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You didn't take Econ 101 then
I am not criticizing the great Apple so let's just everyone remain calm and not resort to insults. I'm just saying that without knowing how many they had produced and ready to ship and then how many they shipped we can't really make an accurate assessment of how demand and supply are working right now. If Apple had produced 100 of them and they sold out in 30 seconds you could factually say that they sold out in 30 seconds and that makes for a great headline. But it obviously doesn't tell the whole story. Likewise with production ramping up. If they only made 1,000 and decided to ramp up production that also makes for a great headline, but doesn't tell the whole story.
 
To be honest, I don't get all of the negativity in this and other threads here.

AirPods are by no means a perfect product that will cover all use cases, but they aren't suppose to. For what they're designed to do they are fantastic. The price is in line with similar products on the market, are better integrated, and function better. It isn't surprising that demand is high - they solve a few problems and add convenience in other areas.

In my opinion, this is the best product that Apple released in 2016. As others have pointed out they harken back to the Apple of Jobs with their whimsy, "it just works" approach to pairing, and general "cool!" factor. I will not be surprised at all to learn someday that these had been one of Steve's ideas that just took a long while to manifest as wireless and miniaturization technology matured. It isn't hard to envision Steve on stage talking about how great they are and assuring everyone "you're going to love these!"

The production delays certainly did them no favors. If these had launched alongside the iPhone 7 I firmly believe there would've been much, much less agonizing over the loss of the headphone jack and the "Apple is doomed" sentiment.

If AirPods are a preview of Apple's new product pipeline to come, things are going to be OK.
 
And sell them for a sensible price.....

Look around at the competition. They're priced competitively for what they are.
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Some say "strong demand." I say there's no headphone jack so what are ya gonna do?
  • Use the headphones that came with the phone at no extra charge to you
  • Use your own 3.5mm headphones with the adapter that came with the phone at no extra charge to you
  • Purchase any number of competing bluetooth headsets
  • Get a set of AirPods
There's a lot of options ... many of which don't require an extra expenditure. The people buying the AirPods (like me, my kids, etc) are doing so because they want them. Personally, I love these things.
 
I've never understood Apple's "one size fits all" when it comes to their ear pieces. When I wear the wired ones that come with the iPhone, if I tilt my head even 10 degrees, they are on the floor. I know I'm not even close to the only person who has ever found the shape/size of these things to be completely useless.
 
I am not criticizing the great Apple so let's just everyone remain calm and not resort to insults. I'm just saying that without knowing how many they had produced and ready to ship and then how many they shipped we can't really make an accurate assessment of how demand and supply are working right now. If Apple had produced 100 of them and they sold out in 30 seconds you could factually say that they sold out in 30 seconds and that makes for a great headline. But it obviously doesn't tell the whole story. Likewise with production ramping up. If they only made 1,000 and decided to ramp up production that also makes for a great headline, but doesn't tell the whole story.
This story, like other stories about production increases or decreases from the supply chain, is hard to interpret correctly without knowing the context (the current/original production rates). Some of these stories might reflect different demand than expected and some might reflect expected changes in the production rates.
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I've never understood Apple's "one size fits all" when it comes to their ear pieces. When I wear the wired ones that come with the iPhone, if I tilt my head even 10 degrees, they are on the floor. I know I'm not even close to the only person who has ever found the shape/size of these things to be completely useless.
All other earbuds I have tried solve the size problem by offering removable (and soft and compactable) tips or sleeves to put over solid earbuds. You'll get the latter for Airpods from third-parties as well.
 
So you are now the Apple production expert. How cute.

Which part of "likely" do you not understand? I don't know of any dictionary or English textbook that qualifies "likely" as a adjective that make a definitive statement. "Likely" means more probably than not. Your misunderstanding of the English language is not cute.
 
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Now please make a black version.

It's possible they might make black ones at some point, but I think there's a reason they haven't so far, and might not in the future. I think making AirPods white was as much an engineering decision as it was an aesthetic design decision. See, the white ones are really easy to find if you drop one, or you set them down loose somewhere, particularly in a purse or a bag. Make 'em in black, and complaints will skyrocket over lost buds. Not sure what the trade-off would be, from Apple's perspective, of new revenue for replacement buds versus lost revenue over bad PR for making black buds that are too easy to lose.

Make them so that you can ping them from the case, replicating what you can do to find a misplaced iPhone, you say. Push a button on the case and follow the sound around the house or across a field until you find them. Seems like a good idea, except you'll never, ever want a noise that loud emitting from an AirPod while it's in your ear. (I just tested the finder sound on my iPad, and got close to 120 dBA out of it at close range. That's definitely past the hearing damage threshold.) Yes, there is a sensor to detect that an AirPod is in your ear, which could be used to disable the pinging effect. I suspect, though, for a bud that's lost in your purse or pocket, between cushions on a couch or some other such location, the sensor will be likely to think it's in an ear. If that disables the finder sound, you'd have a lot of potential circumstances where it's both lost and in a place that causes it to not make the finder sound. In fact, Apple would want it to consistently err in that direction, because a small number of people with hearing damage would be way more expensive than a large number of people needing replacements for lost buds. The corollary to this is that a small number of people holding out for black AirPods is probably the least expensive option.

