AirPower and New AirPods Said to Ship in First Half of 2019, New iPod Touch With Faster Processor Also Expected

[Baymowe335]

Who said anything about Apple doing poorly?
I'm pointing out that this computer company neglects their computer buying customers.

Also, just because a company is doing financially well, doesn't mean they are making good products.
Many Chinese companies make utter trash but still turn a profit.

They aren't a computer company...not anymore.

Apple's profit is in another galaxy, so not comparable to some trash company that makes a little money.

I think it's totally ridiculous to say Apple doesn't make good products, but people just buy them because they are dumb or something.

 

[manu chao]

To me, that's not the question. The question is which device that has a li-ion battery is impervious to the effects of battery wear and gives the exact same battery life as new.

- iphone max
- tesla
- samsung galaxy
- air pods

The answer is none of them. Even Tesla batteries will degrade and give less miles per charge and even Tesla advises against constant topping off of the battery as it facilitates wear. There is no getting around it except by not buying b/t headsets. Even the manual for my qcii says the battery will wear on use, but at least there is a "headphone" jack.

These b/t will all suffer the same fate eventually.

Two points:

1. There are questions of degree. A Tesla's range hasn't gone down by 80% (1h Airpods reports vs 5 h initially) after two years of regular use. You're rather down by 30% after two years. Ditto for smartphones.
2. Replacing the battery in all your examples costs only a fraction of the price of the new product (and replacing the battery doesn't require throwing away the rest of the product).

To reiterate, the problem is not that the battery life has decreased significantly (30% maybe) after two years but that it has cratered, down from 5 h to 1 h. Plus that there is no option to have the battery changed, obsoleting all the other hardware and the financial investment.

What would you say if people were forced to completely scrap their Tesla after only two years?

 

[Apple_Robert]

I'll buy the new iPod Touch the week it comes out.

The battery in my iPod Touch 6 barely holds a charge anymore.

I didn't know Appel still made the touch. I figured the demand would have died out with the increased iPhone storage.

 

[I7guy]

Two points:

1. There are questions of degree. A Tesla's range hasn't gone down by 80% (1h Airpods reports vs 5 h initially) after two years of regular use. You're rather down by 30% after two years. Ditto for smartphones.
2. Replacing the battery in all your examples costs only a fraction of the price of the new product (and replacing the battery doesn't require throwing away the rest of the product).

To reiterate, the problem is not that the battery life has decreased significantly (30% maybe) after two years but that it has cratered, down from 5 h to 1 h. Plus that there is no option to have the battery changed, obsoleting all the other hardware and the financial investment.

What would you say if people were forced to completely scrap their Tesla after only two years?

What you don't see in the Tesla is that the battery will have to be recharged more often to get the same miles and at some point in time miles will diminish with no recovery. Obviously the size of the Tesla battery makes the decrease longer than the battery in the airpods or maybe other manufacturers earbuds. And it's warrantied for 10 years. How much does a battery replacement cost in a Tesla. My hauler vehicle is 15 years old, so after 10 years throw the vehicle out?

I defy anyone to bang mercilessly against any earbuds and see what the length of a battery charge is after two years was the point I was getting to. People who buy products similar to this should be prepared for replacement in two years if they have many charge cycles.

 

[Loismustdie1]

At this point, I’ll believe it when I see it. I really am looking forward to this however. Hopefully they won’t stab Gen 1 AirPod owners by either not releasing the wireless case separate from the new AirPods, or making it compatible with only the second gen.

 

[mandrake2016]

What's the point of a new iPod touch, if it's just processor/ram/storage upgrades?

I can't imagine why they would offer a higher capacity storage than current iPhones -- so let's say you can get a 512GB new touch for half the price of an iPhone -- why not put that money towards your next new iPhone's maximum storage, and not mess with two devices...

I can only make sense of it as an entry touch device for your youngest kids, which I kinda thought it has been for a long time now.

