Tag: AirPods

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Apple’s new AirPods Pro have H2 chip and better battery life

To fully refresh its wireless earbud lineup Apple has revealed a new pair of AirPods Pro.

These new buds are similar looking to the previous model and still feature the best sound quality Apple offers in a wireless bud. This includes active noise cancellation, Spatial Audio and more. This year Apple says the noise cancellation is twice as good as the older versions.

In terms of Spatial Audio, Apple has revamped it with a new personalized effect. This means users can scan their room with an iPhone camera and then adjust Spatial Audio to better suit the space they’re listening to music in.

The first major new function is the new H2 chip which allows for enhanced high-bandwidth connections. Combined with a new low-distortion audio driver these earbuds should sound even clearer than before.

To control your earbuds, Apple has added a new swipe panel that lets users swipe up or down on the buds to control volume.

There’s also longer battery life in these buds, which Apple is rating at six hours per charge and 30 hours with the charging case.

The new AirPods Pro include precision finding to help find your earbuds when they’re lost. This works exactly like an Apple AirTag and the AirPods from last year. To build on this Apple added a small speaker to the charging case to play small sounds when you lose them.

One small addition is a lanyard loop so anyone can attach a strap to the buds’ case to make it earlier to tie to a bag or attach to your wrist.

More to come… 

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Texas couple files lawsuit against Apple, claiming AirPods damaged son’s hearing

A Texas couple has filed a lawsuit against Apple over its AirPods.

According to Carlos Gordoa and Ariani Reyes of San Antonio, Apple’s wireless earbuds emitted a sound so loud it damaged the hearing of their 14-year-old son B.G.

The lawsuit was first filed in 2020 by the San Antonio couple, according to NBC News. Gordoa and Reyes claim that while using a pair of AirPods when watching Netflix, an Amber Alert came through. The sound was supposedly so loud that it resulted in permanent hearing loss for the boy.

The couple claims that their son was watching Netflix at a reasonably “low volume” prior to the alert. However, when the Amber Alert went off suddenly, the volume increased to such a degree that it caused damage. Gordoa and Reyes state that one of their son’s eardrums was torn. Due to this, their son now needs to wear a hearing aid for the rest of his life.

The AirPods do not automatically reduce, control, limit, or increment notification or alert volumes to a safe level that causes them to emit,” the suit states. It continues and says Apple should include a warning to adjust volume levels prior to an alert. The lawsuit also claims that Apple knew or should be held responsible for such oversight of its AirPods.

The lawsuit also brings in additional examples of Apple customers complaining about sudden alerts. One user, who wrote on Apple’s community forum, claims that AirPod notifications are “extremely loud” while calls, music, etc. are normal. A Reddit user has also complained about the lack of consistency when using AirPods.

Apple has yet to issue a response to the lawsuit or address the AirPods issue through a software update.

Source NBC News Via: iPhone in Canada

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Engineer creates first USB-C-powered AirPods

First, Ken Pillonel made the world’s first iPhone with a USB-C port and then an Android phone with Apple’s proprietary Lightning connector. Now, Pillonel has moved on to create a pair of Apple’s AirPods with a USB-C charging port.

In a brief YouTube video, Pillonel explains that he opted for this particular mod because he was frustrated with needing several different types of cables to charge his devices.

Though the process seems rather complicated and takes at least some level of technical know-how based on the video, Pillonel says he has plans to make his project Open Source so others can create their own USB-C-powered AirPods charging case.

In the video, Pillonel explains how he designed a custom flexible PCB that he then bent to fit the AirPods case. To me, the fact that the USB-C port looks super clean like it belongs on the AirPods case is one of the more impressive aspects of the project.

Pillonel’s previous projects sold for shocking amounts of money on eBay — the iPhone with a USB-C port sold for over $100,000 — but it’s unclear if he also has plans to sell this USB-C-powered AirPods case.

Image credit: YouTube — ‘Exploring the Simulation’

Source: YouTube ‘Exploring the Simulation’ Via: Engadget 

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Get Apple’s AirPods Pro for $29 off on Amazon

Amazon Canada currently has Apple’s top-end AirPods Pro listed at a 10 percent discount.

The wireless earbuds which are normally available for $278.99 are currently listed for $249.99 on Amazon, adding up to a $29 discount. For reference, the same AirPods are listed on Apple’s website for $329.

