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Will USB-C earbuds work when connected to USB-C port on the Macbook Air?
- Thread starter ian87w
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That’s good to hear, but the reality of USB-C is not that simple. For example, USB-C audio out that Samsung use is not compatible with what Chinese OEMs use. Not even the dongles work universally. It’s quite confusing.
Weird. I had no idea. Still, I would expect them to work fine. USB is a well defined standard. If there is a problem, it will be with the particular earbuds, not the Mac.
macOS has a rather large device encyclopedia in its /system/library/ so a great many things, how shall I put it, just work. But it has to know what that thing is and how to talk to it. If something is not listed in there and uses an unfamiliar protocol, the mac will not know what to do with it.
I'm curious if anybody with an M1 Macbook Air has ever tried plugging in a USB-C headset into the mac.
I have an Anker USB-C to Lightning adapter that I use to connect my Apple wired earbuds to my iPad Pro. They also work perfectly on my M1 MBA. They work on my Windows laptop, too, FYI.I'm curious if anybody with an M1 Macbook Air has ever tried plugging in a USB-C headset into the mac.
So I suspect a USB-C-native set of earphones will work just fine on the M1 machines.
Indeed. But it is also the most confusing one out there.
Yep, I have a Plantronics USB-C headset that I use with my M1 MBA. It's a USB-C headset, and it... just works. As others have said, this SHOULD be the case most of the time, as USB-C is just USB (I can put a USB-A adaptor on the same headset and it works perfectly with my PC desktop).I'm curious if anybody with an M1 Macbook Air has ever tried plugging in a USB-C headset into the mac.
I think it can get fishy with phones and USB-C devices.
Cool! Thanks for the sharing. Sounds like USB-C on computers are more consistent, unlike USB-C on phones.
First I've heard that such a thing exists. I thought that BlueTooth was taking over the world. I guess that this would be like the Lightning Headsets that Apple came out with a couple of years ago.
I'm surprised that there are inconsistencies on phones as audio stuff usually just works.
I'm surprised that there are inconsistencies on phones as audio stuff usually just works.
Is there any extra latency when using USB-C headphones?
There must be some digital stuff happening... D/A conversion, etc.
It's not as simple as sending an analog signal down a cable.
There must be some digital stuff happening... D/A conversion, etc.
It's not as simple as sending an analog signal down a cable.
None that I have noticed. As @imrazor says, the USB audio standard has been around for decades, it's pretty well advanced now.
Yeah, you would think that's the case. But even those 3.5mm headphone jacks are not created equal, as there are different formats (CTIA vs OMTP), and this is not usually disclosed in spec sheets.
As for USB-C, apparently there are different ways manufacturers use to pass the audio signal. Despite the same connector, there are OEMs that pass the audio signal as analog, and there are OEMs that pass the audio signal as digital, and there's no way to know until you find out certain USB-C headsets don't work with certain phones. None of this are disclosed in any spec sheet, neither on the device nor the headset...
I'm just glad that at least it's more consistent on computers. It's really a mess on phones.
i have both of these and the result is mehI'm curious if anybody with an M1 Macbook Air has ever tried plugging in a USB-C headset into the mac.
I’ve used Jabra headphones over USB with Mac OS for a few years now. It’s USB-A but the port type shouldn’t matter if the device profile works for one it should work for another.I'm curious if anybody with an M1 Macbook Air has ever tried plugging in a USB-C headset into the mac.