So in the end, making a black version is probably a lot more complicated than you'd think.
 
First weeks of sales don't mean a lot with Apple Products. Nowadays all Apple products have "amazing and magical" sales numbers just after their release. If it still sells after a couple of month we'll see if it is a successful product.
 
These stories are PR to make apple look like sales demand is strong. The reality is they were delivered before christmas is small quantities very late after their supposed release date and we're expected to swallow that it is because of a good design. No demand is probably lower than expected, considering all the jack less iPhones they've sold. I love apple but their company antics are starting to grind.
 
All other earbuds I have tried solve the size problem by offering removable (and soft and compactable) tips or sleeves to put over solid earbuds. You'll get the latter for Airpods from third-parties as well.
I have read that using those foam tips might interfere with the sensors which detect when you are removing the AirPods from your ears (which controls media play / pause). So using them could compromise the functionality of the AirPods.
 



AirPods manufacturer Inventec is planning to expand production capacity for the wireless headphones in the wake of high consumer demand during the holiday season. In a new report by China's Economic Daily News (via DigiTimes), the supplier is rumored to have begun expanding capacity in a few of its Shanghai plants.
After the AirPods went on sale on December 13, the headphones quickly slipped to shipping estimates from 4 weeks and then to 6 weeks. Thanks to positive initial impressions from the first group of customers, and increased fervor to purchase the AirPods for the holidays, many users began seeking ways to buy the headphones before Christmas, including third-party retailers like Best Buy and Target.

airpods-1-800x450.jpg

Estimated arrival dates have improved for many customers who were placed with lengthy month-long shipping estimates at first, and it appears that Inventec intends to continue to meet customer demand by "working overtime to deliver orders."

This week, Apple CEO Tim Cook called the AirPods "a runaway success," commenting on the fact that "we're making them just as fast as we can" so as many of its fans can get a pair of the headphones as soon as possible. Overall, Cook said that Apple has had "a great holiday."

Article Link: AirPods Supplier Increasing Production Capacity Due to Strong Demand
[doublepost=1483146462][/doublepost]Glorified toy for a 12 year old. Sound quality is so so and problems syncing with all devices.
 
And sell them for a sensible price.....

Apple will make several billion dollars/year off their new product that did not exist a few weeks ago. I think they are priced just fine.
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Total revenue from AirPods could exceed that of Apple Watch:
- Price point is lower (which hurts total rev)
- ... but I think the attach-rate will be much higher

Huh? Bringing in more money is more revenue. Did you mean to say it hurts margins? We don't know what the margins are on the AirPods either way.
 
You do realize that iOS has an Equalizer setting, right?

Yes, I know. This doesn't help for phone calls though.

Also, the EQ doesn't work for things other than Apple's Music app. Even within the Music app, you cannot attach the EQ to a particular song like you can in iTunes, so unless you constantly change the EQ as your songs changes, it may sound strange.

Considering Apple's roots in music, the Music app, and the EQ specifically is pretty weak.

I used to use the one setting for voices in some cases, I think there is one for talking, like talk radio, or audio book, and there is one for vocal boosting for music. I use my cars' headunits to quickly change the EQ for these situations.

Changing it on the iOS is a bit cumbersome though, why isn't an EQ built right on the app? You have to do it via the settings. Isn't there an EQ on the iPod Touch Music app?

Anyways, this is moot, because I hardly listen to Apple's Music app after Apple took away iTunes Radio from Match subscribers. And the EQ doesn't work on Pandora, 8Track, Amazon, AOLRadio, or anything else.

Beside, the EarPods sounds pretty good for me on most things.
 
The AirPods are the most exciting Apple release since the iPhone 4 and 5 in my opinion. For all the silly things Cook may appear to have done during his reign, the release of this basically flawless, joy of a product absolves him completely. The AirPods are just so 'Apple'.
 
Oh my, as included in the box at no extra charge.

Yep, that's not what free means.

The relevant definition from dictionary.com would be
for free, Informal. without charge:
The tailor mended my jacket for free


If they charge for the box, what comes in it sure as heck isn't free.
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How about "At no additional cost".

Does that suit Your Majesty?

One is right, the other is wrong.
 
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And sell them for a sensible price.....
If you are a business, and people are buying your stuff at the current price, why would you reduce the price?
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What price would you deem "sensible" and exactly which competing products with the same features are you comparing it to in order to come to that price? "Give me things I want cheap" isn't an argument.
I think majority of MR members don't actually have the product they are complaining about, nor own even any Apple products.
So to them, they will only be satisfied with Apple if Apple gave them the products for free. As in charity.
 
Yep, that's not what free means.

The relevant definition from dictionary.com would be


If they charge for the box, what comes in it sure as heck isn't free.
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One is right, the other is wrong.

Thanks for the "free" education.
 
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