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Curious how well it works with loud sharp/quick noises like a gun shot. Though not recommended I have shot a pistol using just AirPod pro (v1) with ANC and it does a good job cancelling the noise with no ringing in ears. Much better than just foam earplugs. I get a good seal with the tips so I felt confident. I wonder how well these work, are they fast enough, how much noise would come around the buds?
I was looking for ( and haven't found) the Noise Reduction Ratio or the dB drop. I was thinking more of lawn mower duty. Apple doesn't seem to want to commit even with FDA approval now. Or Marketing hasn't caught up yet.
 
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Because that's not how Apple does things. They do things with purpose. They don't just arbitrarily upgrade chips in products just to bring them "up to date". They added what is needed to accomplish the features they are trying to achieve.
Your point being? There are several features that AirPods Pro and even in some cases the base AirPods support now (adaptative audio, personalized volume, voice isolation, etc.), features that are not supported on a device twice as expensive. You're right that not having the latest chip in itself doesn't matter, but it does when that means compromising on the features. Especially when it's supposed to be the top of the line product
 
(you may have already done this, just throwing it out there) never hurts to do the ear fit test in Settings and see if it shows the left tip as being looser, I can see the tips loosening with time just because they're silicone…still sucks to hear though (…no pun intended? lmao)
I have done that fitting test multiple times and the iPhone always reports it's fine. At rest, the tips feel fine. It's when I'm running sometimes the left feels just a tad different. And as you know, that fitting test asks us to remain still while it's testing.
 
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We'll see. I'm one of the people who dislike silicone tips, but my current AirPods 3 are quite bad on a plane, for example. Picking up AirPods 4 ANC today.

I've seen a couple of reviewers who tested it in that exact scenario and were impressed (on a plane). They made it clear that it's not as effective as the Pro's with the tips, but they also said it worked quite well and did the job on the plane. 🤞
 
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Just picked my AP4 w/ nc at the Apple Store. I think they sound great. As for the noise cancelling, I would estimate that if the AirPods Max are a 10 for NC, and the Airpods Pro 2 are an 8, then these are about a 5. They don't deaden the ambient sound the way the tips of the Pro 2's do. But for an open-tip non-sealing airpod, they're pretty impressive.
 
That doesn't really answer the question though. Yes, you can computationally cancel noise, but only the noise going through the microphone and out the speaker into the ear. There is no accounting for the noise that comes into the ear from around the sides of the AirPods, which is why AirPods pro have silicone tips to begin with ...to create a seal that prevents noise from coming into the ear unless its going through the mic first.
Unless of course, with multiple microphones they have accounted for those sound sources 🤷‍♂️

I don’t expect it to be perfect, or even directly comparable to sealed AirPods, but I bet it’s more effective than people think…
 
Unless of course, with multiple microphones they have accounted for those sound sources 🤷‍♂️

I don’t expect it to be perfect, or even directly comparable to sealed AirPods, but I bet it’s more effective than people think…
There is no "accounting" for the physical traversal of sounds through the air into your ear, unless it is physically blocked. So yeah.
 
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That doesn't really answer the question though. Yes, you can computationally cancel noise, but only the noise going through the microphone and out the speaker into the ear. There is no accounting for the noise that comes into the ear from around the sides of the AirPods, which is why AirPods pro have silicone tips to begin with ...to create a seal that prevents noise from coming into the ear unless its going through the mic first.

Close, but that's not exactly how ANC works. It actually produces an "opposite / opposing" sound to do the cancelling.

If your ear receives two opposing sounds at once, it won't hear anything. That's ANC.
 
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these articles fail to mention the new AirPods have less battery than the previous gen, even with the lower non anc version. That’s with a new h2 chip too. I’d be more interested if they didn’t regress here. Strange
 
There is no "accounting" for the physical traversal of sounds through the air into your air, unless it is physically blocked. So yeah.
What are you talking about? You can definitely use a microphone in the earpiece to sample what is going on in the ear and then produce the counterwave.

It’s just not going to be as effective as a sealed ear environment, but the idea that you can’t (clearly Apple has) is nonsense. The process is trivial, producing it in miniature is the engineering challenge.

Edit: Thumbs down me all you want, these do exactly what you say they don’t do and the principle itself is simple.
 
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Can they also explain why, after 4 years, they didnt update anything on the AirPods Max...? Adding a ucb-c port and just forgetting the rest is crazy.
Because the EU said they needed to update the AirPods Max by the end of this year. They didn’t have any technology changes planned for this year, but had to release an AirPod Max with USB-C regardless.
 
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I have done that fitting test multiple times and the iPhone always reports it's fine. At rest, the tips feel fine. It's when I'm running sometimes the left feels just a tad different. And as you know, that fitting test asks us to remain still while it's testing.
I wonder if doing exercise and, while your heart rate is up, doing the test would be any different. Do the capillaries in the ear canal have the potential to alter the volume of the canal (by a perceptible amount?)
 