The AirPods Pro feature IPX4 water, sweat and dust resistance along with improvements over the 2nd-generation AirPods, including impressive active noise-cancelling and better sound quality.

The wireless earbuds also offer up to four and a half hours of listening time with one charge and up to 24 hours with the charging case.

Check out MobileSyrup’s review of the AirPods Pro to learn more about the wireless earbuds or bag them for $249.99 here.


New Apple AirPods Pro


New Apple AirPods Pro

$249.99


Buy Now

04/14/2022 04:13 pm GMT

MobileSyrup utilizes affiliate partnerships. These partnerships do not influence our editorial content, though we may earn a commission on purchases made via these links that helps fund the journalism provided free on our website.

Source: Amazon

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How to share audio from one iPhone to multiple headphones/earbuds

If you live in Apple’s ecosystem, there’s a cool trick that allows you to listen to music or watch content easily with a friend. Apple calls this feature ‘Audio Sharing,’ and the only downside is it works with compatible AirPod and Beats earbuds and headphones.

Compatible headphones/earbuds

  • AirPods Max
  • AirPods Pro
  • AirPods (all models)
  • Powerbeats
  • Solo Pros
  • Powerbeats3 Wireless
  • Beats Solo3 Wireless
  • BeatsX
  • Beats Flex
  • Beats Fit Pro

Notably, the only earbuds that are not on this list are the more low-end Beats Studio Buds that don’t feature an Apple H1 chip.

You’ll also need an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch with iOS 13.1 or later. Since most people should already be on iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 or newer, this shouldn’t be much of a problem.

How to use Audio sharing

When you’re watching/listening to content, open the AirPlay controls. If you’re already using a compatible pair of headphones, there’s a small button that says ‘Share Audio.’

Tapping on this button brings up an interface that tells you to bring the other headphones, or the device they’re connected to close to the iPhone/iPad that’s playing the content.

In my testing, I started with AirPods Max connected to my iPhone. Then I opened the AirPlay controls on the YouTube video I was watching, tapped on ‘share audio’ and took the AirPods out of their case. Once I brought them within a few inches of my iPhone, they automatically connected.

What’s useful is once you’re connected, you can control the volume for each set of headphones independently.

To stop sharing, open up the AirPlay menu again and deselect the small checkmark beside the name of the headphones. If you’ve used AirPlay 2 before to group speakers in your home, this works the same.

AirPlay tips

AirPlay can be a little confusing if you’ve never used it before, but it’s simply branding for the Apple feature that will stream audio/video content from one device to another.

Most apps that play video or music have an AirPlay button stuck somewhere noticeable if you’re on an Apple device. However, some apps will bury the button behind their own casting tech (looking at you Google).

The most straightforward place to access AirPlay is through ‘Control Centre’ since it’s always the same there. On most iPhones/iPads, you access this by swiping down from the top right-hand corner. On older devices like iPhones with a Home Button, you need to swipe up from the bottom.

The AirPlay controls are in the top right of the ‘Now Playing’ interface. If you have compatible speakers, you can also use this menu to play multi-room audio in your home.

Source: Apple

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Microsoft testing improved AirPod support in Windows 11 Insider build

Microsoft rolled out a new Windows 11 build to ‘Dev channel’ Insiders with a few minor new features. Most notable among them is an improvement for Apple’s AirPods earbuds and headphones.

Spotted by XDA Developers, Windows 11 Dev channel build 22526 brings added support for wideband speech across AirPods, AirPods Pro and AirPods Max. That should mean users will enjoy improved audio quality for voice calls when using AirPods devices with Windows 11.

Of course, the change might be a ways out from hitting the stable Windows 11 channel. XDA notes that the changes in ‘build 22526’ are not tied to a specific Windows OS release, which means they could arrive in any future update (for example, the fall feature update).

Other small but notable changes include Microsoft experimenting with showing ‘Alt+Tab’ as windowed instead of fullscreen and an experiment to index more file locations to improve search in File Explorer.

Source: Microsoft Via: XDA Developers

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Apple AirPods Pro 2 believed to feature lossless audio support and a trackable charging case

Apple is reportedly well into development on its AirPods Pro 2 and a new report shines a light on what features to expect. According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the AirPods Pro 2 will support Apple Lossless Audio Codec(ALAC) audio as well as a trackable charging case.

