AirPods are an amazing feat of technology. Incredibly tiny, easy to use, and they sound great. They almost never cut out for me (a problem many Bluetooth devices are supposed to have).
There was nothing close to them on the market when they came out. You either had to have terrible battery life, much larger headphones, or pay a TON more money.
I’m with you on the camera. If Apple made a camera I’d buy it in a heartbeat. The responsiveness and quality they can get out of that ridiculously tiny sensor is extremely impressive. Imagine what they could do with an APS-C or Micro 4/3s.
You already mentioned some of their other amazing tech like Face ID. The role they’ve been on with the A-series chips since they started taking the designs in house has also been pretty incredible.
I bought these [1] which lock them in perfectly but defeats their ease-of-use because you have to remove them to fit them back in the charger-case of course.
Some people have had luck with hole-punch sized waterproof tape [2] which I haven’t tried but has the advantage of not interfering with the case.
I despaired over which bluetooth earbuds to buy. I don't like either the Jaybird or Beats form factor. And especially not the Airpod/Earpod style.
I greatly prefer the Shure line (style) of earbuds. The shape works great for my ears. But I had grown weary of the tethered cable. (And the jack is going away.)
The Luxray is meh, okay. Fantastic for $20. But I'd like something more modern, full featured.
A generic MMCX & bluetooth & codec base cable would be a great kickstarter project. I'd happily pay $200 for something that was robust, (firmware) upgradeable.
I envision the same base electronics available in different form factors, eg Jaybird-style necklace, Bose-style neck horseshoe, lanyard-style dangly thing.
When comparing bluetooth cables, be mindful of the codecs supported. The cheapos I bought support AAC, allegedly best (preferred) for my Apple gear. I've read that aptX (and later) is best for Android.
That’s the unfortunate thing about the design. They are such fantastic headphones but for many people it doesn’t matter since they simply can’t wear them. Apple doesn’t have any other styles or adapters or anything so if you or someone they don’t fit… you’re just out of luck.
I understand it a little bit, how would you advertise to people how they’re supposed to figure out which ‘fit’ they should buy? It is easier just to make one that fits the majority of people (whether that’s 60% or 90% I don’t know) and just avoid the issue.
There was nothing close to them on the market when they came out. You either had to have terrible battery life, much larger headphones, or pay a TON more money.
I’m with you on the camera. If Apple made a camera I’d buy it in a heartbeat. The responsiveness and quality they can get out of that ridiculously tiny sensor is extremely impressive. Imagine what they could do with an APS-C or Micro 4/3s.
You already mentioned some of their other amazing tech like Face ID. The role they’ve been on with the A-series chips since they started taking the designs in house has also been pretty incredible.