 

[bobtem]

I predict that Apple will release new products in this year, and better yet, there will be some more products sometime next year. Can’t say why will happen after that.

 

[0947347]

Sure, but which higher-end (excluding, eg, cheap toys) rechargeable battery powered electronics device do you expect to last only two years?

Of course, some of the fairly drastic reduction in battery life after only two years is a conceptual issue that the Airpods probably share with other wireless earbuds that come with a charging case. The much larger battery in the charging case allows for a very small battery in the actual earbud as the latter doesn't have to last a full day. You thus start with a fairly low battery life of the earbud itself that when maybe reduced to 50% of original capacity becomes annoyingly short. Moreover, given that one might recharge the earbud multiple times per day, it accumulates charge cycles significantly faster than wireless earphones that provide the full day capacity via their built-in battery.
[doublepost=1550491975][/doublepost]
Apart from some variation in battery production (ie, each cell or each batch might turn out slightly different), one side might have a less restricted wireless path to the Bluetooth host device (ie, iPhone) and thus require slightly more power which results in slightly more battery wear.

Thanks, didn’t know that, sounds plausible.

 

[Tiopepe]

Ubiquitous black will be perfect as now I clearly won’t notice when people have ear buds in and therefore will be talking to myself even more. At least with the white I had a shot at knowing if I needed to use sign language or not.

 

[jhfenton]

My 2 year old AirPods no longer last more than an hour per charge. Apple expects me to spend the money equivalent to a brand new pair to get it “fixed”.
If Tim thinks earphones is a subscription-based product that costs consumers $80+ per year, then I’m out.

I would subscribe to AirPods for $6.99 per month in a heartbeat. I use them with my phone and my Apple Watch. I use them at work. I use them in the gym. I use them when I'm running.

My AirPods are 25 months old, and the battery life is also terrible, especially outside in the cold. I get a little more than an hour indoors. But even though they're right up against my head and partially under a hat, I get even less right now on cold outdoor runs.

 

[Greymacuser]

What's the point of a new iPod touch, if it's just processor/ram/storage upgrades?

I can't imagine why they would offer a higher capacity storage than current iPhones -- so let's say you can get a 512GB new touch for half the price of an iPhone -- why not put that money towards your next new iPhone's maximum storage, and not mess with two devices...

I can only make sense of it as an entry touch device for your youngest kids, which I kinda thought it has been for a long time now.

I use an iPod Touch as a mini-mini iPad. I don't own a smart phone, nor do I want to. I never liked having all my eggs in one digital basket so to speak.
In case one gizmo gets damaged, I'm not sunk on the job with no tech. That would cost me a lot of time and money.
Plus I also save a heap of cash by not having the cellular bill of an iPhone each month.

 

[radiologyman]

My AirPods battery has decreased as well, but now I will wait for the updated model, hopefully will come with more updates then just Hey Siri and improved bluetooth connectivity. Will probably get the black model if offered

 

[rockyromero]

My AirPods battery has decreased as well, but now I will wait for the updated model, hopefully will come with more updates then just Hey Siri and improved bluetooth connectivity. Will probably get the black model if offered

Getting new AirPods every two years solves the battery decline issue. AirPods are disposable.

It no longer matters what added features (or color) or wireless charging is developed. The battery dwindles AirPods to erratic behavior or less than half hour of usage per side in 24 months. That’s what I now have, as all of us have.

So pay $169 or more every two years.

Or use wired EarPods.

Or get a battery backup.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/air-wear-the-smallest-wearable-airpod-charger/x/1772893#/

I’m hoping these work out and saves me the disposable AirPods tax.

➰

 

[danivanov]

My 2 year old AirPods no longer last more than an hour per charge. Apple expects me to spend the money equivalent to a brand new pair to get it “fixed”.
If Tim thinks earphones is a subscription-based product that costs consumers $80+ per year, then I’m out.

$80 per year for headphones sound reasonable. Every headphone I have owned eventually starts to break or distort.