“Of all the things that Apple announced during the iPhone 7 launch, the W1 chip actually impressed me most,” Ben Lovejoy writes for 9to5Mac.
“The W1 chip certainly solves the pairing problem. Those present at the event reported that pairing was instant. Propagating that pairing across all your Apple devices via iCloud is also a huge step forward,” Lovejoy writes. “Apple has also confirmed on its website that the protocol improves battery-life. Beats Solo 2 headphones offer 12 hours of battery-life, while the Beats Solo 3 – which include the new chip – claim 40 hours. Apple states that the improvement is ‘driven by the efficiency of the Apple W1 chip.’”
“It would be fantastic to see Apple license W1 chips to other headphone companies, much as it does the Lightning connector. That would allow other manufacturers to offer the same instant pairing, increased battery-life and improved reliability,” Lovejoy writes. “Sadly, however, my suspicion is that this won’t be the case. Without the Beats acquisition, Apple probably would have licensed the tech, as it would want consumers to have a wider choice of headphones than its own AirPods. But as the owner of Beats, it will likely want to keep the shiny new tech to itself.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We shall see, but that’s a legitimate concern since there are certainly better headphone, earphone, and earbud makers than Apple or (especially) Beats in this world.
SEE ALSO:
What AirPods can tell us about Apple’s future – September 12, 2016
Hands-on with Apple’s new AirPods: Stayed in my ears, sounded awesome – September 10, 2016
Apple and a truly wireless future: AirPods are just the start – September 10, 2016