A Mac-oriented podcaster I listen to said this morning he’d heard last week that Apple was planning a Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday release schedule (recorded before today’s announcements). So if his info was right this might just be it for the time being.
But the betas of iOS have info in them relating to charging multiple items simultaneously, hence AirPower. And today’s Wall St Journal reports, “The company earlier this year approved production of a wireless-charging pad called AirPower, according to people familiar with the matter. It had announced the product in late 2017. AirPower, which would allow users to charge the new AirPods and an iPhone simultaneously, has been delayed by product-development challenges, the people said. Apple typically announces new products within months of beginning production.”
So I’d say it’s coming soon, but probably missed the announcement window, as Apple apparently only wanted this week to focus on new products immediately available.
I am very happy with my previous AirPods. The batteries are losing their virtue, but I still get a couple of days’ use out of a single charge. I won’t be upgrading.
I’m curious as to why those who did upgrade have done so. Some of you have mentioned batteries wearing out – is that the reason for all of you?
I’m not criticizing Apple here. This is similar to their phone strategy, where most people will want to upgrade at most every other generation; only die-hard fans with lots of disposable income will upgrade every year. Rather than do big upgrades, Apple mostly does a series of small steps and it takes two or more generations for you to see a big difference.
Battery life on my existing AirPods is the deciding factor for me. If my current AirPods were fine, I don’t know that Hey Siri and wireless charging would be enough to get me to upgrade.
I’ve noticed that diminished AirPod battery life has almost become a meme in the indie Apple nerd podcast sphere. I’ve had mine for a year and a half and still get a solid 4-5 hours listening time — and I have been working them to the bone, too — I’d estimate that I’ve used them at least 5 hours 5 days a week since buying them.
Did I get a unicorn set? If your set is dying, what was your average usage during a week? Should I expect mine to fall off a cliff any week now?
My view is similar. The product is too good at what it does and gets so much use that I accept that they will wear out and need to be replaced. If I could get usage to stabilize at 3 years, I feel that would be ideal. I can live with two if I must. I’ve never found a pair of headphones/earbuds as useful to me as these are.
Now that Hey Siri is enabled, there aren’t really any features I’m pining for (…gestures?..), so I’d love to keep these as long as possible.
I haven’t ordered my new ones yet, but that’s just because I haven’t had time to get on the site yet.
I have no idea how long my AirPods last these days but for me, hands-free Siri is a huge benefit. I only use one pod at a time since I like to have a full sense of my surroundings especially when I’m out walking.
Faster pairing will be nice too. I’ve always felt that pairing was decent but could be improved.
Trying to figure out who I can pawn my current set off on to offset generation 2.
I’ve had my AirPods pretty much since the beginning and use them regularly, mainly to listen to podcasts and for phone calls. The listening time for podcasts is still reasonable (I’d estimate it lasts a few hours), but it’s not as useful for long phone calls. I find that I’m getting the low-battery warning after about 30 minutes.
Reading this thread, I am amazed of the lack of criticism with regards to the new release.
I find this new release fundamentally disappointing, no new real features, nothing exciting, no innovation, just a continuation of what is known.
The new charging case was far overdue, and speaking to my ear-phones in public seems still somewhat strange.
I was hoping for some health features supported by the material and the electronics, how about noise cancellation, …
Mine are down to about 90 minutes of listening time between chargings in the case. I tend to use them for an average of an hour to an hour and a half per day.
Note that this may depend on your climate too. I really noticed my battery life degrading when we hit the cooler months last fall.
Same. Some people (not here) get really angry if you say you are a heavy user who still gets good battery life (as I do.) I suspect there is some difference in how they’re used (average volume level, Bluetooth environment, when they’re charged, etc.)
Considering that if (when) the battery life on mine got too low I would have bought another pair of 1st gen AirPods, any enhancements to the 2nd generation are gravy from my perspective.
Having the original AirPods and still with decent battery, getting new ones is contingent on AirPower coming out. I want, so badly, to reduce nearly all of my wires to a single mat.
@Sven I appreciate your frustration; let me share my perspective. Personally, I have no need to lament because the Air Pods worked so well for me that I was not really in need for anything else. The only thing I really thought would be a nice bonus was having “Hey Siri” functionality. For me, I don’t need them to be innovative for the sake of being innovative. They do a great job–far better than any non-innovative wired headphones ever did for me. Other feature additions might be nice, but I don’t “want for” them. I could not care less about whether I charge with a wire or charge with a mat. The mat has to plug in, so there’s still a wire involved anyway. I don’t want noise cancellation and I am indifferent to adding health features. Again these are my personal feelings; I am not suggesting you perspective is wrong. I share them only because you raised the issue of why there was lack of criticism.