
We need to talk about AirPods Pro - dmvinson
https://medium.com/macoclock/we-need-to-talk-about-airpods-pro-4bbd2533e031
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JCharante
I'm personally a fan of the conspiracy theory that because multiple ANC
products have had their abilities reduced in firmware updates over the past
couple years, research teams have been independently finding out that user's
hearing are being damaged by highly effective ANC and have had to turn them
down without admitting fault.

Although I'm not even sure if that's how sound waves work, and recently there
was Bose's investigation into their firmware update that didn't actually
reduce their ANC despite user perspective. It's a fun theory up there with the
fake existence of Finland.

~~~
russellbeattie
The other option is that Bose, Sony or some other high-end audio company has a
patent on whatever noise cancellation system was in place originally. A
decision was made to avoid a legal battle (or a deal fell through at the last
minute) and the feature was nerfed until Apple can strong arm the patent
holder into a better deal.

~~~
jmole
this is exactly what happened.

~~~
jiofih
source?

~~~
ngngngng
Finland

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joshstrange
Mine are on 2B588 and I think I bought them late enough that I never even had
the original firmware to compare. I do know that when I first put them in I
thought the power went out in my house (due the sudden lack of noise). I would
like to know if I'm crazy or if these don't stay in ears well at all. Kind of
the opposite of what you would expect from an earpod like this but I can get
them to fall out in <10 seconds when eating with them in. Even when I'm not
moving my jaw they have a habit of slowly sliding out.

And before I get asked about tip size, I've tried all of them and done fit
tests on all of them. Fit tests always pass, and the pods always fall out. I
even tried different sizes on different ears over time to compare the two but
they seem to fall out at the same rate. I just (like as in 2 hours ago) broke
down and bought some foam tips from Amazon to see if that helps.

It's really disappointing because my original AirPods were so magical and now
I kind of don't like wearing the Pro's. I've considered more than once just
buying AirPod 2's and giving up.

~~~
tonywastaken
I've had the same issue. I've thought that maybe my ears are just too greasy.
I'm constantly fidgeting with them. With the original AirPods I would forget I
had them on.

They also seem to take longer to disconnect/switch to different devices.

~~~
joshstrange
I’ve has the same thought on my ears... yeah OG AirPods I would constantly
forget I had them on or think I had them on, these and just a source of
annoyance. I just got off a call, I was laying in bed and I had to readjust
them 10+ times in the span of as many minutes... really annoying.

------
ed
> We need

I think this problem is pretty far down the list of World’s Top Problems

~~~
netsharc
It's an interesting hardware bug, but the author's writing and saying "This
story should not be allowed to die" makes me see him as a huge self-important
first world prick.

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jpalomaki
There has been also some comments about people feeling "pressure" with the
noise cancelling headphones. Couple of old articles mentioning this [1] and
[2].

It's not about pressure as having something tucked into your ears, but related
to the noise cancelling: "You may notice a pressure-like feeling in your ears
when you first put noise-cancelling headphones on, like when you want to 'pop'
your ears. This is caused by your brain perceiving the lack of low low-
frequency sound as a pressure differential between your inner and outer ear,
just like when you ascend in an airplane." If you search for Airpods and
pressure, there are also comments on Reddit etc. I did not investigate if
those are referring to this phenomenon.

Something like this could explain why Apple would like to tweak with the noise
cancelling.

[1][https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/did-you-know-
technology/no...](https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/did-you-know-
technology/noise-cancelling-headphones) [2]
[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/technology/personaltech/0...](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/technology/personaltech/03pogue.html?mtrref=www.google.com)

~~~
traspler
I have this problem with noise canceling headphones.

When I first tried the Bose headphones, I immediately felt an uncomfortable
pressure on my ear drums. I can only wear them in airplanes and have to take
breaks. I tried other headphones and none are perfect for me but I did buy the
Sennheiser ones. It has okay noise canceling with only minimal pressure for me
and with stellar audio performance. The noise canceling is noticeably worse
than the Bose's but at least I can wear them longer. I also tried the AirPod
Pros when they came out and felt very little pressure so from that angle I
would have been comfortable with wearing them for an extended period. (I can't
say for sure but it might not have been the launch firmware) As with all Apple
headphones they just don't stay in my ears so sadly I passed them up.

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jiofih
> I actually told myself I would need to be extra careful from now on crossing
> the road. The noise cancellation was so good, I thought I might be hit by a
> car.

Sounds like the author hasn’t ever used any other good ANC cans? Both the Bose
and Sony pose the same hazard.

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snapetom
I can't imagine Scenario #1 being the issue. It should have been the first
thing they looked at when designing it. If it is, it's a new level of terrible
QA that Apple has been plagued with in recent years.

My lack of faith in humanity can see #4. Another great thing nerfed by dumb
people.

