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Apple Releases New 4E71 Firmware for AirPods, AirPods Max and AirPods Pro

neutrino23 said:
Slightly off topic. I'm old and I still find it amusing that headphones have small computers in them that require firmware updates from time to time. When I was a kid I had an earphone for my crystal radio. You could unscrew the cover and see the magnet and coiled wire inside. No computers. 😆
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I was in hospital in 2010, laid up with a broken leg and shattered ankle.
The guy's bed next to me started whistling one day, high pitched like tinnitus.
Cool as cucumber the nurse said, "oh here we go again, it needs plugged in to the LAN for a software update. There's no sockets in here so we'll have to exchange it for another." So they did.
There was I, with my leg strung up in a plaster, trying to process the fact that a bed needs plugged into the LAN for a software update.
A bed. That thing you sleep in (among other things), needs a software update.
And that was 11 years ago.
Fast forward to 2022 the bedside lamp also probably demands software updates. And the cardboard bowl you !!!! in.
 
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bigpoppamac31 said:
I imagine AirPlay could transmit hi-res if Apple enabled it. In 2022 I can't see it being a bandwidth issue.
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Unfortunately, data transmission over RF, whether cellular, WiFi or Bluetooth, is limited by frequency and bandwidth…that’s just physics…as much as I’d like it too, and I’m a fan of Apple products, they still need to obey the laws of physics…
 
Not sure if it was related to the firmware update but my case stopped charging via lightning and wont turn any lights on after the update. It does still charge wirelessly but is quite annoying.
 
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Squillace said:
A guy on Reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Airpodsmax/comments/un0cmf
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Re: The "Magical 3D" - I think they're referring to the launch version of Apple Music Spatial Audio which was an absolute disaster and didn't respect the Atmos fold down properly. I contacted specific people within Apple about this with sources proving what was going on and it was fixed within a month. I don't think it's ever going to return because it was a bug (or very poor decision) - Atmos has fold down into Stereo and Apple was applying their own Binaural renderer to it, instead of using the Dolby Binaural file - in fact, last I checked you still can't even send Apple the 3 files you need to get this right which would be:

1. Stereo Track
2. Dolby Binaural Track
3. Dolby Atmos Track

You can only send them 2. Which REALLY SUCKS, because you have to send #1 due to the ubiquity of Stereo across all devices, and have to do #3 to get the Atmos working (and "spatial audio"), so the Dolby Binaural render gets dropped and is instead a fold down of #3, which is not as nice.

It's very difficult to explain to an end-user which file should play when since it totally depends on what output devices you're using so I get why Apple went this way, but they further confused it with 'spatialize stereo' which honestly should just use the Dolby Binaural tracks... except Apple Music doesn't serve those (or accept them, last I knew). This coupled with the launch of high-res at the same time really made for an extremely confusing few months for Music Professionals. Then you get into 'downloading a copy' of music to your device and things get even more complicated because if you have a high-res Stereo version downloaded to your device but put on AirPods Max it won't play the Spatial Audio version, since those would be two different physical files.

They should have an option to download both and detect which device you're using (when possible, especially for their own headphones I mean come on they know when they're connected) and then play that back. And don't get me started on head tracking, JFC what a **** show that was.

On a more positive note, they've tweaked their renderer since then and now it works pretty well for the most part. If you have a 5.1 or Atmos Concert Movie it will work properly in Spatial Audio and it sounds pretty nice.
 
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Karma*Police said:
Hopefully the Max now works with ATV without stuttering and crackling every few minutes. And when I tell Siri to start an outdoor run with my airpods pro on, will it launch the workout on my apple watch like it used to? Or try to get me to subscribe to fitness+? This is a new low for Apple, btw.
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Asking Siri on AirPods to start workout on Apple Watch was a feature I used very frequently, and it has indeed been broken for a while...
Haven't tried it after this update, always thought it would be more WatchOS related.
 
Apple really needs to add a button somewhere in the BT settings to manually update the APPs.
Hopefully, Apple will add a physical button in the APP v2 case when it comes out later next year or so, if not earlier.
Would be nice if Apple actually released some information on what was changed in each firmware update.

The best method I've found to update the APP firmware:
1. Connect APP case to PC
2. Remove APPs from case and use for a few seconds
3. Return APPs back into the case and near your iPhone; don't need to leave the case cover open.
4. Wait a few minutes
5. When you hear a sound, like a 'dong' for connect/disconnect, the APPs have been updated.
6. Check the firmware under Bluetooth, APP.

That's how mine were updated.
Good luck!
 
i got the update really fast. Didn't notice any change so far (1 day). My hope is for an improvement of the mics, the call quality for the receiver is awful. I didn't have the opportunity to do this test yet.
 
Aside from the r*dit post, I've yet to see anybody comment substantively regarding deltas they've noticed with the latest firmware update. Usually, I'll hear something (or a person I'm speaking to will mention they can hear me better), but this is the first Airpods firmware update in quite some time where no changes immediately jumped out.
 
I noticed two things about the new firmware:

1. When you activate 3d head tracking and move your head down or up the 3d effect is much better now.

2. When you chose stereo mode bass sounds good. When you select 3D or 3D head tracking bass gets much worse.
 
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I might be in the minority here but I listen with noise cancelling off mostly, and I noticed the bass is weaker with it off than with it on after this release. It's not bad, just weaker. Maybe it was like it before, but going back and forth I definitely hear more bass with NC or transparency on.
 
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