AirPods Pro Launching on October 30 for $249

[mavis]

I woke up to this news in Japan at 6 am, saw the email from Apple, placed order, November 4 delivery, so not so bad considering the time lag from the announcement to placing the order.

Haha. Japan here as well; I woke up at 3am thanks to my son, saw the news while I was waiting for him to get back to sleep and ordered them at 3:03am, according to the confirmation email they sent. Oct 31 delivery. I guess I should thank him for waking me up ... 👍🏻

 

[CarlJ]

Exactly. I waited to see the specs of the new air pod pros...but will def be buying the power beat pros for the longer batt life.

To me a huge differentiator is, the AirPods I can put in my pocket.

Sort of gets back to that idea of, "the best camera is the one you actually have with you" (that impressive SLR sitting at home won't help take a pic of the cool thing in front of you right now). The AirPods are small enough to reasonably carry in a pocket. The Beats Pros didn't make that cutoff.

 

[ritmomundo]

For those ppl bitching about price, you can always go with Sennheisers for like $349 or idk with B&O Beoplays for $299.

These are ****ing bargain. Like the first gens were, 1.5 too.

A bargain compared to those IF the sound quality is comparable. I know firsthand that sound on the 1st gen was not even close to either the B&O or Senns. Looking forward to reviews for the AirPods Pro.

 

[PezRadar]

Dates already slipping to Nov 4 - 6th on order page.

 

[jcshas]

Anyone showing an October 30th delivery date (USA)? Mine says October 31st.

 

[Alisamix]

My AirPods have been shipped and will arrive on the 30th. (Germany)

 

[slippery-pete]

Ordered my pair. Can’t wait for them to arrive.

 

[mavis]

Especially the train noise. Until you've lived in the Tokyo environment people have no idea how useful good IEM's and ANC like my Sony WF1000XM3's are here. Worth their weight in gold. I don't live here but visit 6-10 times a year.

Yeah, trains are bad - but BUSES in Japan are the absolute worst. Some of the bus drivers chatter incessantly on the PA (ostensibly, in an effort to be/appear helpful?) and this is in addition to the automated (pre-recorded) messages which usually state the exact same thing. For example:

Bus Driver: The next stop will be Shinjuku Station. Shinjuku Station. Please disembark here for the JR Lines, Tokyo Metro, blah blah blah. For your your safety, please remain seated or hold on to a hand rail until the bus comes to a complete stop. Thank you for riding today and we look forward to serving you again.

But as soon as he's done, the automated recording comes on and says pretty much the exact same thing!! and this of course is followed by a 'now arriving' announcement, again by the driver and the recording. Followed immediately by the driver thanking each passenger as they exit the bus (all of this, over the ****ing PA) and then the announcement that the bus will be leaving momentarily, then that it IS leaving, then the next stop announcement, ad infinitum.

Actually, I had forgotten how much I hated that, until I started typing - I haven't had to hear it ONCE since the first week of August, when my WF-1000XM3s arrived. It's been absolute BLISS. I hope the new AirPods are at least in the same league ...

 

[CarlJ]

There’s no such thing as a pro phone or pro earphones.

Largely agreed with the rest of your post, but there are, in fact, pro earphones - look at what musicians wear onstage these days, from Westone and a few other companies - custom earmolds and crazy high-quality drivers, designed as monitors for studio use or live performance, where they have to be able to clearly and accurately hear the rest of the band, while also not going deaf (such earphones can also run 3-6 times the cost of the new AirPods Pro).

 

[markgpearse]

Love the black ones!

 

[darkslide29]

Aw man! I was just about convinced on getting the beats pros. Now this. Still might for the battery life. But pass through audio is tempting. Plus the ability to actually fit them in your pocket.

The ability to fit in your pocket is the main thing. I have other headphones that cost more and sound better than my AirPods, but the AirPods are easily my most used headphones due to the ease of connecting and always being in my pocket. Just like the saying goes that the best camera is the one you have on you, so is true for headphones. So I gladly am buying these to upgrade my AirPods that are getting weak on battery life. Also bought the Apple Care + for $29, in hopes that if the battery is shot again before 2 years that Apple will fix/replace them, but I don't know if that will work.

 

[jimmy_uk]

Never understood the need for noise cancellation when you are out and about. I always think someone could just come up behind and attack you without you even hearing them or you may not hear traffic.

Maybe I’m overly safety conscious but I like to hear everything around me when I’m walking down the street.

The only time I ever wear any type of earphones or headphone is when I’m on a train sitting down or at home.

