[franzdom]

Are Airpods supposed to work with any phone or just the 7?

 

[Karias]

  Are Airpods supposed to work with any phone or just the 7?

Not sure, but I suppose it wouldn't be surprising if it only worked with the 7. It is apple, after all....

 

[Marc Lian]

They will work with the older iPhones, contrary to belief these ARE Bluetooth wireless. They will require manual pairing with the old iPhones.

 

[Trager]

Are Airpods supposed to work with any phone or just the 7?

I was going to post that they only work with the 7, but then I went to the Apple Store to look something up using my iPhone 6S Plus, and it said my phone is compatible with AirPods. I did not get that impression at all from the keynote, but now that I read through the product description, it seems that they're just another Bluetooth headphone with a customized pairing scheme.

 

[SparkOnShore]

I was going to post that they only work with the 7, but then I went to the Apple Store to look something up using my iPhone 6S Plus, and it said my phone is compatible with AirPods. I did not get that impression at all from the keynote, but now that I read through the product description, it seems that they're just another Bluetooth headphone with a customized pairing scheme.

No they are not Bluetooth. It's a whole new protocol. They will be compatible with your 6S ONLY AFTER you update to iOS 10...That's the whole difference, because the new software will make your phone compatible with the W1 chip, not the Bluetooth hardware inside your device...

 

[Marc Lian]

No they are not Bluetooth. It's a whole new protocol. They will be compatible with your 6S ONLY AFTER you update to iOS 10...That's the whole difference, because the new software will make your phone compatible with the W1 chip, not the Bluetooth hardware inside your device...

You make no sense, the phone side still needs a protocol to receive data from the AirPods unless the iOS update will also magically update my phone hardware to have a new chipset to talk with the AirPods I'm pretty sure it's the existing Bluetooth chipset that will communicate with it. So at the end of the day it is using Bluetooth.

The fact that it was stated to work with current gen MacBooks and iPads is already enough of a hint to tell you it is Bluetooth as that and wifi are the only wireless protocols available.

 

[aramk]

Interesting. I think if nothing else, this is going to entice more manufacturers to come out with better suited options for different people. I'm looking at you RHA! The AirPods have first mover advantage and native integration with iPhones which is nice. But for $150 I'll definitely shop around.

 

[SparkOnShore]

You make no sense, the phone side still needs a protocol to receive data from the AirPods unless the iOS update will also magically update my phone hardware to have a new chipset to talk with the AirPods I'm pretty sure it's the existing Bluetooth chipset that will communicate with it. So at the end of the day it is using Bluetooth.

The fact that it was stated to work with current gen MacBooks and iPads is already enough of a hint to tell you it is Bluetooth as that and wifi are the only wireless protocols available.

It may work with the Bluetooth chip of your phone but it is redesigned in order to not present the known Bluetooth problems, cruppy sound, interruptions etc. So to put it more accurately it is a new / better Bluetooth...

 

[Trager]

It may work with the Bluetooth chip of your phone but it is redesigned in order to not present the known Bluetooth problems, cruppy sound, interruptions etc. So to put it more accurately it is a new / better Bluetooth...

How do you know that? If you're going off of the keynote, Schiller also said that Apple was the first company to try to come up with a high fidelity audio wireless standard, so you probably can assume that their audio quality claims are just as accurate (i.e. not at all). The only thing that's definitively unique to the AirPods is the automatic pairing, and that's probably just an OS shortcut that overrides the usual pairing methodology. Do you have any evidence that AirPods have better wireless performance than any other Bluetooth devices? I mean, aside from shorter battery life than almost any currently offered Bluetooth phones.

 

[SparkOnShore]

How do you know that? If you're going off of the keynote, Schiller also said that Apple was the first company to try to come up with a high fidelity audio wireless standard, so you probably can assume that their audio quality claims are just as accurate (i.e. not at all). The only thing that's definitively unique to the AirPods is the automatic pairing, and that's probably just an OS shortcut that overrides the usual pairing methodology. Do you have any evidence that AirPods have better wireless performance than any other Bluetooth devices? I mean, aside from shorter battery life than almost any currently offered Bluetooth phones.

My only evidence is Apple's advanced products over the years as well as that no iPhone ever exploded while charging...Is 5 hours worse than rest Bluetooth? I doubt that...

I believe that Apple would never present a product worse than the existing. It never did actually. And since I agree that future is wireless, if they resolved some of the issues of Bluetooth, that's just fine by me...

 

[jwbrent]

Well, these are interesting. Since these are meant to be used during exercise as well as other activities, I imagine there must be some design factor that keeps these in one's ears. Maybe the antenna portion since it is so long assists with this.
 
Looking forward to reviews ...

 

[jwbrent]

There was a report today by Macworld about the AirPods and their ability to stay well seated even with some vigorous activity. Of course, this will be dependent upon the user, but it was nice to read.

 

[audiofool]

The Airpods are compatible with any bluetooth device even android phones. You do not have the simplified connection/pairing with those devices but must push a button on the charger/case in order to initiate pairing. As for iPhones, any phone which can be upgraded to IOS 10 can have the simplified pairing. I suspect the custom chip does enhance the audio fidelity in those phones that support it. 

 

[chef8489]

Love the attitude of apple followers. Apple can sell you guys anything. Good luck with the new product and hop you guys and gals are all happy with Beats and Apple.

 

[thesuperguy]

Something I'm wondering about is the sound quality that comes from use of that lightning to 3.5 adapter. It looks very sleek and I would assume that there needs to be a DAC somewhere in that tiny enclosure.