In Kuo’s latest note to investors, seen by MacRumors, it’s believed ALAC will make its way to the new AirPods Pro model. ALAC is a feature that has been sorely missing from the standard AirPods Pros.

Additionally, Kuo claims the AirPods Pro 2 would feature a trackable charging case. In the event that the device is lost, the user is said to be able to trigger a sound to emit from the device to help locate the case. It’s likely that this feature will work in tandem with Apple’s Find My app. A similar feature exists now, but the sound only emits from the individual AirPods.

ALAC supports up to eight channels of audio and uses half the storage space that uncompressed data would require. It also provides a listening experience that’s comparable to the original studio recording. For many audiophiles, lossless is preferred.

Currently, ALAC is supported on a multitude of Apple devices through Apple Music. These include Mac, HomePod, and Apple TV 4K. ALAC is also available on Android devices. However, Apple’s suite of AirPods, including the AirPods Max and Beats, all use Apple’s AAC Bluetooth Codec. Thus, AALC support on AirPods Pro 2 would be a major improvement over the Bluetooth connections. The current audio support provides excellent audio quality already. Though, those with a keen ear point out the difference and improvements ALAC brings.

AirPods Pro 2 is expected to launch sometime during the fourth quarter of 2022 and will feature a new design.

Source: MacRumors

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Apple VP says AirPods would benefit from ‘more bandwidth’ than Bluetooth provides

The third generation of AirPods debuted in October, bringing with it a revamped design, spatial audio and more.

Now, Gary Greaves, Apple’s vice president of acoustics, has spoken to What HiFi to reflect on the company’s latest headphones. While the conversation touched on several subjects, what was perhaps most notable was when Bluetooth came up.

When asked whether Bluetooth was “holding back” the AirPods hardware and “stifling sound quality,” Greaves gave a diplomatic but revealing answer.

“Obviously the wireless technology is critical for the content delivery that you talk about, but also things like the amount of latency you get when you move your head, and if that’s too long, between you moving your head and the sound changing or remaining static, it will make you feel quite ill, so we have to concentrate very hard on squeezing the most that we can out of the Bluetooth technology, and there’s a number of tricks we can play to maximize or get around some of the limits of Bluetooth. But it’s fair to say that we would like more bandwidth and… I’ll stop right there. We would like more bandwidth.” 

Beyond that, Greaves and Apple Product Marketing Team’s Eric Treski spoke at length about the general design of the AirPods 3, which Graves says uses custom-made components.

They also discussed Adaptive EQ, which adjusts audio in real-time depending on the AirPods fit in the user’s ear. This feature was introduced with the AirPods Pro and included with the AirPods 3.

The full Apple AirPods team interview can be found on WhatHiFi‘s site.

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Online Koodo customers will receive free Airpods with iPhone12 purchase

Koodo is making Boxing Day a little bit sweeter by offering freebies in addition to previously released deals.

Customers who purchase the iPhone 12 with Koodo’s Tab will score a free pair of second gen Apple AirPods.

The following plans are available for those looking to redeem this deal:

Customers purchasing a Motorola One 5G Ace are eligible to receive a second gen Lenovo 300e Chromebook.

New customers can also save an extra $100 when they purchase 4G LTE data plans. $50 will be available in bill credit. The remaining savings come from the $50 connection fee being waived.

Check out a full list of Koodo’s Boxing Day deals here.

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Get the second-gen AirPods for $148.99 at Amazon

Amazon Canada currently has the second-gen AirPods listed at a discounted cost.

Regularly priced at $179.99, Amazon has the AirPods listed for $148.99, marking a $31 discount.

 

The second-gen AirPods offer up to five hours of listening time per charge, which can be extended to about 24 hours when paired with the charging case.

It’s worth noting that these AirPods come with a case that can be wirelessly charged.

This deal however isn’t the last of the season. With Christmas and ‘Boxing Day’ fast approaching, expect to see steeper discounts.

If you don’t feel like waiting, click here to purchase the second-gen AirPods with the wireless charging case for $148.99 from Amazon.

MobileSyrup utilizes affiliate partnerships. These partnerships do not influence our editorial content, though MobileSyrup may earn a commission on purchases made via these links that helps fund the journalism provided free on our website.

Image credit: Amazon

Source: Amazon