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Apple To Unveil High-End AirPods, Over-Ear Headphones For 2019 (bloomberg.com)
According to a new report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Debby Wu, Apple is "planning higher-end AirPods, a new HomePod and studio-quality over-ear headphones for as early as next year." From the report: The Cupertino, California-based company is working on new AirPods with noise-cancellation and water resistance, the people said. Apple is trying to increase the range that AirPods can work away from an iPhone or iPad, one of the people said. You won't be swimming in them though: The water resistance is mainly to protect against rain and perspiration, the people said. Slated for 2019, the earbuds will likely cost more than the existing $159 pair, and that could push Apple to segment the product line like it does with iPhones, one of the people said. Apple is also working on a wireless charging case that's compatible with the upcoming AirPower charger.
There are over-ear headphones coming from Apple, too. Those will compete with pricey models from Bose Corp. and Sennheiser. They will use Apple branding and be a higher-end alternative to the company's Beats line. Apple originally intended to introduce the headphones by the end of 2018, but has faced development challenges, and is now targeting a launch as early as next year, the people said. A previous Bloomberg report was plugged, teasing a new version of the current AirPods that will feature a new chip and support for hands-free Siri activation. They are reportedly launching later this year.
There are over-ear headphones coming from Apple, too. Those will compete with pricey models from Bose Corp. and Sennheiser. They will use Apple branding and be a higher-end alternative to the company's Beats line. Apple originally intended to introduce the headphones by the end of 2018, but has faced development challenges, and is now targeting a launch as early as next year, the people said. A previous Bloomberg report was plugged, teasing a new version of the current AirPods that will feature a new chip and support for hands-free Siri activation. They are reportedly launching later this year.
When did Slashdot became an Apple rumors site? The Bloomberg folks mentioned have poor track records of being correct in their claims.
Given the audible shortcomings of the very lossy codecs used by wireless headphones today, I don't see how such could be called "High-End". Maybe because you need to get High on drugs to End the pain from hearing compression artefacts and temporary reception outages?
Rumor is that they make 128k mp3s sound as good as a 78 RPM record as long as you hold them right. A steal at $5400.00 each.
Will the inevitable W3 chip they brag about have more computing power than their current mac mini? I can't wait to hear Timmy and the stooges brag about desktop performance in their headphones.
When they announced the homepod (then delayed it) I though, "oh brother, they are so far behind in the personal blue tooth speaker market".
Boy was I wrong. Homepod is the biggest advance in audio reproduction technology is 50 years.
Seriously, all other consumer grade speakers are stereos that don't properly account for room geometry, the fact that sound disperses differently depending on frequency, nor do they have compensation of non-linear effect.
uop until the homepod every bit of effort was in making speakers that were more phase linear and could maintain that across large amplidude difference and frequency mixes. that is they were pefecting the transducers. But that does nothing to actually reproduce the holographic nature of a real sound field. emitting sound from 2 points can never ever reproduce the 3-sound field. It fails to account for the different dispersion of different frequencies. On top of that room reflections and absorptions modulate the sound field in frequency dependent ways that are un acounted for.
The homepood is far from done but it's self monitoring phased array can accounbt for this, and it's computational processing can dynamically adjust to non-linearitys and produce soundfields more structured than a steropair can-- all from a single can.
it will only get better but this is the watershed moment when audio replication technology for consumers changed.
I have no idea what they are planning. They already have Beats headphones so why they want to re-invent that makes no sense. On the otherhand perhaps they are going to introduce directional sound fields into headphones (they wont be the first, but chances are their audio processing technology will be more sophisticated).
I would bet they will make them so that when you tilt your head or face different directions the sound field changes so that it's like you are turning in a real sound field. Great for video games. Machine gun fire would stay in the right spatial position no matter which way you turn. You could tell the difference between a helicopter flying over in front of you or behind you.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Fixed that for you: "Apple To Unveil High-End AirPods, Over-Ear Headphones For $2,019 "
Assuming what you've stated here is fact, can you help explain one thing? If the homepod is really that phenomenal and holds a half-century of advancement inside, why in the hell are audiophiles not going fucking apeshit over it?
Either every audiophile in the world is ignorantly dismissive of the sound technology here, or you're pounding Apple-flavored kool-aid shots with the rest of the fanbois. Which is it?
