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Micro-USB charging cable knocks off a full point for anything I look into these days. Airpods too, because I know damn well Apple is going to embrace USB Type C
I'm glad the AirPods still use the same charger as the iPhone. Far more likely that I'll need to charge the AirPods when I have an iphone charger with me than the USB C cable that currently only powers 2 products in Apple's lineup.
 
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I'm glad the AirPods still use the same charger as the iPhone. Far more likely that I'll need to charge the AirPods when I have an iphone charger with me than the USB C cable that currently only powers 2 products in Apple's lineup.

Very true. The fact that the Airpods use the same lightning port as other Apple's ports is huge. Can you imagine the backlash if Apple would have made a completely different charging method? Personally, I like the fact Apple included the charging cable as well. Never hurts to have more than charging cable around.
 
But in the end, Apple cannibalising itself is not something to be too worried about. Better to do it yourself instead of something else.

Eh, not so much. Better to do it to your competition than yourself. The problem is that the AirPods sit in a totally different product line from PowerBeats or Studio Wireless headphones. Hurting one line for the creation of a new line, which serves a totally different purpose and markets for a different customer, is not good strategy. Bose doesn't even have a competing product to AirPods yet, but everyone knows they will soon. When you cannibalize noncompeting lines from yourself, you're just set up to get hurt once competition increases for the AirPods.

AirPods are enjoying the initial jolt of pent up demand and weak competition, most of which is coming from the startup space. The only real competition for this product line is a Samsung product that is failing, and a new Sol Republic product, but Sol is not a large competitor in this space and neither is Samsung. Bose is currently the real competition for Apple in the headphone space and right now, Apple isn't setting itself up well with its Beats line.
 
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I'm still going to get the JayBird X3. I loved the X2 (until my cat chewed the wire lol). Physical volume control is a must for me. Longer battery life too. I haven't tried the X3 yet, but I think the only thing AirPods had over the X2 was slightly better bass performance. Pricing is pretty much the same.
I have the X2, but just ordered the airpods. I really wanted wireless earbuds, but that wire between the pods was just an annoyance when running, and i just could get comfortable with it either behind my neck or if front.
Plus, unpairing them has proved extremely annoying. Even after i hit "unpair" on the phone, they'll still connect if they're anywhere in range. That's really the main thing that made me stop using them. From all accounts, the airpods connect/disconnect much easier, and that's really all i'm looking for at this point.

Though i have seem people wearing them, and i must admit they look kind of dumb. Or at least strange. But I still find people who wear those single BT headsets dumb looking, so...
 
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I'm really waiting on the BeatsX. Much better solution for me personally.
Having a small cord hanging around my neck so I can just let them be available when needed, is a big plus for me!
 
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A quarter of all online sales within a month of releasing a brand-new product in a category they've never entered? Not much to celebrate?! By golly, you naysayers are incredibly deluded. Any other company would give their figurative right arm for sales like this.

Let me absolutely assure you: if Microsoft had bought Beats and if Microsoft had released a wireless headphone that was even half as successful as this, you'd be the same person saying that Apple dropped the ball, and Cook has the foresight of a mole wearing a blindfold.

These are staggering sales numbers.

This is just shortsighted business strategy. Apple is not any other company, their expectations are not the same, and their business strategy should not be the same. Initial sales jolts for new Apple Product lines always look like this. This isn't new. The criticism is about the longer term strategy for Beats, which Apple has invest in significantly. If you're Apple, your goal is long term strategy that fends off the competition and continues to capture market share. I'm not a naysayer. I'm just looking at basic strategy and right now, Beats is failing.
 
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It's not a nice product actually, not compared to other products out there. It looks like an old earPod design with a wang glued on it and a lot of early reviews finding it doesn't sit in the ear properly. Most people also haven't actually used one of these yet so whether its a nice product or not is debatable until it gets into more people's hands. If these sales continued 6 months from now, I will support the idea that this is quality product that people want.

However I just don't see anybody outside of Apple's ecosystem buying this as I think there are better, cheaper and higher quality products out their that don't have the benefit of Apple's brand on them.
Sure there are many cheaper options if you're not into Apple's ecosystem, but this IS for the people who have an iPhone & even better if you have an Apple Watch to control the music. I think Apple didn't even forecasted sales for Android & Windows.
 
Amazing how people's sense of quality has utterly diminished. To actually pay THAT amount of money for a pair of WIRELESS headphones that can't even turn up/down the volume of the iPhone. This is a joke.

Wake Up !
 
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Hold on a second... I thought they were a massive fail because TC doesn't release sales numbers? And and and, Apple is withholding inventory to invigorate demand due to lousy sales? Yeah, that's it...

