Lossless Audio With Apple Vision Pro Will Be Limited to USB-C AirPods Pro 2

[msackey]

It sounds like these AirPods might be different from the other 2nd generation AirPods Pro out in the wild.

Yes, that's how I read it.

But is it improved hardware or are they just making a feature exclusive to the new product just because it’s newer?

Sounds like the hardware of the buds are different.

If the hardware is improved, why didn’t they call these the 3rd generation AirPods Pro?

This hang up is probably more to do with individual and not Apple? Let me take another example. Many car manufacturers keep the same model of their car and don't even give it an official version year nomination distinction. For example, Peugeot started producing the 405 in 1987 and there have been many, many, many iterations of that model over the years but they are all called 405 and aren't, as far as I know, distinguished by a year name. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peugeot_405 And this is just one example. There are tons of products like that.

Seems a little fishy/confusing. Maybe this news story is wrong and it’s just a case of MacRumors inadvertently stirring the pot? Someone in this thread mentioned that an Apple rep told them it’ll work on the previous 2nd gen AirPods Pro as well.

Perhaps. I'm not sure. But all that said, I don't find it particularly unusual for Apple to keep the same name and still call it a generation 2 product. They're not forbidden from doing so and they would not be the first to have named a new version the same name. Again, there are countless consumer products like that.

 

[morphineseason]

Why do all the product lines need to be as convoluted as possible? One of my biggest gripes with Tim Cook’s Apple

 

[TracesOfArsenic]

Classic Apple. "Upgrade your hardware please everyone! We've got numbers to make up for lower sales elsewhere."

 

[ErikGrim]

SO these are basically AirPods Pro 3? If it's that much of an upgrade why didn't they just call it that?

AirPods Pro 2.1

 

[ErikGrim]

You clearly haven’t heard of ATPX.

Try again.

ATPX is not lossless

 

[AlexJaye]

Apple has really turned into such a POS company, to be honest.

 

[ErikGrim]

So many angry people here that definitely was going to buy the vision Pro next year that have just bought new old APPS2. You all crack me up,

 

[eoblaed]

Hardware that was released a year ago doesn't have the same features as brand new hardware? I can't imagine many people would find that surprising or upsetting.

 

[maxfromdenmark]

I can only hope lossless audio will one day work from iPhone

 

[ridgero]

Actually it should be called 3rd Gen.

 

[zzrwood]

It doesn’t work. There is no truly lossless codec that works over anything slower than wi-fi. Apple’s claim is marketing hokum:

Lossless audio is finally coming to AirPods Pro 2… but only with the Apple Vision Pro

What a loss

www.techradar.com

“Apple says that the Lossless Audio codec will enable the AirPods Pro 2 to deliver ultra-low latency with the Apple Vision Pro – both of which use the H2 chip – as well as 20-bit 48kHz lossless. Now, this isn't actually that impressive for Hi-Res Audio. It's not enough for the full quality of Apple Music, for example, which can deliver 24-bit 192kHz. And to compare it to other wireless transmission tech, Snapdragon Sound can do 24-bit 96kHz.”

I don't believe they are using Bluetooth (or WiFi, for that matter), rather a proprietary local communication protocol using custom chips.

 

[rotvaldi]

Hopefully a lawyers firm do an action class against this greedy move, what is sad it’s that you can clearly see that the AirPods Pro 2 Lightning has the capability to have lossless just they don’t want to allow it, Nuratrue earbuds allowed lossless by a firmware update… so yes it’s possible. They just want to trick consumers to buy 1. The new AirPods Pro 2 with usb c and 2. The new VisionPro. Totally greedy move… it just passed 1 year. ********.

 

[AlexVr]

Most likely this is just a crooked description. They write "usb-c case" everywhere. To work you need an H2 chip and the latest firmware, the second generation has this.
If they had made lossless sound a hardware change, they would have announced it at the presentation and introduced the third generation.
More interesting is why lossless doesn’t work with iPhone.

 

[kkee]

Lol somebody come make excuses for Apple on this.

 

[Crow_Servo]

Yes, that's how I read it.


Sounds like the hardware of the buds are different.


This hang up is probably more to do with individual and not Apple? Let me take another example. Many car manufacturers keep the same model of their car and don't even give it an official version year nomination distinction. For example, Peugeot started producing the 405 in 1987 and there have been many, many, many iterations of that model over the years but they are all called 405 and aren't, as far as I know, distinguished by a year name. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peugeot_405 And this is just one example. There are tons of products like that.


Perhaps. I'm not sure. But all that said, I don't find it particularly unusual for Apple to keep the same name and still call it a generation 2 product. They're not forbidden from doing so and they would not be the first to have named a new version the same name. Again, there are countless consumer products like that.

That’s right, I’m not a large corporation composing an official press release condemning Apple. I’m an individual sharing their opinion about a news story. Good observation.

Btw, if you read through the comments, there are plenty of others who are also bothered by this discovery. Looks like you have your work cut out for you if you plan to correct them all.

Good luck! Apple thanks you for your service. But if your main goal is to explain that Apple is not alone in making things confusing for consumers, then you’ve already succeeded.