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What are you talking about? You can definitely use a microphone in the earpiece to sample what is going on in the ear and then produce the counterwave.

It’s just not going to be as effective as a sealed ear environment, but the idea that you can’t (clearly Apple has) is nonsense. The process is trivial, producing it in miniature is the engineering challenge.

Edit: Thumbs down me all you want, these do exactly what you say they don’t do and the principle itself is simple.
I was thinking the same thing… sampling the sounds coming at the wearer is precisely what every ANC that’s implemented does, with varying degrees of success. There are three mics per earbud for that reason.
 
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First off, let me start by to say i'm in Europe, so i've had more time with them than the majority of readers on here (as they are mostly American I suspect).

So my one day review is:
I'm super impressed by them, coming from the AirPods v2, and never having owned any of the Pro's but AM a current owner of the original AirPods Max with Lightning so I know it's ANC. If I'd give that ANC a solid ten, these AirPods 4 are about a 7,5 for me. I'm really glad i got these.

————————————————————————

Can they also explain why, after 4 years, they didnt update anything on the AirPods Max...? Adding a ucb-c port and just forgetting the rest is crazy.
cos it's apple. they figure they can keep the Max mostly "as is" and ppl who hadn't gotten one will still buy it. It's low, but again, Apple has done these sort of things before with mediocre refreshed and still ppl kept buying it. so vote with your wallet next time.

Unless of course, with multiple microphones they have accounted for those sound sources 🤷‍♂️

I don’t expect it to be perfect, or even directly comparable to sealed AirPods, but I bet it’s more effective than people think…
that seems to be the case, as it's my understanding there is a mic in the part that sits in the ear-canal just like on the pro's

What are you talking about? You can definitely use a microphone in the earpiece to sample what is going on in the ear and then produce the counterwave.

It’s just not going to be as effective as a sealed ear environment, but the idea that you can’t (clearly Apple has) is nonsense. The process is trivial, producing it in miniature is the engineering challenge.

Edit: Thumbs down me all you want, these do exactly what you say they don’t do and the principle itself is simple.
I gave you a thumbs up.

Because the EU said they needed to update the AirPods Max by the end of this year. They didn’t have any technology changes planned for this year, but had to release an AirPod Max with USB-C regardless.
not at all. the law only applies for new devices introduced after december 2024, existing non-USB-C-bearing products can remain on the market for as long as the manufacturer keeps selling them, so if Apple kept the existing colors/SKU's the same they didn't need to change a damn thing
 
these articles fail to mention the new AirPods have less battery than the previous gen, even with the lower non anc version. That’s with a new h2 chip too. I’d be more interested if they didn’t regress here. Strange
What’s really interesting is that the AirPods 4 have one hour less runtime, but still has the same 30 hours when including charging for the case. Increased the battery capacity of the case?
 
not at all. the law only applies for new devices introduced after december 2024, existing non-USB-C-bearing products can remain on the market for as long as the manufacturer keeps selling them, so if Apple kept the existing colors/SKU's the same they didn't need to change a damn thing
All the documents I’m seeing do not specify “new” devices, they all say all devices. But, I wouldn’t be surprised if the document doesn’t state what their intent is. The iPad doesn’t meet the requirements of a “gatekeeper device”, but they made it one anyway. :)
 
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cos it's apple. they figure they can keep the Max mostly "as is" and ppl who hadn't gotten one will still buy it. It's low, but again, Apple has done these sort of things before with mediocre refreshed and still ppl kept buying it. so vote with your wallet next time.

And I am. I was planning on getting these since they were going to get the latest tech Apple can offer and ship them with something better than that 'carrying case'. But silly me, expecting that from their top product after 5 years. So I will not be getting them and will spend my money somewhere else. B&O seems nice.


Because the EU said they needed to update the AirPods Max by the end of this year. They didn’t have any technology changes planned for this year, but had to release an AirPod Max with USB-C regardless.

Tech changes like a H2 chip, a off button and a decent case?
 
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"It's even computationally more intense in many ways than it is with the AirPods Pro," said Bergeron, in regards to ANC on the AirPods 4.”

Or…you could add 3 cents of silicon tips?

Why are the pros twice the price if these are the more difficult and sophisticated design? The whole article is on how the low end ones are worth way more than a superior product because of stupid design choices.
That’s the whole point. They are for people who don’t want the tips, and have brought some great ANC to the feature set for those people.
 
Anyone having issues with their AirPod 4NC, when I open my AirPod 4s, the pop up has no image where it usually shows the case and each AirPods battery level?

On a new IPhone 16 Pro and iOS 18.1 beta 4.

Not sure if it’s a beta issue but wanted to see if anyone else has this.
 

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