I am not an Apple employee, but I’m an admitted devotee to their products—which even on an Apple-specific forum like this one has brought me a fair amount of shaming and grief. So I have finally decided to offer a response to all those commenters who continue to kvetch about the price points of Apple products (but apparently keep buying them anyway):
tl/dr summary: quit bitching or quit buying Apple products and bitch about the alternatives, hopefully on another forum…
Anyone who owns two or more Apple products must be aware that they are not just buying a couple of lone devices—they’re investing in Apple’s proprietary and unique ecosystem and brand concept. And they are likely consumers of products that maintain a high degree of attention to innovative design, premium and leading edge examples of existing or emerging devices, and most importantly, products that will likely occupy a close and personal relationship in their daily lives.
In other words, they aim for coveted pieces of tech that apparently for a whole lot of folks out there, exceed their apparent function. What Apple does not emphasize is the production of devices that are utilitarian or easily recyclable, and for that reason they aren’t for everyone. And I don’t think that Apple’s consumers WANT devices that are impersonal or inexpensive—and I think folks who buy multiple Apple products and say otherwise are mostly hypocrites.
Apple is well-known to price their devices in accordance with the R&D investment required, the design qualities that define their brand, and ultimately, what the market will bear. They forecast the number of units likely to sell at various price points, and list them accordingly. And despite their exacting quality and design expectations, I think they’re fairly egalitarian about offering affordable ports of their popular product lines to exist alongside their flagships—and they still offer great options for those entry level products, unlike many other brands.
Apple is not a company dedicated to producing headphones. They are not a company dedicated to making watches. They are not a company dedicated to making VR headsets or AR glasses. They are not a company dedicated to producing peripherals that are universally compatible. They aren’t even a company dedicated to manufacturing electronics.
What Apple is is an iconic company that has proven since the dawn of the personal computer era their dedication to making computers in varying forms, which includes their phones and tablets. That means that if they opt to delve into a product line to work within their ecosystem, they can’t just retool their existing machinery—they have to start from scratch, balancing existing technology that can be adapted to their brand concept, or investing a ton into manufacturing proprietary tech of their own. That costs money, and I think they are keenly aware of how their closed ecosystem limits their market share.
So if you are compelled to shell out a chunk of your hard-earned cash for a set of AirPods Max headphones, which are unquestionably offered at the upper limits of their niche price points, you’re not just looking for a pair of headphones but a set of headphones that offer the Apple experience, whatever that means to you. and if you didn’t share Apple’s values you wouldn’t buy the AirPods Max, nor would you be bitching about their price point on this forum.
I own the AirPods Max, along with several other competing products, such as the Sony WH-1000xm4s. The Sony’s were admittedly a bit cheaper (although not a steal by any means), and they’re great headphones for what they are. Anyone who knows headphones knows that these noise-cancelling cans are tinker toys compared to audiophile, open-backed headphones that can be found for not much more than the Sony’s, and there are examples out there that sonically wipe the floor with the xm4 or the AirPods Max and cost less. But when the AirPods Max came out I decided to part with the cash because I am very fond of my iPhone, which is a personal companion I take everywhere and that ceased meeting the definition of a phone before I opened the box. And I like how the Max works with the iPhone. I like the proprietary spatial audio function and think it outperforms Sony’s 360 Audio by a mile. And just as my iPhone is a personal device for me, so is the Max.
I bought the Max even though it exceeded my budget. I have an Oculus Quest 2, but you’d better believe I have my eyes peeled for Apple’s own VR set and will experience significant unrest until I buy it. Much of the reason why I remain eternally curious about Apple’s ports of these personal devices is explained above, but some of it is just born of the relationship I’ve forged with the company since I glued my eyes to my first Apple II Plus in eighth grade—I am never less than fascinated by what Apple brings to the devices I utilize in my daily life, both for productivity and pleasure, and although I’m always left wanting more, I’m clearly not disappointed.
So I’m not going to be a hypocrite and whine incessantly about my perceived grievances from a brand I keep buying over and over, especially on an Apple-based forum such as this. And I am at the point of Pavlovian eye rolls from the complaining-for-complaining-sake on here.
And even though I’m wearing my comfortable AirPods Max phones as I wrote this, when I finish and want to listen to truly high definition music, I’ll switch to my open-backed, wired Sennheisers, background noise and all. Peace.
