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Tony Shi

macrumors newbie
Apr 2, 2020
12
4
I've had a few pairs of fake air pods

they aren't much worse sounding than real ones. if you like the form factor but don't care about owning apple everything they can be a decent buy

only issue I've had with some pairs is that the batteries sometimes crap out pretty quickly
You end up spending more money on buying new ones in the long run. If you’re gonna buy AirPods, just buy the real thing. If you’re more budget conscious, buy some skull candies or JBLs.
 

Anton721

macrumors newbie
Sep 13, 2022
1
1
My AirPods the Apple Store replaced 2 months ago are flagged as fake lol. Seems like the feature works super well
The same thing. I have bought AirPods in 2019, even when there weren’t copies of AirPods Pro. Replaced them in Apple month ago. IOS 16 says they can be fake 🤷🏼
 
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russell_314

macrumors 603
Feb 10, 2019
6,046
9,006
USA
But then those people bring them to the Genius Bar for replacement when they don’t work. I watched it unfold last year when the Genius found that the AirPods had a cloned serial number and someone was turned away a number of times already. The person went through “I bought them here”, “I bought them at Best Buy”, and “My friend gave them to me” after he was told that his only option was to buy a new pair.
That sounds like they were trying to scam Apple out of AirPods. It used to be a thing with iPhones where they would bring in fake iPhones for return. Maybe that still happens IDK
 

C0NN0RAD0

macrumors newbie
May 28, 2021
3
0
It doesn’t work very well, I have it pop up on genuine AirPods I purchased from Apple, and then Apple Care replacement AirPods.
 

Mimiron

macrumors 6502
Dec 12, 2017
370
389
I upgraded to iOS 16 and used my airpods and the system said they couldn't be verified lol.
 

hwojtek

macrumors 68020
Jan 26, 2008
2,274
1,276
Poznan, Poland
A person would have to be really desperate to use fake AirPods
No. I deliberately bought the cheapest thing available (which happened to be fake Airpods) in order to check whether wireless earphones are a thing for me - especially if I'm gonna feel safe biking in the traffic, lose the earphones, adjust to charging requirements etc. I have my Sennheisers for sound quality and treated the fake Airpods (which I lost BTW) as a test for a month or so.
 

deathcab

macrumors regular
May 26, 2009
140
579
The same thing. I have bought AirPods in 2019, even when there weren’t copies of AirPods Pro. Replaced them in Apple month ago. IOS 16 says they can be fake 🤷🏼
See my post above. Appears to be a bug with a small percentage of airpods paired before updating to iOS 16.

Unpairing and repairing should immediately correct the problem (it did for me) but YMMV.
 

nathansz

macrumors 65816
Jul 24, 2017
1,258
1,445
You end up spending more money on buying new ones in the long run. If you’re gonna buy AirPods, just buy the real thing. If you’re more budget conscious, buy some skull candies or JBLs.

not necessarily

i’ve yet to spend as much on knock off airpods in total over the years as the price of the cheapest pair of apple ones

and it’s not like the apple ones sound much better. i have audio technics over ears when i want quality for listening to music on the go

the ear buds are just one ear podcasts at work, zoom meetings, etc
 
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G5isAlive

Contributor
Aug 28, 2003
2,608
4,521
A person would have to be really desperate to use fake AirPods

Or really shallow. I get that some people don't need the full on functionality of the AirPods that helps drive up the cost, like the H1 chip that helps with connectivity, automatic device switching, turning on your computer, and Siri integration, but people who say 'my knock off sounds just as good' are missing the point. If you dont want to pay for those features, why are you supporting vendors that are breaking the law? For style? Just buy legitimate products with the cheaper feature set you want.
 

nathansz

macrumors 65816
Jul 24, 2017
1,258
1,445
Some of the good clones are a 1:1 replica and you'd never even be able to tell with a real pair next to them unless you opened them up.

upon reflection, it makes sense if you are buying used. pair them to your phone first and check if they are real

for new though it should be obvious based on the price, the seller or a combination thereof

ie: if the price seems really good and it’s not from an actual retailer you’ve heard of then they are likely fake, which many people are fine with
 

killramos

macrumors member
May 8, 2008
58
161
They probably sell fake AirPods as refurbs. No one will know. How will they know? 🤪
That would be hilarious.

