Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
i think the idea is that apple is using the U1 as the future direction of all apple products to be able to be "located" in space both on a macro scale (like "find my" even away from wifi) as well as in the micro (where in the room are they buried). moving forward many expected nearly all apple devices to have it and then the future "AirTags" would allow you to expand the functionality to non-Apple products. to have a $550 headset without it just seems strange...
I guess unlike small AirPods this one is not so easy to be lost. Its size is easily detectable and when travel it should be in your traveling bag that's supposedly has AirTags in it.
 
I guess unlike small AirPods this one is not so easy to be lost. Its size is easily detectable and when travel it should be in your traveling bag that's supposedly has AirTags in it.
You would be surprised what can be lost. I tried reflective, photo-luminescent tape, Bluetooth tags, but my wife still loses her laptop somewhere in the house on a near daily basis.
 
Seeing as Apple is trying to saturate the market with devices containing U1 chips before they release the UWB tracking feature, this looks like an incredible oversight. Just one more reason to wait for Gen 2.
 
Lineup, c.2021
AirPods, $199
AirPods Pro, $249
AirPods Max $549, available in 5 colors.
AirPods Pro Max $999 with U1 and USB-C, available in Gold, Rose Gold, and Chrome.
 
Talk about inconsistency! U1 chip aside, if you look at the female connection socket of Apple's other offerings this Fall:
1- New iPad Air: USB-C
2- iPhone 12: Lightning.
3- Beats Flex: USB-C
4- AirPods Max: Lightning.

Is it a coin toss for every product or something?
Maybe.
I think 2/4 may have more to do with keeping related products tight. This was probably tested and determined it would be worse for the consumer to have them different. Not me, I hate this garbage. But someone tested this and decided the complementary products required the same port.
1 was probably peripheral driven as they expanded iPad functionality.
3 may have been a nod to the non Apple ness of the product and the dissatisfaction non Apple users had with the proprietary port.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dampfnudel
blah blah blah "u cant lose them", but when it's incorporated in the next gen, you lot will throw a party for that?
I’m sure some will. The “gatherings of loud” here get loud for different reasons :) The ones saying u can’t lose them aren’t necessarily the same ones that will throw a party. Though some WILL most definitely throw a party, that’s a different GoL. :)

im sure people are gonna buy this,

but are people really gonna buy it?
There’s a thread here that indicates... “it’s done been bought!”
 
because then they’d have to charge $850. $500 for headphones is the sweet spot for most people during COVID
 
The spec states:



Isn't that what the U1 is meant to do?
Not really, no. The U1 chip is for devices to determine where they are in relation to each other via wireless signals. How far is your iPhone from mine, are they pointed at each other, etc. The spatial audio feature is all about where your head is (and thus the headphones) in space. It doesn’t really matter if you’re juggling your phone while you’re listening to music, or if it’s in your pocket or on the table. The headphones really just care if your head it tilted in relation of the ground or not (which isn’t transmitting ****).

The headphones probably just use gyros and accelerometers like everything else. No fancy wireless chip required.
 
If U1 was all about finding lost things then I don’t know why my HomePod minis have U1 chips. I’m not transporting them anywhere.

I too thought this U1 thing was an all in from Apple, but not putting that chip in these headphones throws my assumptions out the window.

(I’m through guessing with Apple, just give me my M-series iMac sometime in 2021 please.)
 
If U1 was all about finding lost things then I don’t know why my HomePod minis have U1 chips. I’m not transporting them anywhere.

I too thought this U1 thing was an all in from Apple, but not putting that chip in these headphones throws my assumptions out the window.

(I’m through guessing with Apple, just give me my M-series iMac sometime in 2021 please.)
And if you misplace your iPhone and/or keychain with an attached AirTag how do you suppose they'll be located by another Apple device on your account if that device doesn't have an ultra-wide band chip in it?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ortiz83
If U1 was all about finding lost things then I don’t know why my HomePod minis have U1 chips. I’m not transporting them anywhere.

I too thought this U1 thing was an all in from Apple, but not putting that chip in these headphones throws my assumptions out the window.

(I’m through guessing with Apple, just give me my M-series iMac sometime in 2021 please.)
HomePod mini is always on, and a home hub device. This one is not. (It's on when you wear it).
 


Apple's new AirPods Max headphones are not equipped with a U1 chip for Ultra Wideband, according to Apple's tech specs, and confirmed by MacRumors. (This chip is not to be confused with the H1 audio chip in each of the AirPod Max's ear cups.)

airpods-max-internals-1.jpg

First introduced in iPhone 11 models last year, the U1 chip enables improved spatial awareness. The distance between two devices that support Ultra Wideband can be measured precisely by calculating the time that it takes for a radio wave to pass between them, with much more accuracy than Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi.

Apple's rollout of the U1 chip has been inconsistent, with all iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 models, Apple Watch Series 6 models, and the HomePod mini equipped with the chip, but not the second-generation iPhone SE, Apple Watch SE, or the latest iPad, iPad Air, and iPad Pro models. Apple has also yet to release a Mac with Ultra Wideband support.

Apple's use of Ultra Wideband technology has been limited so far, such as a directional AirDrop feature in iOS 13 and later, but the company has promised more exciting use cases in the future. One of those use cases will likely be its long-rumored AirTags items trackers, which analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has previously said will support Ultra Wideband, which should allow users to locate their lost items with greater accuracy.

Multiple leakers had suggested the AirPods Max (which were dubbed AirPods Studio in rumors) would be equipped with the U1 chip, including Jon Prosser.

Article Link: AirPods Max Don't Contain U1 Chip for Ultra Wideband
This can do 44.1 16bit! Why can't these headphones do that ?
 

Attachments

  • 41iU3A4e2aL._AC_.jpg
    41iU3A4e2aL._AC_.jpg
    12.2 KB · Views: 108
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.