Apple gets a lot of things right and helps to make technology more understandable to the laymen, but they also make baffling decisions regarding their product lines at times.

Sorry if I’m being dense here, but maybe somewhere they could call these AirPods Pro “new and improved” just so people can understand it’s not just a new case? But seriously, I’m no expert. Just sharing some thoughts. I’m generally not very negative about Apple, but sometimes they’re frustrating.

 

[dandy1117]

This is a very good point - definitely the fixed and short distance (from Vision Pro) is a factor to be able to guarantee higher transfer rate of lossless audio.

Cannot have variable distance like with iPhone , iPad, mac

But still, as others have said, call this Airpods Pro 3 ffs

It's possible that if these were introduced as AirPods Pro 3, some individuals on forums may complain that Apple's marketing is deceptive, giving the impression of a significant update just to boost sales. They may also argue that lossless audio, which is only available on the niche Apple Vision Pro, is not a significant enough feature to warrant a new generational name change.

I guess, forum posters are always just forum posting! 😂

 

[doelcm82]

So very “green” of Apple to do this. Create more E-Waste so they can make more money off the die hards. Mother Nature would be so proud…

Are you buying new AirPods Pro because of this news? Because I'm not. Even though I'm planning (as of now) to get the AVP, I don't think I'll need lossless audio, at least at first.

A lot of people are complaining that they can't buy a new USB AirPods Pro case and throw their old lightning case in the garbage (or the ocean). Apple could make a lot of money and generate more e-waste by marketing new USB-C cases. Why do you think Apple decided not to rake in the big bucks AND pollute the planet at the same time?

 

[someone33]

How nice of Apple not to include support for it with the new iPhone 15 Pro.

 

[SpaceCrystal]

This makes no sense, assuming it's the same H2 chip. Giving new features exclusive to same-generation devices will create a lot of confusion. Not that I care about this feature, but it's a weird marketing move.

I can’t imagine it’s to do with the case, so that leaves the AirPods themselves, and if they are different from the lightning 2nd gen pros, why keep them the same name?

Apart from that this might be the only difference and doesn’t warrant being called the 3rd gen pros (or even 2.5), it’s still a bizarre move.

This is just dumb. The only difference is the case. The Airpod Pro 2 in the USB C case are the exact same ones in the Airpod Pro 2 with the Lightening case you could get the day before.

It's all about leaving Lightning behind & getting everyone on board to USB-C (& making everything that has USB-C work alongside the iPhone 15 lineup & future products).

USB-C's mainly the standard within the majority of electronics in regards to charging nowadays.

 

[tgwaste]

It would still be interesting to know just how far down latency in digital sound reproduction can be pulled down. I'm going to guess it is still at least 20ms, or there would be a published spec somewhere. 10ms is about where a high end musician can barely not be highly irritated.

if we could get to 10 on wireless headphones when tracking.. my god that would be amazing. i would even be happy a little higher as long as I could keep up with a metronome.

 

[Crow_Servo]

Are you buying new AirPods Pro because of this news? Because I'm not. Even though I'm planning (as of now) to get the AVP, I don't think I'll need lossless audio, at least at first.

A lot of people are complaining that they can't buy a new USB AirPods Pro case and throw their old lightning case in the garbage (or the ocean). Apple could make a lot of money and generate more e-waste by marketing new USB-C cases. Why do you think Apple decided not to rake in the big bucks AND pollute the planet at the same time?

I’m definitely not buying these ear buds for the new charging case or for lossless audio when paired with the AVP or really at all. Not interested. But others could be interested for these reasons.

I wonder too why Apple wouldn’t release the new charging case separately, unless these new AirPods Pro are a silent upgrade in hardware and Apple is hiding that upgrade behind the new charging case?

I don’t know. They sell the Apple TV Siri Remote separately, so I don’t imagine it’s for the planet…Won’t they need to sell it standalone eventually? You know, for people who lose or break their AirPods Pro case or something?

 

[coredev]

This is just dumb. The only difference is the case. The Airpod Pro 2 in the USB C case are the exact same ones in the Airpod Pro 2 with the Lightening case you could get the day before.

Do you know this for sure? What are your sources?
Did you get a pair each and disassembled them?
Do you even have the knowledge to understand what you're seeing in case you disassembled the Pods?
Please advise.

 

[zonai]

Most likely this is just a crooked description. They write "usb-c case" everywhere. To work you need an H2 chip and the latest firmware, the second generation has this.
If they had made lossless sound a hardware change, they would have announced it at the presentation and introduced the third generation.
More interesting is why lossless doesn’t work with iPhone.

But Apple supposedly confirmed to Bloomberg that there is something different with the USB-C Airpods to where they will only have lossless and not the other model.

 

[Orazzan]

It’s not like it’s Lossless for any audio. It’s just for the Vision Pro. Who cares.

 

[Shirasaki]

Waiting for more confusing product names and revisions in the future.
I can see Apple has taken their learnings from USB-IF very seriously and believe that’s top tier marketing strategy.