Regardless, the firmware releases are an embarassing fiasco that demonstrates
a lack of coordination and communication within Apple.

~~~
craftinator
I can. Make a big splash with amazing ANC at launch, hope news media picks up
stories about how awesome it is, then nerf it before that same media starts
picking up stories about the crappy battery life.

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traspler
I never noticed the "whoosh" silence with the AirPod Pros when I tried them
BUT I noticed something like that on my iPhone XR. Sometimes when I am on a
call and hold/press the phone to my ear in a certain way I have the sensation
of losing most of my hearing in that ear with only the voice remaining. The
sensation never lasts longer than a couple of seconds but it's only on phone
calls that I ever noticed this. I never had that with any other smartphone,
even ones claiming to have noise canceling during calls. Reading this article
makes me belobe that the iPhone still has the original AirPod ANC which is
just less effective due to the bad seal.

Did anyone else notice this?

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thefabsta
I've bought AirPods Pro in early November right after they were released. From
my personal experience, the background firmware updates have had a very
noticeable effect. I can attest to the perceived weakening of ANC (as opposed
to the initial firmware) the article mentions.

One firmware update has even rendered one of my AirPods Pro practically
unusable due to a strange clicking noise that would occur whenever I was
walking/running with ANC enabled, likely due to accelerations acting upon it.
I was convinced it was a hardware fault and was ready to return them until
another firmware update fixed the problem (until now at least).

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someonehere
Maybe litigation about the earbuds being too quiet might happen if someone
doesn’t hear something behind them like a car horn or oncoming something. I
used to wear noise cancelling headphones while walking to work in downtown SF.
It was too much cancellation that bothered me because I couldn’t hear anything
approaching me from behind. I can easily see the opposite happen if someone
was killed with the OG firmware. “Are AirPods too quiet? Do they put you at
risk?”

~~~
novok
Wouldn't that also apply to earplugs?

~~~
someonehere
I don’t know. I’m not Apple’s lawyers.

I would assume wearing earplugs you have the intent of reducing the sound
coming in. AirPods you are blocking external sound and replacing it with audio
of some sort.

With earplugs you could still hear things but at a reduced level. AirPods
you’re covering up and external sound that could come through.

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herval
I got a pair of Pros as soon as they came out. The fit was weird (maybe I got
used to regular Airpods), but what made me return them is I ALWAYS got nausea
after a few minutes with the noise cancelling turned on. It’s anecdotal of
course, but maybe there was something on v1 that added latency/something to
the external noise, thus inducing motion sickness? (Never got to try the new
firmware to confirm the theory)

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windex
Ive stopped buying anything with non replaceable batteries after noticing how
much junk I accumulated just coz the batteries died. Anyone know of good
bluetooth receivers (the types that clip to your pocket) that take an AA or
AAA battery?

I am just absolutely fed up of the battery situation. By the time the devices
are broken in and you are comfortable, it's time to buy another pair. I am not
that rich.

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_bxg1
I got mine in December (I believe this means I had the "bad" firmware), but I
still loved them immediately.

However, about 1 month later I noticed that noise cancelling (and passthrough
as well, which was even more annoying) wasn't really working on one side. I
tried factory-resetting them, tried everything I could think of, and nothing
helped. So I scheduled an Apple Store appointment. To Apple's credit, they
replaced the one on the side that wasn't working, for free, with very few
questions asked.

However, that's when things got weird.

Now the older one wasn't cancelling/passing-through as well as the brand new
one. It was doing _something_ , just not as much, which led to a really
distracting audible asymmetry. This was confirmed by the fit test not working
in just that one ear. Again I tried updating the firmware, factory-resetting,
etc.

Eventually I found this thread on MacRumors:
[https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/airpod-pro-ear-tip-
fit-...](https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/airpod-pro-ear-tip-fit-test-not-
working-not-the-only-one.2208392/post-27997343)

tl;dr, it seems that some of the meshed gaps/microphones the Airpods Pro use
to calibrate their various special audio features get very easily clogged by
ear wax, skin oil, etc. And they're extremely sensitive to this, to the point
where you have to clean them out very frequently to prevent degradation. I
went through and rigorously cleaned them - rubbing alcohol, cotton swaps, etc.
- and even then mine still have problems. The only way I can prevent the
asymmetry it is to turn off the "active sound" features altogether. But this
means that not only don't I get full noise-cancelling, I can't even safely use
them just to listen to music in any spaces where I need to be able to hear my
surroundings. They are now _worse_ than the regular Airpods that I gave up
when I got them.

This is completely unacceptable for a product that costs $250, but at this
point I'm exasperated. I'm tired of going to the Apple Store, and it's
presumably not even open right now with the virus going. I wish I could just
turn them in and get a refund, but I think it's been too long. If I could do
that I'd probably even buy a new pair of the regular ones and just go back to
those; mine had worked mostly without problems for over a year. At this point
I don't know what to do about it all except hope there's a recall-like process
like they did with the butterfly keyboards.

~~~
kylehotchkiss
Some credit cards offer extended warranties - maybe worth a look if the card
you purchased with offers some sort of purchase protection. You'd need the
receipt, of course.

~~~
_bxg1
Alas, they were a gift :/

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danlugo92
> AirPods firmware updates happen automatically. And unlike with iOS and macOS
> updates, they can’t be stopped. You’re getting the update whether you like
> it or not.

