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Lower-Cost AirPods and New AirPods Max Said to Launch Later This Year

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Apple plans to release lower-cost AirPods later this year, according to Jeff Pu, an analyst who covers companies within Apple's supply chain.

airpods-3-orange.jpg

In a research note today with investment firm Haitong International Securities, Pu said a Foxconn subsidiary will be one of the suppliers of the lower-cost AirPods. Pu said Foxconn will ramp up AirPods assembly at a factory in India in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously said Apple plans to release two fourth-generation AirPods models in September or October, including entry-level and mid-tier models. He said both models will feature a new design with better fit, improved sound quality, and an updated charging case with a USB-C port, while the mid-tier model will also feature active noise cancellation and a speaker for Find My location tracking. It is unclear if the lower-priced AirPods and the entry-level fourth-generation AirPods are the same product, but it seems plausible.

Pu also expects updated AirPods Max to be released in the fourth quarter of 2024. Gurman previously said a USB-C charging port will be the only new feature for the over-ear headphones, and new color options are also a possibility.

Article Link: Lower-Cost AirPods and New AirPods Max Said to Launch Later This Year
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/04/01/lower-cost-airpods-late-2024-rumor/
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Lower cost AirPods and more expensive AirPods Max?

Have to make up the discount somewhere else I guess being such an altruistic company that looks after the not so well off by jacking up it prices on the “high end” models.

Well done Timothy, 3 points…..
 
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mach said:
Anybody else still holding onto their Airpods 2 because they prefer the tap controls over the squeeze controls?
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Not quite, but I had the original AirPods that I left behind on a bus so replaced them with the first gen Pro’s and even though it’s been probably two years, I still hate the squeeze controls.

The tap controls were/are so much easier to use, especially with dirty hands. I rarely use ANC so I’ll likely upgrade to the next non-pro AirPods that come out.
 
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Anxious to see how they compare to the 2nd gen. APP. Also curious what new features the gen. 3 AirPods Pro will bring!
 
Jetson said:
Will Apple ever give us BACK our 3.5mm headphone jacks?
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Seems about as likely as bringing flash back.

The AirPods section confused me. Two tiers, but the same, but not? Is there going to be two tiers and a pro? Or the same entry level plus pro?
 
I have such a love/hate relationship with my AirPods Max. I refuse to charge my AirPods Max in the stupid bra (which I have also misplaced and I categorically refuse to buy a replacement from Apple…it is somewhere) so the battery life (which was never good at launch and is even worse years later, and this pair was replaced under warranty in December 2022 right before the AppleCare+ expired) is not great and I get to have the fun of manually re-pairing them every few days. I also don’t love the comfort and the noise cancellation isn’t as good as my Sony's. The sound quality is quite good, especially for spatial audio, but I have better headphones for serious listening. All things considered, these are absolutely the worst $550 headphones I own, and I own a lot of headphones in this price range.

That said, I’m counting down the days for the next generation, because even if the only change is a USB-C port, these are an instant-buy. The auto-pairing is just too good across devices and as much as it pains me, if my current pair died tomorrow, I’d be ordering a replacement immediately.

I do hope that whatever Sonos comes out with and whatever Sony's successor headphones are will encourage Apple to do a little more than just adding a USB-C port, but I doubt it. In any event, I look at my pink AirPods Max with disdain and look forward to replacing them with a pair I hate almost as much.
 
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filmgirl said:
I have such a love/hate relationship with my AirPods Max. I refuse to charge my AirPods Max in the stupid bra
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I hate that stupid bra less than I thought I would, but I also don't understand why they insisted on it. I bought them because I loved how convenient using my gen 2 airpods is. But I really like over-ear cans and needed something with noise cancellation. But I can't just have it sitting on my desk, it has to be in that case. lol.

That said, the case. I don't really care about headphone cases because the headphones live on my desk. Quite the opposite: I don't want to have to use a case. I get that having a power button isn't very Apple, but this seems to have been the perfect situation to have a power button. Or at least make them go to sleep when you turn the earcaps sideways! although I don't care much for that one...

Or if they wanted to sell overpriced crap, they could've made them detect when they were placed laying down on their side and/or when someone sets them on a special "Made for Airpods Max" stand. (oo plus points if the stand charged the airpods wirelessly!)

While we're at it: They can't be serious about "being eco friendly" with that headband. The design doesn't allow you to easily swap the mesh out. Why?! Who thought this was a good idea?!
 
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Jetson said:
Will Apple ever give us BACK our 3.5mm headphone jacks?

I really dislike these earbuds. They fall out, often they fail within days of purchasing them, the sound quality is all over the place, etc.
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No. Buy some Bluetooth cans and go wired with a dongle.
 
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I want to add an interesting detail: the swift student challenge winner address form page stated that this address should be valid until August 31. All winners will receive AirPods Max. Maybe they will send the new ones?

As the form has to be filled out until Thursday, we quickly will know if the AirPods Max will be shipped immediately or not.
 
Too many SKU's for this and all Apple product these days! Remember when Steve came back and culled product lines,..its time! I've never seen so many product and product variations like we have now.

For goodness sakes Apple, Steve would be angry. Just have 1 low end, 1 high end,..remove ALL old product. It's crazy that Apple keeps this and all other product waste collecting dust on its store shelves. Cut the SKU's!

It's time for Jeff Williams to take the reigns, after Tim Cook wasted 10 Billion dollars on a non-existent prototype.
 
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bLackjackj said:
Too many SKU's for this and all Apple product these days! Remember when Steve came back and culled product lines,..its time! I've never seen so many product and product variations like we have now.

For goodness sakes Apple, Steve would be angry. Just have 1 low end, 1 high end,..remove ALL old product. It's crazy that Apple keeps this and all other product waste collecting dust on its store shelves. Cut the SKU's!
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Steve brought the iMac, which took 1 product with say, 3 configurations, and gave it at least 3-5 different colors at any given point in time. So you'd have 15 SKUs where there'd otherwise be 3. And they did it with the iBook too.


Right now they have 2nd gen airpods, 3rd gen airpods, 2nd gen airpods pro, and then for airpods max there's black, blue, green, red, and silver. If Apple wanted to cull their headphone SKUs they could just kill the Max.

But then there's the dozens upon dozens of Beats headphone SKUs since each of those come in a lot of colors.

I don't think they really care about this anymore. The supply chain is different today than it was 26 years ago.
 
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JoeG4 said:
While we're at it: They can't be serious about "being eco friendly" with that headband. The design doesn't allow you to easily swap the mesh out. Why?! Who thought this was a good idea?!
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Yeah, especially considering the ear cups are so easily replaced. My mesh is pretty worn and I'd love to replace it.
 
I remember fake AirPods with the same audio quality for $15. Same box (scammer selling those on Craigslist). Even the same screen when you open near an Apple device.

I know there is a cost for R&D but it shows how much Apple is charging for those headphones.

I have the AirPods Pro 2 and the AirPods 2 (bought the latter for $60 at Walmart during a discount).
 
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