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There’s been a lot of innovation under Tim too:
- 64 bit processors
- TouchID
- FaceID
- Apple silicon in iOS
- From Intel to Apple in Mac
- processors from 15 down to 4 Nmeter.
- Lightning cable
- HomeKit
- GymKit
- ECG
- PulseOx
- Heart Monitoring
- A-fib detection
- Gait Monitoring
- Fall Detection
- Crash Detection
- Satellite 911
- Apple Pay
- Apple Card
- Apple TV+
- iCloud+
- Swift
- Metal
- etc etc etc

People forget how much has been accomplished and changed since Steve died.
You still missed Apple Watch 😄
 
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AirPods are phenomenal, I have only bought AirPods Pro 1st gen. I am struggling to resist buying AirPods Pro 2nd gen.

I did buy with AppleCare and had to replace one bud twice, but my overall experience has been fantastic.
 
I remember thinking "What's the big deal?" since around-the-head Bluetooth headsets did a good job and never even trying AirPods for a few years. Then I eventually got a pair of first-generation Pros and was blown away.
 
Well.. if you were to purchase apple care for them — you'd be ok for at least two years.
Getting AirPods replaced for poor battery even after purchasing AppleCare+ was a bit of a pain in the neck for me. Took them to my nearest Apple store (happened to be up in the city anyway) hoping for a same-day replacement; since they apparently don't have battery diagnostics for AirPods, they wanted me to demonstrate the issue.

I was not going to sit in the store in the middle of a pandemic for the damn things to die in 3.5 hours instead of 5.

Instead, the "geniuses" encouraged me to buy the new third-generation AirPods Pro, which didn't exist then and still don't exist now.

Went home, called Apple, they shipped me a replacement set and all was good.
 
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Still can’t bring myself to buy one for some reason. I’m likely to buy the AirPods Max instead - it’s so immersive, but also too expensive. I’m not that much of an audiophile.
 
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AirPods are way more successful and useful than iPads or Apple Watches.
Eh, no.

They are singular use products, whereas iPads and Apple Watches are vastly multi function.
They bring in about $10 billion in revenue annually vs. Apple Watch's $15 billion, and iPad's $30 billion.

You couldn't be more wrong in a single sentence if you tried.
 
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Still can’t bring myself to buy one for some reason. I’m likely to buy the AirPods Max instead - it’s so immersive, but also too expensive. I’m not that much of an audiophile.
Whaaat, you really should) The new Pros are quite nice, and you can now control the volume on them!
 
Getting AirPods replaced for poor battery even after purchasing AppleCare+ was a bit of a pain in the neck for me. Took them to my nearest Apple store (happened to be up in the city anyway) hoping for a same-day replacement; since they apparently don't have battery diagnostics for AirPods, they wanted me to demonstrate the issue.

I was not going to sit in the store in the middle of a pandemic for the damn things to die in 3.5 hours instead of 5.

Instead, the "geniuses" encouraged me to buy the new third-generation AirPods Pro, which didn't exist then and still don't exist now.

Went home, called Apple, they shipped me a replacement set and all was good.
Wow, that's quite different than my experiences have been. I've done this three or four times already. 3 time in NYC and once in Miami. They do have a way to run diagnostics on the batteries! What an odd way to upsell too :)
 
My airpods lasted less than a year. That's why I'll never buy expensive wireless headphones again.
I would argue that any small bud-style headphone, wired or wireless, typically last a year or less. It’s not like Apple’s previous wired headphones lasted for years - certainly not if you were using them daily. I went through so many pairs of them, they were effectively required to be included in the box, as you always needed another pair for the inevitable torn cord. I skipped the original AirPods, mainly because I have large ears and they would fall out with even minimal movement. I’m on my second pair of AirPod Pro’s (1st gen) and though the battery life isn’t great after a year of use, they still perform perfectly two years later.
 
I had no interest in them when they first came out. Now, I can’t imagine going back to wired earphones.

That said, I feel like the magic of them has decreased over time. I feel like they automatically connected and intelligently switched devices much better at first. I feel Apples updates have made them worse.

It’s not uncommon for them to not connect to a phone call for thirty seconds or more when I first pull them out of the case. It’s like with my HomePod Minis, which also seem to have gotten worse. Apple needs to do better with their software.
 
Got them on day one and have loved them ever since.

Honestly,

From the announcement video, intro music, high-contrast in the opening 10 seconds of the video ... gave me shivers as it was THE best product announcement post Steve Jobs in the same likeness that he'd have done on stage.

Quite frankly this was THE BEST Apple product since then.

It delivered from day 1 what it promised and brought THE best voice call quality of ANY Bluetooth earphones/headphones in any product ever. Bluetooth was invented by Ericsson, but Apple perfected it for earphones!


But just wait ... the way things are going I wouldn't be surprised if the EU or France come against Apple for unfair product excellence in a market with fines and try to push Apple to share their patents without fees, force fees collected to be relinquished or nullify their patents related to W1/H1/H2 chips and AirPods.
 
Too bad, for all they offer in terms of convenience and user experience they still can’t match the quality/standards of consumer grade digital audio from over 40 years ago. Let alone surpass them
For voice calls they actually surpass the entire market.

Why? because too many people use 'audio' as the description for listening and talking but they are NOT 1 and the same thing. Too many youtube reviewers make the same mistake.
 
Whenever people say that Apple no longer innovates, these are the first products that I point to.
Truly the essence of Steve Jobs’s vision for products, literally “just works”.
And yes, before I get tons of Snark replies, I know they have issues. They are absolutely not perfect, no product is.
I’ve had to have them replaced just like a lot of other people.
And of course, bugs pop up from time to time, as they do with literally every other product.
But the absolute simplicity of literally opening them and popping them right in your ears, and having them “just work” never gets old.
My first pair of wireless headphones literally had to have a pairing code every single time you wanted to use them.
And if you had to use them on a different device, you had to completely reset them, enter the code on the new device, make sure it’s totally and completely forgotten and disconnected from the old device, and then, maybe, just maybe it would work.
AirPods literally couldn’t be more simple, and besides the Apple Watch I think they are the most innovative product Apple has made in years.
The problem is that you're comparing an ancient bluetooth standard to brand new technology. Of course the new tech is going to win out.

The Airpods use Apple's proprietary version of the bluetooth multi-device connectivity standard, and because they aren't certified, were able to be released earlier than most headphones. But compared to any high end headphones that use the multi-device standard, they're, well, horribly average. Mediocre battery life, audio, and outright poor microphones. At least they come in a shiny white charging case to offset the battery life.
 
I have my gripes, but I do love the damn things, and in the corniest, silliest possible way, I see their arrival in my life as a magic moment.

Consumer electronics provide entertainment, but their mere existence is inherently entertaining.
 
I would argue that any small bud-style headphone, wired or wireless, typically last a year or less. It’s not like Apple’s previous wired headphones lasted for years - certainly not if you were using them daily. I went through so many pairs of them, they were effectively required to be included in the box, as you always needed another pair for the inevitable torn cord. I skipped the original AirPods, mainly because I have large ears and they would fall out with even minimal movement. I’m on my second pair of AirPod Pro’s (1st gen) and though the battery life isn’t great after a year of use, they still perform perfectly two years later.
You can replace the lead and tips/pads with decent headphones.
 
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