Maybe I missed something, but I think the main fail argument was in regard to dropping the 3.5mm jack, not introducing AirPods. While I'm very against dropping the 3.5mm jack, I'll likely pick up a pair of these at some point, as they sound like a great product, and will be convenient at times. BUT, I'll absolutely not switch to wireless being my primary headphones! (health concerns)

So, IMO, it's a fail in eliminating a standard, widely used connection (on a device focused around that connection!) and in what seems to be Apple's general direction of moving towards wireless only.
 
So... 25% of the user base can suck it. Apple thinks that's OK?? I also think these numbers aren't showing USER preference because Apple has pushed them in the direction of wireless by removing the jack. When users had the OPTION 1 year ago is was 50%-50%. I think THAT is your real number.

Before removal of the headphone jack, USERS had the choice. They could go native wired or bluetooth. OPTIONS ( Ive thinks this is a dirty word ).
 
Amazing how people's sense of quality has utterly diminished. To actually pay THAT amount of money for a pair of WIRELESS headphones that can't even turn up/down the volume of the iPhone. This is a joke.

Wake Up !
I'm amazed that someone can conflate "quality" and "features".

Wake up, turn on the light, maybe crack open a dictionary....
 
I guess I'm a 'boomer', and I'm anxiously waiting for mine... Ship date says March 2nd. Oh, that's the estimated in-store pickup date. 6-weeks for shipping. Let me see... Should see mine the week of Valentines. o_O

Suffering with my Plantronics Backbeat FIT's... :(
 
This doesn't actually look great... Apple owns Beats. So they cannibalized their own sales, but the real winner was Bose. Their segment of the market increased during this same time period. Not much to celebrate if you're Apple.

This just points to a problem with the stagnant Beats lineup. Beats X will help, but the PowerBeats need a big overhaul to make them a more competitive sport / workout headphone (and just adding the W1 chip isn't enough), and the studio monitors need a big overhaul. The new Bose QC 35 is far superior to those Beats Studio Wireless cans. The new Bose SoundSports are great...much better than the PowerBeats.


You don't understand how this works. There isn't a fixed number of sales as you suggest by your comment that "Apple is cannibalizing their own sales." If there were a fixed number of wireless sets sold each year, then Beats percentage going down would indicate that it lost sales to perhaps Airpod. But, quite the contrary, is happening-- the worldwide market for wireless is exploding in the positive sense an both Beats and Airpods are experiencing explosive growth, Airpods just grew faster in on line sales. No, because they had the vision to acquire Beats, Apple is winning with both brands.
 
I think they're great, I just wish there was a setting to skip a track with a double tap. Other than that, battery life is great, charge time is quick, and they sound decent.

There is a setting for that. On iPhone, go to bluetooth devices.
Find your AirPods.
Tap to go to settings for it.
There is a place to adjust the double tap to do just that.
 
I'm loving mine....my only fear is losing them or misplacing them (including the case). Everything is super small and easy to just lay down and forget where they are unless you are really disciplined. Hoping Apple does implement some sort of Find My AirPods capability of their own soon. I'm using mine at work in a corporate environment for conference calls, etc. and I do take them in and out several times a day. I may eventually decide to go with a pair of BeatsX when they come out due to the cord to hang around my neck when out of my ears. However the comfort of wearing the AirPods can't be beat and they will not fall out, so that's a definite plus.
 
I have the X2, but just ordered the airpods.
Plus, unpairing them has proved extremely annoying. Even after i hit "unpair" on the phone, they'll still connect if they're anywhere in range. That's really the main thing that made me stop using them.
I don't ever unpair my X2s. I simply connect to them from another device (ie, I go to the Bluetooth settings on the device I want to use them with and select them from their. This results in a voice message of 'Connection switched'.
 
The top last minute bluetooth headphone gift*! (*highly narrow and therefore meaningless statistic)
 
This doesn't actually look great... Apple owns Beats. So they cannibalized their own sales, but the real winner was Bose. Their segment of the market increased during this same time period. Not much to celebrate if you're Apple.

This just points to a problem with the stagnant Beats lineup. Beats X will help, but the PowerBeats need a big overhaul to make them a more competitive sport / workout headphone (and just adding the W1 chip isn't enough), and the studio monitors need a big overhaul. The new Bose QC 35 is far superior to those Beats Studio Wireless cans. The new Bose SoundSports are great...much better than the PowerBeats.

They still went from 24% to 40% of an expanding market. That's a good thing. I'm sure they expected to cannibalize Beats sales. Apple does that all the time (better that they do it than someone else take their market share).
 
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