Third-Gen AirPods Offer Only 5 Hours' Listening Time With Spatial Audio Enabled

[MacRumors]

Apple on Monday announced third-generation AirPods, featuring an updated design, improved sound quality, and an extra hour of battery life compared to the second-generation AirPods, which offer five hours of listening time. However, what Apple didn't make very explicit in its marketing is that to get six hours out of its latest earphones, spatial audio must be disabled.

As noted in Apple's fine print, if spatial audio is enabled, users can expect up to five hours of battery. That's the same amount of listening time offered by the second-generation AirPods, which don't support spatial audio, but still half an hour longer than the AirPods Pro. That said, AirPods Pro can also be pushed to five hours of listening time by turning off Active Noise Cancelation and Transparency mode.

The new ‌AirPods‌, as rumored, feature a design similar to the AirPods Pro but without silicone eartips or Active Noise Cancelation. The new ‌AirPods‌ also include Adaptive EQ, which adjusts frequencies in real-time based on what a user is listening to deliver even improved sound quality.

According to Apple's specifications page for the new AirPods, the third-generation AirPods do not support the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and the iPhone 5s, because they require iOS 13 to work. They also drop support for the iPad mini 2 and iPad mini 3 alongside the sixth-generation iPod touch.

The new third-generation AirPods are being offered alongside the second-generation AirPods, as well as the higher-end AirPods Pro. The new AirPods are available for pre-order now and will begin shipping next week.

(Thanks, Anton!)

Article Link: Third-Gen AirPods Offer Only 5 Hours' Listening Time With Spatial Audio Enabled

 

[BvizioN]

Been waiting for these. Still on my first gen AirPods, purchased on the first day they came out. They are truly showing their age now.

 

[KrisLord]

Been waiting for these. Still on my fist gen AirPods, purchased on the first day they came out. They are truly showing their age now.

that’s impressive. You’ll love having working batteries again!


I bought the 2nd gen as soon as they came out as my first gen were barely working by then. (They has been used hwavily

 

[MathersMahmood]

Been waiting for these. Still on my fist gen AirPods, purchased on the first day they came out. They are truly showing their age now.

I’ve practically been copy and pasting the same thing lol.

5 hours is plenty of time. Need to give those ears a rest.

 

[heystu]

'Only' 5 hours? No complaints here, I tend to wear my AirPods for around an hour, 2 max before popping them back into the charging case so they're box-ready for next time.

 

[Abazigal]

'Only' 5 hours? No complaints here, I tend to wear my AirPods for around an hour, 2 max before popping them back into the charging case so they're box-ready for next time.

I have had my AirPods die in the middle of a long zoom call, so their batteries are definitely showing their age. Listening is fine, it’s talking that really drains the battery life, I find.

 

[Seoras]

Only 5 hours? My Gen 1 AirPods died after 20mins today. 5 hours would be wonderful.
Order a set of 3rd Gen's for my wife at her request today, she's never owned her own and all of a sudden announces that she wants some too. She never asks for anything tech.
I'm waiting to see how much I like hers before I upgrade and bin my old Gen 1s.

 

[macvicta]

Do you know how tiny those batteries are? Five hours of cordless listening joy should be considered a monumental feat of engineering. I remember the days when a product like AirPods was nothing more than a science fiction fantasy.

 

[anthorumor]

I never once thought of how small the batteries must be in those AirPods considering all the 'smarts' that they do. Esp. for noise cancelling Pros.
I think most people wont even know what Spacial Audio is and just leave it at the default setting, which for the sake of the battery life, is 'off'.

 

[MrUNIMOG]

According to Apple's specifications page for the new AirPods, the third-generation AirPods do not support the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and the iPhone 5s, because they require iOS 13 to work. They also drop support for the iPad mini 2 and iPad mini 3 alongside the sixth-generation iPod touch.

This applies to some features. Of course they will work just fine with any device supporting Bluetooth Audio. And with iOS 12, most of the typical AirPods-convenience will also be there, just not any of the new stuff..

 

[matrix07]

Only? My AirPods have just 4 hours of listening time ?

 

[henrikhelmers]

Still using my first-gen AirPods for meetings. They time out after less than an hour, which serves as a gentle reminder that it's time to end it. Can't believe I have had them for over 4 years. Well worth the money, hopefully, the next generation will last me as long.

 

[String]

Getting 30 mins talk time and about 45 mins listen time on my 1st gen AirPods. I have to admit 4 1/2 years is pretty good. These will be much appreciated.

 

[macintoshmac]

Can’t help thinking that had they kept the longer stem, we would have had amazing battery life as against this stupidly low 5 hours.

 

[twomack]

I'm curious to see how well they stay in the ear before I hit the buy button.

 

[Tozovac]

I have had my AirPods die in the middle of a long zoom call, so their batteries are definitely showing their age. Listening is fine, it’s talking that really drains the battery life, I find.

From day 1 I’ve typically used only 1 at a time for the majority of times I use mine, be it for a call or listening to a podcast before bed. I didn’t do it on purpose to save battery life but it occurred to me a few months into using them that this enabled me to have zero downtime with them for the majority of times I’m using them.

I love my AirPods, to me they’re one of the Apple innovative game changers of the last 20 years I value much and would never want to go back to prior options. Clickwheel iPod, iphone, MacBook Air form factor, MacMini form factor, retina MacBook screens, iPad, AirPods. Not an Apple Watch’er, and I can’t say that Apple TV is that much better for me vs. the Roku devices we also have. (Though it’s better than Amazon’s fire stick IMHO)

Unless I’m overlooking any, all the rest of Apple’s ”innovations” over the last 10 years were mostly for fashion reasons, change for the sake of change, and/or ways to keep up with shareholder revenue growth expectations.

 

[locrumo]

At least no jelly effect reported yet.

 

[idmean]

Still using my first-gen AirPods for meetings. They time out after less than an hour, which serves as a gentle reminder that it's time to end it. Can't believe I have had them for over 4 years. Well worth the money, hopefully, the next generation will last me as long.

Seems to be more than a ‘gentle’ reminder.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

I'm curious to see how well they stay in the ear before I hit the buy button.

That would probably differ from person to person. Only way you'd know, is to try them in your ears.

 

[betterbegood]

Apple really wants spatial listening to be amazing, I don't see why I should care.

 

[JWD]

I get 1 minute with the AirPods gen 1. By far my worst lasting battery, especially compared to my Powerbeats I use for working out and have even survived a wash cycle. My Apple TV remote is holding noticeably smaller charges as well, I think they need to improve these small batteries, or somehow be replaceable/serviceable.

 

[sdz]

What is the battery life after 2 years of daily usage?

 

[jnash]

What is the battery life after 2 years of daily usage?

lol right cause mine last about 30-45 minutes now LOL!

 

[frou]

I'm tempted to get these but sometimes when I'm out it's struck me how nice it would be to have active noise cancellation. Will probably wait for the AirPods Pro 2, which will inevitably take forever to be announced!

 

[foobarbaz]

Still using my first-gen AirPods for meetings. They time out after less than an hour, which serves as a gentle reminder that it's time to end it. Can't believe I have had them for over 4 years. Well worth the money, hopefully, the next generation will last me as long.

That's pretty lucky. My first gen were practically unusable by the time AirPods 2 came around (after 2 1/2 years).

My AirPods 2 have fared much better. After the same 2 1/2 years, I still get 2h of talk time out of them and more listening time than I need.

So I'm glad reliability is trending up. Still worth the money to me, though. I'd happily pay every year if need be, which is funny considering how reluctant I was to spend "that much money" on the first ones.