Comment by motoboi
17 hours ago
This is so hilarious, apple selling volume up and down as it were some fantastical feature and not have been present in air pods pro since god nows when.
> Force sensor with volume swipe arrives on AirPods 5, a first for the open-ear form factor, adding the ability to quickly adjust volume by swiping up or down on the stem.
Pure apple marketing juice this one.
Only if "pure marketing juice" means "plainly telling people about a straightforward feature they're adding to one of their products." Which like, okay, that is what marketing is, but are you suggesting they don't tell people?
Because they're being very awkwardly specific in order to make it sound like they're the first to do it.
For the average consumer who doesn't know that if you look outside of their disclaimer you'll find that it already exists and think that apple invented the feature
I think it's the:
> a first for the open-ear form factor
That is being called out as comical.
But it is? At least for AirPods. The AirPods Pro are not open-ear form factor. I do not know about other open-ear airbuds.
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Wait, they added this feature that was only on pro models to the non pro ones, seems reasonable to mention?
If memory serves, it’s only on the ones with the wireless charging case. They get a few quality of life upgrades over the base AirPods, without stepping all the way up to the Pros.
The Pros don't fit my ears even with the smallest ear tips. I definitely welcome bringing that feature to the regular model.
They make aftermarket tips that are a bit smaller. Still to big for my ears so I switched to the newer "cuff" style and am reasonably happy with them except when I want noise-cancelling.
The swipe controls are terrible on my Pro 2s and make me miss physical buttons like on my ancient Jabra 65t. It's easier to reach into a pocket and push the volume buttons on my phone without unlocking or looking at it.
Oh man, I loved the 65t! I remember Jabra making great true wireless headphones. They were small, sounded ok, had actual buttons but operating them didn't push the earbud against the brain.
Miss that a lot. Nowadays it's all touch and I hate it so much because for some reason I have a problem spatially locating them and always end up touching it the wrong way (and yes, I know... ;)
i still use their conference speaker for calling and music and is the primary sound for my computer. i like it and it has worked really well for the last 5 years.
They brought a Pro feature to the base model and dropped the price. I don't want Pros because I prefer hard plastic tips.
They're not doing anything deceptive or clever.
Cheaper than last gen too.
Actually in the event they presented it exactly like that.
why not? lets not talk about it, people like this gonna say we are highlighting a new feature on a non-pro model
Uh they're literally just saying they brought it down from the Pro to the regular line. I don't know why you're reading too much into it.
My freebud 5's do that now.
Pretty sure I had something like that on galaxy buds 6+ years ago
Been a feature on Bose QC earbuds for a long time too
But is that an Apple? If not, then how is that good?
"For users who want even more"
> … apple selling volume up and down as it were some fantastical feature and not have been present in air pods pro since god nows when.
I’ve been having to throw away my earphones and getting new ones whenever I needed a new volume setting. Going up and down in the same device is truly a game changer.
/s
Come on, it's their best AirPod yet!
I know it's silly but I enjoy listening for the "this is our X-est Y yet" during these events. It's incremental improvements I enjoy, but it's like a mini trope for me.
Translation: “We took a pro thing and put it on the non-pros. Money please.”
for those who were holding out from Gen1 or whatever, adding pro features at a non-pro price is definitely incentivising. I’m not sure why we’re pretending it’s not.
Would you rather have generation old Pros or brand new standard airpods which have the pro features you actually want.
apple has been quite good at treating their "economy" products with the same level of respect as their premium ones, as far as I've experienced. the Neo is significantly more powerful than the Pro I bought four years ago and $100 cheaper, pre-inflation accounting. A brand like Apple introducing a highly-capable "discount" product goes against all common sensibilities for a company whose branding is anchored on prestige. Plus the extended support window for older devices vs. their competitors in the smartphone space.
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I think it’s nice and I think they covered it right in the video.
Do you want open ear (AirPods) or closed (AirPods Pro).
Some people can’t stand having something in their ear. The volume control is a nice feature to have and now it’s available on the cheaper ones. I’ve missed it on my 4s.
Yeah the marketing copy is marketing copy and Apple never references competitors. But if you like the non-pros it’s a nice upgrade.
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>for those who were holding out from Gen1 or whatever, adding pro features at a non-pro price is definitely incentivising. I’m not sure why we’re pretending it’s not.
Because it's a non-feature even the cheapest $30 wireless earbuds have had since forever, often even better, like with physical buttons.
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See also:
Power steering
Jet engines
Anesthetics
Rubber tires
Flat screen TVs
How grubby of them to take a high end feature and make it more affordable.
*Less money please.
The marketing kool-aid must flow. Many other earbuds have swipe volume, but because they aren't open-ear Apple gets to claim this amazing breakthrough.
Of all the marketing to complain about, this seems super tame. Wait until you see "gluten-free tortilla chips" at the supermarket. :D
As somebody w/ Celiac, you'd be surprised. Many a time I've been poisoned by normal gluten free things being tainted by poor manufacturing lines, or companies mixing in other product. Tortilla chips with gluten, Hashbrowns/Potatoes coated with wheat flour, so many things are made not-gluten-free for no reason.
There is always a reason and it usually has something to do with money. We really need to find a cure for Celiac 'cuz wheat is just too ingrained in our culture to be removed. (pun not intended, but also not removed so...)
Some brands use wheat to make the chips more crunchy. Just like IHOP puts wheat in their scrambled eggs. McDonald's uses wheat in their french fries. They stick wheat everywhere.
There are tortilla chips that do contain gluten, or are cross-contaminated with it. A gluten-free label means they guarantee <20ppm gluten in the product. That’s useful info!