FWIW there is no functionality difference with my real/flagged AirPods so I couldn’t give two sh*ts

I need some new ones anyway as my charging case is on the way out after 4 years of use.
 

abowlby

macrumors 6502
Oct 7, 2013
459
615
Eastern US
That would be hilarious.

FWIW there is no functionality difference with my real/flagged AirPods so I couldn’t give two sh*ts

I need some new ones anyway as my charging case is on the way out after 4 years of use.
Yeah, I get more value per pound out of AirPods than a lot of other things I’ve purchased.
 

NightFox

macrumors 68040
May 10, 2005
3,241
4,487
Shropshire, UK
Surely fake AirPods are just bluetooth earbuds made to look like AirPods? So how does the iPhone know that the buds you're connecting to it are pretending to be AirPods - what stops it flagging any third party wireless earbuds you connect?
 

FreedomPenguin

Suspended
Aug 18, 2021
224
167
Surely fake AirPods are just bluetooth earbuds made to look like AirPods? So how does the iPhone know that the buds you're connecting to it are pretending to be AirPods - what stops it flagging any third party wireless earbuds you connect?
probably apple thinking about this way back and having the device have a hardware id that pings and verifies it etc.
smart imo.

let the, erm. android people buy the knock off pods.
 

NightFox

macrumors 68040
May 10, 2005
3,241
4,487
Shropshire, UK
probably apple thinking about this way back and having the device have a hardware id that pings and verifies it etc.
smart imo.

let the, erm. android people buy the knock off pods.
Yes, I get how the iPhone could identify real AirPods, but my point is how would it differentiate fake AirPods from any other 3rd party buds (that weren't pretending to be AirPods)? Surely from a technical point of view, they're both the same thing? It's not as if the iPhone can see that they look like AirPods or knows about the fake Apple box they came in.

And to add - how does Apple decide at what point a legitimate third-party set of buds that's 'inspired' by the AirPods design constitutes a fake? There are plenty of white buds that come in white charging cases on the market now, some from very reputable manufacturers, that clearly aren't trying to fool anyone into thinking they're AirPods.
 
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JamesMay82

macrumors 65816
Oct 12, 2009
1,243
995
I got some fake ones from a colleague on the basis they were real And an unwanted gift.. they looked the part but I wasn’t impressed with the sound so will be interesting to see how iOS 16 reacts because iOS 15 sets them up flawlessly
 

jjtech

macrumors newbie
Aug 22, 2022
9
7
Yes, I get how the iPhone could identify real AirPods, but my point is how would it differentiate fake AirPods from any other 3rd party buds (that weren't pretending to be AirPods)? Surely from a technical point of view, they're both the same thing? It's not as if the iPhone can see that they look like AirPods or knows about the fake Apple box they came in.

And to add - how does Apple decide at what point a legitimate third-party set of buds that's 'inspired' by the AirPods design constitutes a fake? There are plenty of white buds that come in white charging cases on the market now, some from very reputable manufacturers, that clearly aren't trying to fool anyone into thinking they're AirPods.
I'm pretty sure that they're talking about when it's faking Apple's propriatary quick-pair thing: Some fakes have found ways of tricking it into doing that. It would probably be easily detectable, because they might not have reversed the protocol perfectly, or have the right IDs.

Normal Bluetooth buds don't try to fake quick-pair (not sure if this is the right terminology, but I mean the pop up with the 3d render and all that), you always go to Bluetooth settings, so this won't affect them. Perhaps Apple might even partner with other brands to allow legitimate quick-pair, without pretending to be Apple branded.
 
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amartinez1660

macrumors 68000
Sep 22, 2014
1,581
1,610
Well some people want to show off AirPods but can’t pay the price. Bingo u have fake AirPods which are literally indistinguishable at least from exterior, but much much cheaper. They don’t sound that bad though but sometimes use micro usb or usbc for charging. Price is a major factor so some vendors in Asia have both original and fake airpods, fakes are much cheaper and u can specify which ones u want, original or copy. Same thing as fake designer goods
I’m so revolted by this, luckily.
A lot of the financial issues would be solved if people stopped having kids they can’t afford, McMansions they can’t mantain and the leased beemers and Audis parked outside on the road (instead of inside the McMansion’s garage) for all others to see.

If it is REALLY about the form factor, a lot of people kill and rave by other earphones supposedly better.
 
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