At the end of October, via press release, Apple announced AirPods Pro, an exciting addition to the AirPods family that features Active Noise Cancellation and superior, immersive sound in an all-new lightweight, in-ear design.
Once a decade or so, a product emerges that claims to be revolutionary, touted with superlatives by its manufacturer, receiving universal plaudits, and exceeding expectations. Apple is often the source of this product. Since the days of the first Mac, through the iPod to the iPhone, Apple has hyped big and delivered as promised. But now it appears there’s been a subtle shift in the Apple hype machine under Tim Cook… for the first time in recent memory, Apple has underpromoted a product that I find truly revolutionary: AirPods Pro.
They seemed to have come out of nowhere, and, having had a chance to demo them, I think they are among the most innovative tech products I have experienced since the iPhone… the execution of their creative and technical brief is so exacting and complete that they are a revolutionary product. I’m not alone. They are among the hottest selling items this holiday season.
The [Apple Retail Store] demo station was unobtrusive, tucked away at the front of the store, easy to miss as you passed by… [The demo] took about five minutes and by the end, both Matt and I agreed that we couldn’t remember a product demo that so thoroughly convinced us of something we didn’t even know we needed.
MacDailyNews Take: Not everything requires a special media event. Some products sell themselves.
I always like to visit the Apple Store and drool (metaphorically) over the wonderful stuff I can’t afford. Employees ask me if they can help me, and I say, “No, I just came to see if you invented something I didn’t know I needed.”
I LOVE my AirPods Pro but I have to admit I miss the “double tap” to hang up a call or summon Siri. The tapping was just so intuitive. I would love the option to tap for one commend and “click” the stem for another.
I agree- there’s something to be said for being able to use only 1 finger instead of 2 (especially if you’re wearing gloves – which I guess they don’t do a lot of in California)
I have the original AirPods. The tap and double tap are both amazing features. I can’t do it wearing heavy gloves. I am pretty sure I will not be able to do the press that the AirPod Pros now have with gloves. I think this is dumb to get rid of a very popular feature on the Pro product.
Get Powerbeats Pro that sound as good or better than AirPod Pro and all the nice controls are on the ear pieces as well as volume that you cannot control with the APP’s !!
dumb question: I sometimes have a problem hearing my iPhone in crowded public places, would sticking ONE of the AirPod Pros in one ear solve this problem- could I hear and talk on the phone?
Yes, that’s how some that mainly use it for chatting on the phone extend their talk time. Use one, when it gets low on power put the other one on and the first one back in the charging case
Just an FYI. Noise cancelling requires both buds be in the ear. Input from both earbud mics are required to generate noise reduction. Sometimes noise canceling is great on a call in public places. Using one earbud will still allow for transparency mode.
Just an FYI. Apple allows for noise cancelling on only one AirPod Pro, for just one ear. It’s in the settings to be turned on, but it is possible to enable it on just one AirPod Pro. Try it and see for yourself.
Thanks, that’s the information I needed, I think noise canceling in just one ear is what I’m really after. My Bose over the ear canceling headphones are sometimes TOO good and, for me at least, no ambient noise is distracting.
Wow an almost positive story about Apple in Forbes… I wish they would have made a complete review – I find the transparency mode to be the best in an office environment as I can converse with coworkers and still listen to tunes.
I THINK transparency mode also protects your hearing. Using my Airpods as makeshift football earplugs (transparent on office, noise reduction on defense), there were a few times on transparency, when things got noisy quicker than I was expecting, and the earbud turned on a bit of noise reduction. Thinking about it, it makes sense that Apple might not want to amplify loud sounds into your ear canal.
I’m extremely p!ssed off that I had to return my AirPods Pro because the little effers hurt my ears! I tried all the tips, I tried different tips on different sides at different times, I pushed hard, I pushed lightly, I twisted them this way and that, but after a few minutes I had pain in my antitragus area on both ears and it was painful and annoying.
I LOVE my AirPods 1 and 2, perfect fit, no pain, and I thought AirPods Pro would be the same, but the bulbous area its bigger which presumably adds to the pressure on the lower inner ear canal where the dam things hurt, sadly.
So that’s it… I very sadly and very annoyingly had to return them. Totally annoyed about it, hoping some releases a thinner and comfortable AirPods Pro 2 sooner rather than later.
Until then I’m back to my AirPods 2.
I also made a hilarious mistype above, since corrected, where I’d typed AirPods Pron. Pr0n? Hahahaha
Hated mine returned them. Went back to the old ones. I need an XS ear piece.