AirPods and Apple Watch Called 'Underpriced' to Bring New Users Into Apple Ecosystem

[skitidetdu]

may be so, but it doesn't include iphone or any mac whatsoever.

 

[MH01]

No. You do not.

In which case you would be silly to spend £160 and give up and ecosystem features. I would not own my airports without an iPhone or Apple device.

 

[groove-agent]

What does Apple know about ecosystems? They've neglected their Macs for ages and I'm tired of waiting. I built a hackintosh instead.

The AirPods have been backorderd since before Christmas To order some now is still 6 week delivery time. No thanks.

 

[Juan007]

Agree 100%. Those products are an AMAZING value, Apple is losing money on every sale, customers should take advantage now.

 

[groove-agent]

The apple watch is expensive, and is ugly as hell. It looks like an 80s casio calculator watch but the functionality and integration is decent except for the very limited watch faces. I hope that people can design their own with the new WatchOS, or at least let developers make some. The included ones are boring and need updating.

 

[Sevendaymelee]

So much money being spent on devices (wireless headphones) that most people use to listen to horribly compressed, terrible sounding 256/320 kbps music. Seems to me that money would be better spent buying great home systems and physical music which isn't compressed and void of all it's resolution.

 

[jwm]

Maybe if you could actually walk into a store and buy AirPpds they'd be priced higher.

 

[fermat-au]

While the AirPods launched at $159 may be "surprisingly low", in a year or two when there are many good pairs of Bluetooth headphone costing between $49 and $99, the
AirPods will still be $159

 

[CmdrLaForge]

I always looked at my old small iPod nano, the one that looks like the watch and thought that the watch was initially way overpriced. Now they come more into an ok price region.

 

[FightTheFuture]

The fact is, while I have met a lot of people that complain about Apple's pricing, I rarely meet people who when ahead and bought the item (watch, iPhone, AirPods, or whatever) and then, after using it for a while, said "this is not worth the money". Quite the opposite in most cases. Once they experience the product, they see its value.

I returned my original Apple Watch within the return window because I couldn't justify the cost. Luckily I got one for Christmas shortly after.

Can someone smarter than this guy explain to me how Apple is supposedly selling the Airpods cheaper to bring people into its ecosystem when the iPhone, iPad, Macbooks are needed to use the Airpods? Aren't all the people buying the Airpods all ready in Apple's ecosystem?

As many mentioned, AirPods can be used with any Bluetooth device. Now, AirPods and Apple Watch aren't cheap, but it could be said that the margins aren't as high as Apple's other products.

The hate is strong in this thread.

Seriously though, which wireless headset that doesn't have a wire connecting the 2 earpods is around this price and better? I run with a $10 bluetooth headset, but I wouldn't say it's the same thing as the Airpods.

Bingo. AirPods are one of the best products released this year, and in the process Apple finally "fixed" the problems almost every bluetooth device has. I've watched and read so many reviews if the AirPods/W1 Beats headphones are worth it, and almost all of them gloss over how the pairing and connectivity of the W1 is beyond anything else on the market. To those reviewers, it's like comparing headphones or headsets that have barely changed in the past 12 years to something that fixed all the problems those devices had in the past 12 years and ignoring that factor.

 

[chr1s60]

No, I think it is just the nature of these products in terms of price elasticity. Although it's possible AirPods could have been priced higher with the current market, as this price still doesn't appeal to many.

I think the delay in order and shipping time shows differently. I personally have no interest in the product, but people generally are interested in going wireless in all areas of their life. And even though we saw the backlash from removal of the headphone jack, that was mostly from true audiophiles and not nearly as much from the general public. The continual error people make on MR or other tech sites is that they think Apple, Samsung, Google or whoever, cater to the tech savvy crowd and that simply isn't the case. That isn't how the tech game works anymore. It's about appealing to the general consumer since they make up the large majority of the market. That is what Apple has done. It may infuriate some of the "tech nerds" but in the end they have made mostly smart business decisions.

 

[itsmilo]

But they still look like you got tampons in your ears

I have tried them on once but just like the regular Apple headphones they barely stay in my ears and they have no noise cancellation in the year 2017. instant no go for me. I commute over an hour on the train to work every day and i dont want to listen to everyones problems as background noise.

I got me some Sennheiser instead, they offer some pretty convenient and easy touch gestures (Siri to control anything is another instant no go for me) and you can even set them up to filter out everything but car noises so you do not get run over on the streets. They also auto-pair to two devices at the same time and if one of them is not available, it pairs to my 3rd device on its own. Just like those AirPods i suppose?

 

[Abazigal]

So much money being spent on devices (wireless headphones) that most people use to listen to horribly compressed, terrible sounding 256/320 kbps music. Seems to me that money would be better spent buying great home systems and physical music which isn't compressed and void of all it's resolution.