I agree. I use them to escape the office noise or when at home, the neighbours!
[automerge]1572304750[/automerge]

Times slipping...View attachment 873137

UK sleeping on this one as they’re still available for Wednesday delivery.

 

[Medic]

My AirPods have been shipped and will arrive on the 30th. (Germany)

Same here in UK. Ordered 10 minutes ago

 

[edlex]

My order went to Preparing to Ship status even though I never received an email confirmation of the order.

Same here. No email but went Preparing to Ship!

 

[nortonandreev]

250 dollars for a pair of earphones which in a couple of years won't hold an hour's of charge...thanks but not doing the same mistake again..

Couple of years? My gen 2 AirPods are 6 months old and already on 50% of their battery capacity.

 

[jimmy_uk]

Clear version looks bada**.

Limited edition £300.

Hate to admit I’d pay it.......

 

[darkslide29]

That sounds like a stretch for a device without a screen

The new AirPods Pro with Bluetooth 5.0 and active noise cancellation, the perfect way to watch The Morning Show on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV. Pairs instantly with all of these devices with the H1 processor.

It would have been nice to 'get a $60 discount' that way, since I did not buy an iPhone or other Apple device (besides these) this year.

 

[eyeseeyou]

How about a water proof rating?? AirPods are known to fail with a lot of sweat. I don't dare run or indoor bike with mine since I'm a heavy sweater.

oops.. missed the footnote

AirPods Pro are sweat- and water- resistant for non-water sports and exercise and have a rating of IPX4 under IEC standard 60529.

I’m a heavy sweater, killed a lot of “amazon” sweat proof Bluetooth earbuds, and have taken my AirPods into the sauna with no issues.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Never understood the need for noise cancellation when you are out and about. I always think someone could just come up behind and attack you without you even hearing them or you may not hear traffic.

Maybe I’m overly safety conscious but I like to hear everything around me when I’m walking down the street.

The only time I ever wear any type of earphones or headphone is when I’m on a train sitting down or at home.

Did you read the article, particularly the part about Apple's implementation with Transparency mode?

"A built-in Transparency mode offers users the option to listen to music while still hearing the environment around them, for situations like biking in traffic or listening for an important train message. Transparency mode takes advantage of the vent system in the AirPods to leave just the right amount of noise cancellation. "

 

[dukebound85]

So I guess the "Pro" suffix on Apple products no longer means "for the Professional".

Pro =luxury

they should rename it all to luxury.... iPhone lux. Mac lux,

 

[kazmac]

They look like little hair dryers (and cost about $200 less than a Dyson).

 

[decisions]

Hmm, overall seems like a good announcement. I need some airbuds to complement my Bose 700s. Guess it will either be thee or the new Bose buds coming out next year.

Very curious to see impressions about the noise cancelling and sound quality. At least they look a whole lot better than the standard AirPods (which is a big reason why I never bought those tbh).

 

[tothemoonsands]

Said it before, but will say it again: I am actively avoiding this product due to the rubber tips. Not only are they less comfortable (in my opinion), but they are also a removable part that could easily fall off. The replacement tips are likely to be quite costly, relatively speaking, and they don’t even seem to be available at this time.

Apple, I beg you, please bring noise cancellation technology to the original AirPods design.

I really think these should have been called AirPods Sport, not Pro.

 

[jimmy_uk]

Whining about the use of the word “Pro” is as irritating as constantly seeing comments moaning about there being no headphone jack on every phone review I read or watch.

 

[darkslide29]

Said it before, but will say it again: I am actively avoiding this product due to the rubber tips. Not only are they less comfortable (in my opinion), but they are also a removable part that could easily fall off. The replacement tips are likely to be quite costly, relatively speaking, and they don’t even seem to be available at this time.

Apple, I beg you, please bring noise cancellation technology to the original AirPods design.

I really think these should have been called AirPods Sport, not Pro.

Forgive my ignorance, but I don't think I've ever seen noise canceling earbuds WITHOUT the rubber tips. I always assumed they did it for the seal it creates for passive noise canceling, to add to the active noise canceling - the need for both. Haven't seen them with the types of headphones Apple has. It doesn't seem like they'll be going in that direction.

I have had many headphones with the rubber tips and I share your pain in losing them. But the losing them was because I did not have a proper storage case or anything for them. I'd bundle them up in a bag or toss them somewhere. I guess they would snag and I wouldn't notice a rubber tip fall or whatever. But I do think, at least for me, that problem goes away since I will always have the charging case with it. There's little chance of losing it transferring between using them and the case.