I agree. If your first gen of airpods are working fine, there's nothing compelling about these. In my case, my daughter basically took over my first pair. Not sold on the wireless charging at all (not charging fully on pad i got)..in fact, I kinda regret paying the extra for it but since the next iphone should provide charging for it, I'll keep them.
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AirPods 2 Teardown: H1 Chip With Bluetooth 5.0, Same Batteries, and Water-Repellent Coating on Charging Case Board
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I agree. If your first gen of airpods are working fine, there's nothing compelling about these. In my case, my daughter basically took over my first pair. Not sold on the wireless charging at all (not charging fully on pad i got)..in fact, I kinda regret paying the extra for it but since the next iphone should provide charging for it, I'll keep them.
How many hours are you getting? I used them everyday since purchase and get about 1-2 hours out of the advertised 5 hours. Maybe 30 min talk time. My point stands.
I'm sure they could design it so that the batteries could be replaced and still mostly look the same. Let face it, Apple and other companies not interested in doing that. Take their mouse and keyboards for example, their batteries cannot be replaced too. I still use my Magic Mouse with the AA batteries, its almost 10 years old.
You can always wait until fall to purchase new tech, but the trouble is knowing which year!
Also iOS and H1are more efficient and faster. My original AirPods took between 3-10 seconds to fully pair. That was at maximum power searching for device to pair with. Now it takes less than a second. Little savings like those really add up too.
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You mean the same as my Magic Mouse which goes through batteries like crazy. Magic Mouse 2 is not only better on battery life but rechargeable so it is better for the environment too.
You're right that Apple has little interest in offering removable battery options in their products but it's more of a design choice than a business choice.
You're generalising. It's like me saying "It's funny how Apple fans complain about Apple products, yet they still buy them". I don't think the irony works here.
I have original AirPods (since day 1) and have used them regularly for years. I still get about 3.5 hours on them so your batteries must be near dead. I wanted that extra hour of runtime and Hey Siri functionality so I just got the new ones and love them already. Also, they sound a little better at higher volumes than the old ones too.
Wait, you were using Eneloop AA rechargeable batteries right? Don't tell me you were using disposables. These are the best rechargeable AAs in the world, I actually bought another kit yesterday since it's on sale:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/co...s&O=productlist&Q=&index=Y&is=REG&sku=1469598
Well at least the battery could be made detachable. Since the battery is housed in the little tube anyway, one could have made the tube detachable with a threaded (watertight) connection with little to no loss in battery capacity due to size. In 2-3 years the latest the battery will be degraded or unusable and then you can't do anything but throw away the device, which might have lasted twice the time.
The only point you've made is that you're a heavy user of AirPods. Well, okay. Battery charge capacity decreases with use, especially heavy use. This is not some new revelation.
The question is, should Apple make the AirPods batteries replaceable? The form factor makes it a bit difficult. I suppose they could design them where the tube portion can be unscrewed from the earbud portion.
I find it sad that people are willing to accept that battery powered products cannot have the batteries replaced.
I’m pretty sure not all millennials are the same. It’s cringeworthy of you to group an entire generation than a particular group of people.
I got them the first day as well, I think that was Dec 2017? I use them NEARLY every day, business calls, personal calls, and then some music probably 2-3 hours a week. I think the PODS have about 2-2.25 hours of talk time each time I use them based on the fact that I can get through 2, 1 hour calls before I have to put one of the pods back in the case. I do this about 3 times a day, the swap.
I think the only place I have seen a more noticeable impact on battery life is the CASE itself. The Bat just seems to bleed energy and its much more often that I see that in the RED than the pods themselves.
YMMV
I've tried them all. Alkalines always last longest for me (3-4 months). Rechargeables (I've tried many brands) usually last about 2 months. I have many of these older keyboards and mice at work here and they all behave the same way so we've been replacing them all with new Apple keyboards and mice.
A while ago, Apple had a choice. It could have kept giving users the option of replaceable components as a product choice. So there would have been two design paths: Jony's insatiable fascination for thinness and soldered/adhesived parts, and "Bob's" fascination with durability: Macbook Pro & Macbook Durable (along with comparable Pads and Phone dual-product lines). Given the vast resources of the company this was likely attainable re: internal resources (remember Tim bought back upwards of $1 trillion in stock during this time). This would have been optimal for consumers, some of whom will trade-off features like thinness for advanced lifetime use, and for the environment. Less ideal for shareholders - certainly near-term vs. stock buy backs. Apple appeased shareholders of course -- as many will say is the duty of upper-level execs. However, we do not know, and will never know if this dual product line might have proven better for shareholders long-term. What is a fact is how incredibly bad this is for the environment, and for consumers who do not want to dispose of expensive hardware after a few years of use. It is so sad that we have been essentially brainwashed by large corporations into never questioning the pursuit of profit above all else. So few really care about how Apple has lead the charge into a world of disposable electronics. I am not saying they should not have produced the current products, just that they should have, and could have given those who care the option, and rewarded Mother Earth as well as shareholders.
In a product this size though?
I get it for MacBook and iPads, but how big would these things be if you had to include a mechanical assembly to allow removal of the battery?
Samsung Galaxy Buds are replaceable using a coin cell battery in each bud. It can be done if a company wants it done. I have a Myzone heart monitor which full retail costs £160. I got them on an offer at less than half price. The battery is now needing charged every few days instead of months. It is completely sealed and have not seen any info on battery replacement online. I will not but a replacement whdn the battery fails.
I didn't mean to antagonize you, I do think there is meaning to iFixit's 0 rating, I feel strongly that such an expensive and amazing product shouldn't be disposable, batteries should be user-replaceable. I've seen a lot of comments from many users here sharing the same experiences near the 2 year mark there is a noticeable degradation in battery life.
Like you said, I could see the tube part being screwable, or clip-able. The real question is, would Apple want to do it, or is it purposefully sealed/glued like Magic Mouse 2, so that it has limited life.
Why did you buy them in the first place? I will never understand why people don't make calculated decisions, like I did after I decided to skip the first generation without even trying them. I was able to do that thanks to the reviews and the Bluetooth 4.2.
You’re just bolstering the hypocrisy. Apple loves to tout its “environmental sustainability” pride when manufacturing products, but that all goes out the window once the products are created.
Personally I will take them to an store and let them replace the batteries if it comes to that. In Europe we do have consumer law protection that offers 2 year of warranty.
It really is amazing to see these tear down pics. It’s hard to imagine the precision engineering involved.
Apple H1 chip in this AirPods is as powerful as A1 in iPhone 4 and much more powerful than the computer that sent people to the moon so yes, it’s an engineering triumph.