I know there's a running joke that Apple is 5 years behind the curve, but Jesus Christ.
This is actually the configuration I've been waiting for. Earbud type devices won't stay in my old hairy ears.
Shhhhhhhhhushhhshhshhushh. Shush. "High end."
My 2016 LG base-model TV can configure itself to the room geometry, as heard by the microphone in the remote. It optimises the sound so it is best where you are actually sitting.
I'm pretty sure the older ones did that too.
The summary says it all about Beats though, they want a higher-end price point product above their high-end Beats branded products.
He's pounding something, but I don't think its koolaid shots
Let's assume their headphones will also have noise cancellation, the real question is - will their noise-cancelling headphones be better than Bose? You may not like the Bose audio quality but they are the king of noise cancellation.
#DeleteFacebook
Your post sounds like a derivative of the Crunchy Frog ad.
#DeleteFacebook
At $299 for headphones they would be in the same price range as some Bose and Sennheiser headphones. The Bose QuietComfort 25 aren't cheap. Let's just see if Apple can at least equal Bose in the active noise cancellation department.
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Indeed. The problem isn't the limits of 16-bit. The problem is the loudness war.
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I did not say it was good. I'm saying as an electrical engineer it really is a breakthrough in concept that have gone unaddressed. It's a whole new direction of physical acoustic principles that are now available. Will it be a success? I certainly haven't bought one!
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Nobody take any chance, just in case. Don't drink the koolaid shots!
#DeleteFacebook
Single microphone equalization is not remotely the same thing as spatial sound shaping.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Come on Apple.
How about a new Mac Pro and Mac Mini? And adding the headphone jacks back into your products?
Just because you bought Beats, we don't all need $200 headphones.
We certainly don't need them in place of not refreshing your stagnant computer lineup.
Seriously, all other consumer grade speakers are stereos that don't properly account for room geometry, the fact that sound disperses differently depending on frequency, nor do they have compensation of non-linear effect.
So what you're saying is you haven't shopped for a sound system in the past 10 years. Gotchya.
I did not say it was good.
You said it was " the biggest advance in audio reproduction technology is(sic) 50 years"
Key word: "advance"
No sig today...
Google Home does that too, and the Max (similar price bracket to the HomePod) is generally thought to have similarly excellent sound quality.
Google Home has a few advantages too:
- Line in
- USB
- Off switch for the microphone
- Removable power lead
- Google Assistant isn't a lobotomized version like Homepod Siri is
- Works with all phones
The actual tech for adjusting to the room geometry has been around for a while in some high end home cinema stuff. HomePod has a slight advantage in that it is omnidirectional (the standard Google Home is too, but not the Max), although that's less useful than it first appears because due to needing power it will end up in a corner or against a wall anyway.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Interesting that the PR video shows a pair of Sennheiser HD1s. Why not a pair of Beats Audio?
Hunh? The "PR-Video" is a report from Bloomberg, and it shows a a pair of Sennheisers because that is what the report says Apple's will compete with just when that pair of Sennheisers is shown.
Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
Well, perhaps they actually want some over the ear headphone that actually sound worth a shit....something with more of the full spectrum presented in a pleasing manner, rather than just a bad overly strong base signal.
Beats are pretty lousy.....
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Just came here to say that "just get bluetooth" isn't a solution and that (though better than M$) Apple is behaving foolishly with their whole "the future has no ports!" design philosophy.
Apple should've never gotten rid of the 1/8 jack. It's a universal audio AND data port that is backwards compatible with tech 100 years old. Samsung has proven you can make a waterproof phone with a 1/8 jack. /rant
Thank you Dave Raggett
I'm not an acoustical engineer, but I seriously wonder whether you can "compensate for room geometry" in any meaningful sense just by adding a bit of digital processing. You can notch the EQ to compensate for the resonant frequencies of the room itself, any competent sound guy can do that, but I'm not sure what else you can do. There's a reason that studio owners spend thousands, or sometimes tens of thousands, on room treatments.
You can do things like adding a small amount of delay to speakers firing in one direction to compensate for the sound having to travel further before it reflects off a wall, for example. That prevents ringing and unwanted reverb.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC