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When should you upgrade your hi-fi? How to control ‘upgradeitis’
Paul.
Well-known member
I have no intention of spending that sort of cash on headphones, but I’m curious how the reviews are going to go. Apple has been on a bit of a roll with their silicon, I wonder if they can pull this one off?
Friesiansam
Well-known member
I'm wondering how many of the features Apple have larded them up with, will never be used by most of the buyers, rather like high-end 'executive' cars? They will certainly not replace my Shures or Focals.
EricLeRouge
Well-known member
A fool and his money are soon parted. — Apple has elevated this concept to the highest level ever since the invention of religion.
Paul.
Well-known member
jjbomber
Well-known member
Friesiansam
Well-known member
They sell a variety of cables, mainly USB, Lightning and Thunderbolt. Not expensive compared to audio cables but, still costly compared to alternatives. https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/mac/accessories/power-cables?page=1&f=cable&fh=4595+45c4
I guess being product designer I look at them differently to you they look well made is all I can say cant comment on sound.
Forgetting the quirky features I generally think there are some useful things in there the neutral sound enhancement that keeps track of you head in space
sound novel and no reason to think that wouldn't work
bigboss
Moderator
The true value of any product is the value people are prepared to pay. Apple has elevated itself to a trillion dollar company, and they command a very high resale value. So the true cost of ownership of their phones is actually less than Android phones (I've never owned an iPhone in my life and have mostly had an Android).
bigboss
Moderator
Apple's iPhone offers lower cost of ownership than Android phones
The lower cost of ownership speaks not only to iPhone's cost competitiveness against its peers, but most importantly...
macdailynews.com
buzz_lightclick
Well-known member
bigboss
Moderator
Never on my radar. I've got an Android phone, not Apple. Money wasn't an issue for me and I'm happy with the headphones. They're supremely comfortable and sound amazing.
daveh75
Well-known member
Apple's iPhone offers lower cost of ownership than Android phones
The lower cost of ownership speaks not only to iPhone's cost competitiveness against its peers, but most importantly...
Only high end phones, and according to an Apple-centric website.
Apple's cost of ownership is never going to compete with sub £200 Android phones.
bigboss
Moderator
Of course. Only phones Apple is directly competing with. In fact, even iPhone SE at £399 will be cheaper to own than other mid range phones in its price range for the same reason.
Sliced Bread
Well-known member
Any changes of opinions on this topic since the reviews came in?
I’m on the fence but have ordered a pair and will keep them if they live up to the hype. If not I’ll return or sell them.
This thread is interesting as it highlights one of the main aspects that puts me off the headphones and that’s the image it casts. I’m not a vain guy and rather ironically I feel that these flashy looking apple headphones can make you come across as too flashy. For that reason, if I like them I’ll probably be keeping them for indoor late night use (a bit like a sordid secret you don’t tell your mates about). In public I’ll stick to my shures.
I’m on the fence but have ordered a pair and will keep them if they live up to the hype. If not I’ll return or sell them.
This thread is interesting as it highlights one of the main aspects that puts me off the headphones and that’s the image it casts. I’m not a vain guy and rather ironically I feel that these flashy looking apple headphones can make you come across as too flashy. For that reason, if I like them I’ll probably be keeping them for indoor late night use (a bit like a sordid secret you don’t tell your mates about). In public I’ll stick to my shures.
Paul.
Well-known member
A lot of reviews seem pretty positive. The only negative thing I’ve really seen is the weight of the things, since I wear mine all day I’m a bit of a princess about that 😂
Sliced Bread
Well-known member
Yes that’s a concern as I’m a bit of a princess too... Some say they’re heavy some say you don’t really notice. If they’re uncomfortable I won’t keep them.
Longchops
Well-known member
Being someone who fixes broken stuff I would have to disagree with this. A pretty design does not equal well made in my eyes. Some of their stuff is definitely well made and well designed I agree. Some of it is absolutely shocking. All of it is very overpriced without exception.
Remember that most of their products are made in a factory where they have to install netting to prevent people from throwing themselves down the stairs. These kind of work environments are not normally synonymous with great quality, value, or prestige.....
They sound like good quality headphones. But at £549 it just seems like typical Apple opportunism. If you want to walk around completely deaf to the world with that kind of value balanced on your head then good luck to you, you'll need it....
Sliced Bread
Well-known member
If you want to walk around completely deaf to the world with that kind of value balanced on your head then good luck to you, you'll need it....
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This is a fair point.
They really should have some kind of locking software so the headphones cannot be used outside your account without a pin number
[/QUOTE]
This is a fair point.
They really should have some kind of locking software so the headphones cannot be used outside your account without a pin number
Its well documented that Apple doesn't want you fixing their stuff, whether that's a design flaw or not is open for debate, I'd argue nearly all electronics these days are not designed to be repairable. From an industrial design perspective, I can tell you Apples fit and finish is second to none.
Factories in China have to be audited but some get through the process especially if they are subcontracting to another factory and apple isn't aware (which i believe was the case you're referring to). Happens to all the big names yet we still buy Nike trainers, levis jeans, shop at H and M (this one was horrendous) Primark and so on and no one batters an eyelid
I can tell you as I work with china quite a bit, some of the worst are not in the third world and a lot closer to home than you think.
Again you could say that for any product you carry, phones, DSLR's heck the weeding rings on your figure are worth more than a pair of headphones in most cases
if they want the headphones they can have them ill get some more on insurance. Not that id be wearing a pair of headphone like this out side as there not shielded from the elements at all. These are very much intentend to be used at home
Longchops
Well-known member
If you make products that can't be repaired then you you are not a technology company, you are a landfill company. No one will ever convince me that using peasant labour to chuck products together using glue instead of screws is worthy of an industrial design award, thats my definition of "jerry built' and I just don't understand this society's fascination with such cheaply made stuff
Apple products used to be made in california. Most of those products still work, over 30 years later. Levis are still made in USA, but their American made products come at a premium. 'Made in USA' is much better than 'made in China' at the end of the day. Its a shame why capitalism always heads in the direction of the lowest quality product at the cheapest price. I think the world of hifi has suffered from this mentality terribly over the last 30 years.....
Yeah birmingham used to be the city of 10,000 trades, probably more like the city of 10,000 slaves nowadays, I don't disagree with that assessment at all. Shameful really isn't it. Wasn't there something about boohoo doing this in leicester or something
Insurance makes your expensive headphones even more expensive. Its a shame that we can't have nice things in 2020. Personally I don't walk around with anything worth more than about £100, I'm not a gadget person and live in a bad place. If you want to have £1800 smartphone and a £600 headphones thats up to you, personally I've had cars that cost less than that and I've been worried parking them in certain areas.
If they are designed to be used at home, then why not just use a wire? Wouldn't that sound better anyway?
Excuse the long answer but was an interesting post. Horses for courses at the end of the day I guess.....
Paul.
Well-known member
I’m not sure I agree that China has an inherent quality problem, the problem is customers going out to China aren’t paying for quality. The skills out there are amazing but if you race to the bottom on cost you aren’t going to get amazing work. USA has lost those manufacturing skills and would not be competitive.
One of my favourite bicycle companies have frames built in Taiwan and the quality is fantastic. The high end models for a few years have been made in Britain,an extra £2-300 chucked on top of the cost of previous generations. They are selling well so good news, but they have a surprising number of recalls which I have never heard happening with their Taiwan built stuff. I’m not much of a patriot so I don’t care where my bikes are built, but I would be happy with the lower transport miles.
And whilst I also agree that more repairable products would be better, customers have spoken that they want something thinner. You can’t get that thin without bonding/heat staking etc. My 2011 17” MacBook Pro stills runs, is a dream to disassemble and repair, I’ve done a few repairs and tweaks on it over the years, but it’s an absolute brick 😂
it’s worth noting that broken apple stuff doesn’t have to go to landfill, they have quite a good track record with refurbishing and recycling. If a MacBook Air which is 70% pritt-stick fails, anything working gets reused and the chassis gets recycled.
One of my favourite bicycle companies have frames built in Taiwan and the quality is fantastic. The high end models for a few years have been made in Britain,an extra £2-300 chucked on top of the cost of previous generations. They are selling well so good news, but they have a surprising number of recalls which I have never heard happening with their Taiwan built stuff. I’m not much of a patriot so I don’t care where my bikes are built, but I would be happy with the lower transport miles.
And whilst I also agree that more repairable products would be better, customers have spoken that they want something thinner. You can’t get that thin without bonding/heat staking etc. My 2011 17” MacBook Pro stills runs, is a dream to disassemble and repair, I’ve done a few repairs and tweaks on it over the years, but it’s an absolute brick 😂
it’s worth noting that broken apple stuff doesn’t have to go to landfill, they have quite a good track record with refurbishing and recycling. If a MacBook Air which is 70% pritt-stick fails, anything working gets reused and the chassis gets recycled.
Longchops
Well-known member
Have you ever heard a salesman say 'this is the coveted made in China version. Much better than the USA/UK/Japan/Taiwan version!' Of course not lol. And there's a good reason for that.
And as for "customers have spoken" well we are both using 8+ year old apple products that still work. My 2012 MacBook pro has an SSD and 16GB RAM as of this year. I don't want to swap it for a new one because it will cost a fortune, not last as long, and be less repairable. I don't care how thin it is. I just want it to work. Are we not the customers, and are we not speaking?
I bought it second hand 5 years ago for £490, less than the price of these headphones. You can get them for about £150 now. if I had £550 burning a hole in my pocket I would probably rather have 3 of those than some stupid headphones tbh. There is value to be found amongst apple's product line up, you just have to wait a couple of years and find the stuff that doesn't break imo. I'd never be a first day buyer for any of it, certainly not after the 4s!
Gray
Well-known member
Don't worry what others think, none of their business.
If you wanna wear your pink headphones, you wear them, Candy Floss head.
Apple AirPods Max review
What Hi-Fi? Awards 2021 winner. Apple’s first on-ear headphones justify their huge price tag
www.whathifi.com
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