Show me how that can all be compressed into a package as small as the AirPods and you have my money.

 

[Ghost31]

I was thinking of getting a pair as the EarPods fit me well. But, you cannot adjust the volume during a phone call. If there was any listening situation that require adjustments to the volume, a phone conversation would be it.

Wireless head phones for a fraction of the price of the AirPods can adjust the volume during a phone call.

And they also include a cord! What a bargain
[doublepost=1489733216][/doublepost]

"It is very difficult to find a pair of wireless headphones priced lower than AirPods. In the run-up to Apple unveiling AirPods this past September, the wireless headphone market consisted of the following players"

Completely ridiculous and untrue. My $99 JBL Reflect bluetooth headphones are fantastic quality and I bought them long before AirPods were introduced.

I know this has to be a joke Because those aren't even remotely comparable

 

[Creepitor]

.

 

[purplehaze0]

They are virtually free.

 

[BvizioN]

I can easily find bluetooth earphones for $20.

Of course you can. Dare I say, it is not impossible to find them even with $10 if you do a proper digging. But as usually naive consumers do find out, you get exactly what you pay for. A pair of garbage labeled as a wireless Bluetooth earphones. Nothing more or less. I think Airpods are neither overpriced nor under priced. Now of course I do get that people want to get these for a few dollars but that ain't gonna happen with Apple products. And I am fine with that as long as the quality is satisfactory. And so far extremely happy with Airpods and I won't be looking back to use any other wired or wireless earphones. I only look forward to Apple perfecting these on future models.

 

[Gudi]

AirPods and Apple Watch Called 'Underpriced' to Bring New Users Into Apple Ecosystem

WTF? Are you kidding me! All these non-computer items are driving me out of the ecosystem.

<- Finally an opportunity to use the angry emoticon.

 

[Berti10]

I might be alone with my opinion, but I think they are right. When I watched the Keynote I expected to priced at 299$. And the Apple Watch, even Series 1, is still one of the best, most elegant and smallest and cheapest smartwatch to buy.

 

[recoil80]

Can someone smarter than this guy explain to me how Apple is supposedly selling the Airpods cheaper to bring people into its ecosystem when the iPhone, iPad, Macbooks are needed to use the Airpods? Aren't all the people buying the Airpods all ready in Apple's ecosystem?

You can use AirPods with other smartphones, you are not forced to buy an Apple product to use them.
But I subscribe your point of view, the AirPods are great for their integration with other Apple products so I guess the vast majority of customers buying AirPods have a Mac or an iPhone.

I think they priced the AirPods lower than expected because they removed the jack on iPhone 7 and they knew customers would want bluetooth headphones. Since there are plenty of players in that market they decided to make a good product and price it a little lower than usual to entice a lot of customers.

 

[zonk44]

wow, is this an Ad for Apple?

Ok.. let's compare.. The Dash is waterproof, has a internal player, AND has 4 gigs over memory. SO guess what, it's more expensive but has more features!

It's like comparing a lower class Andriod device to an Iphone just based on price.... Macrumors should re-write this article comparing features.

Not their best article that's for sure!

If you're looking for waterproof bluetooth earphones, here you have a pair for 17$, free shipping: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Min...one-with-microphone-ecouteur/32776169748.html

 

[Vjosullivan]

Reminds me of this British TV sketch, from the "Not The Nine O'Clock News" satirical comedy show in 1980. (Background: In Britain, the BBC is funded by a licence fee charged to all TV owners. Each year the fee rises and people complain.)

 

[palmerc]

No, I think it is just the nature of these products in terms of price elasticity. Although it's possible AirPods could have been priced higher with the current market, as this price still doesn't appeal to many.

I'd say the explanation is even simpler - looking at that list, nobody has the scale Apple does. Apple is shipping millions of units and the other players are shipping 10s or 100s of thousands. Apple can eek out a larger margin on a lower price.

 

[Gudi]

I might be alone with my opinion, but I think they are right. ... the Apple Watch, even Series 1, is still one of the best, most elegant and smallest and cheapest smartwatch to buy.

Which means nothing, because all smartwatches suck and have zero utility. Like the calculator watches of the 80's, they're just a craze of our decade. It's all "look what my watch can do" and not "everybody should have one of these". The Apple Watch will never sell in numbers, because of the small screen and with current technology it is even seriously underpowered. One can easily wait for the seventh generation before it won't be slow anymore and then you'll still have to find a use case for it, not better be done with a smartphone.

 

[Jeaz]

He's right, sort of. Looking at the competing products, Apple clearly priced their product well below most others.

That doesn't make the AirPods cheap though but rather that all the other products have been niche products, and Apple, while exclusive to some, is selling commodity.