on Android, and not because Android is doing something wrong, it's because the Android Bluetooth stack actually sticks to the spec and AirPods don't. It’s a mix of bad Bluetooth implementations still on the Android side, and Apple extensions to cram audio features into the BLE envelope. > And e…

> How would this be Apple’s fault if the OS audio stack can’t do direct AAC streaming? Or are you saying the headphones themselves decode, re-encode and then re-decode the AAC?

There are multiple Bluetooth standards for lossless audio that work across platforms. Instead of implementing those features, Apple uses a proprietary protocol to half-ass it only for the case of AAC. Even in that case, it requires a proprietary Bluetooth stack to work. Without that proprietary stack, the Airpods default to low quality transcoding of audio streams at 256kbps, and don't offer true high quality or lossless audio playback. So even in the one case where Airpods offer some semblance of lossless playback, it's non-standard and applicable to AAC only.

Cross platform high quality and lossless audio, multipoint pairing, etc solved problems and features that even $20 white label earbuds on Amazon are able to implement.

Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#344

Post by Hnrobert42 »

TheDong wrote: post #248
Hnrobert42 wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who is this Gruber? Searching ddg just brings up this post. Unless you mean ol' Hans Gruber. He is quite the villain.

Searching "gruber apple" brings him up as the first nine results on ddg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gruber

I took the time to search before asking. I appreciate the information but not the castigation.

Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#345

Post by morshu9001 »

whynotmaybe wrote: post #295
morshu9001 wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EU regulations strangle corporate innovation there

I think you're looking at it from the wrong angle. Most of the EU corpus of law is based on culturally acceptable actions from their members. The EU regulations don't strangle, the EU culture is just different. Innovation for the sake of innovation and the pursuit of money isn't deeply entrenched in European culture. So yes, innovation based on "go fast and don't care if you break stuff" comes mainly from outside of…

Well I'm not blaming the EU itself. It'd be the the same or worse in today's EU countries if they weren't in the EU. Yes it's a cultural thing too, but they made regulations based on it.

Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#346

Post by bigyabai »

tekknik wrote: post #336
bigyabai wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good. It was hubris to think that the internet would forever be segregated as an American asset.

I think the EU believes they have more of an effect on the rest of the world than they actually do. Complying with every law in every jurisdiction that has access to a product sounds like a nightmare that will only stifle innovation.

Between this and the USB-C iPhone, I think you're very wrong.

Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#347

Post by socalgal2 »

ankit219 wrote: post #245
socalgal2 wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We already have android on that level. You're missing the point. Apple isn't in trouble beacuse of user's choice between iPhone and Android. They're in trouble because of 20-50 headphone makers who Apple prevents from truely competing Apple for 2 billion iPhone users. It's the same with all of these issues Apple (and Google) are running into. It's not about the user's choice to buy iPhone or Android. It's about 100…

I am saying that if you force Apple to move away from integrated devices to something which has to be generic (modular like Intel) which does not know which hardware it will pair up with and hence needs baseline performance, it turns into android to a large extent. Other businesses may have legit incentives to reach those customers, but unless Apple makes drastic changes to current setup, the software would not suppo…

Apple is free to push for standards that support every feature they want.

Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#348

Post by avianlyric »

tekknik wrote: post #337
stefan_ wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand. Robust markets don't have large margins. Why would a regulator even want markets with enormous margin? That's usually market failure .

Pharmaceuticals have very large margins.

Most people also complain about how pharmaceuticals are greedy corporations that seek to exploit monopoly status for profits above human health. Hardly a good example of a well functioning market.

Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#349

Post by avianlyric »

ExoticPearTree wrote: post #335
avianlyric wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Device manufacturers could pay Apple to register their devices to be recognized by the iPhone that they know how to use the advanced features it is capable of, for example. Maybe if Apple actually offered that at a reasonable price, and to be clear they have never offered this at any price, the EU wouldn’t have felt compelled to act. AirPods have been around for a decade now, the DSA has been in the works for five…

I am going to comment on the last part of your post: No one is forcing people to buy or use Apple products. You can buy a Pixel, a Samsung or one of the other lesser known Android brands and be on your merry way. And you can buy earbuds for those devices too; Samsung offers their own brand for example.

There is an effective duopoly in the smartphone OS market. iOS and Android, that’s what’s makes Apple a gatekeeper.

Duopolies are just as dangerous as monopolies. Basically anything where there is a dozen or so competitors tends to be dangerous, as the US loves to demonstrate in as many industries as possible.

Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#350

Post by tekknik »

avianlyric wrote: post #348
tekknik wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pharmaceuticals have very large margins.

Most people also complain about how pharmaceuticals are greedy corporations that seek to exploit monopoly status for profits above human health. Hardly a good example of a well functioning market.

Complaining doesn’t mean action. To affect prices people need to vote with their wallet, and they won’t do that when their life is on the line.

Or to put it another way, find an alternative.

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