Apple recently rolled out its latest AirPods Pro that looks funny. And the internet can’t stop laughing at the memes people are making comparing the AirPods with things like a hairdryer, pea shooter from Plants VS Zombies and the Pokemon Bell-sprout. And more. We’ll talk about that later. For now, Let’s jump into the hairdryer… err… AirPods Pro.
Customisable Fit
Firstly, Apple has now realised the importance of the silicon tip at the tip of the AirPods and has made the stem shorter. The silicon tip provides better grip over the ear. Famous YouTuber Marques Brownlee (or MKBHD) wanted this feature since the older AirPods would fell from his year after some running. The AirPods Pro’s silicon tip come with customisable fits, meaning it has three different sizes of the flexible tip included in the box.
The tip forms a seal to block outside noise in order to enhance the active noise cancellation. The tip also has vents that equalise pressure and lets some audio come in from the outside world, making you feel more comfortable. Moreover, iOS 13.2 has special support for the AirPods Pro. With iOS 13.2, you can do a quick test to determine which tip size will fit you the best. The test uses the inward microphone to detect if the audio is leaking with the currently applied tip.
And will suggest you change the tip accordingly. Further, you can quickly set volume or turn on/off the active noise cancellation within iOS. Or you can use your Apple Watch for the same function.
Active Noise Cancellation
The outward-facing microphone on the AirPods Pro detects outside noise and counters the noise with equal anti-noise. This way you won’t hear it when Active Noise Cancellation is turned on. It also has an inward-facing microphone that eliminates unwanted noise by producing anti-noise inside your ear.
This Active Noise Cancellation adjusts automatically at the rate of 200 times per second. If you want to hear the outside noise for a while talking to someone, you can press and hold the “force sensor” built on the stem of the AirPods. This turns off noise cancellation and turns on “Transparency mode”, which lets you hear the world outside.
Audio… an improvement.
The AirPods Pro have adaptive audio equalisers that enhance the audio. Some initial first impressions of the AirPod Pro suggests that the audio quality is quite of an improvement over the previous iterations of the AirPod. And it probably is the most important upgrade. The built apple’s custom-made H1 chip uses the inward-facing microphone and the amplifier to control listening levels and remove background noise.
Force Sensor Functions
Press the force sensor present on the stem of the AirPods
- once to play, pause or answer a phone call
- twice to skip forward
- three times to skip back
- and hold to switch between Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency mode
Sweat and Water Resistance… that may degrade.
As another point of upgrade, the AirPod Pro comes with IPX4-rated sweat and water resistance when it’s raining or when you’re in an intense workout. But as stated on the official website, “AirPods Pro are sweat and water-resistant for non-water sports and exercise.” And, the website also mentions that the sweat and water resistance might decrease as a result of wear and tear.
Moreover, it says that you shouldn’t try to charge a wet AirPod because the charging case isn’t water-resistant. Refer to https://support.apple.com/kb/HT210711 for cleaning and drying instructions.
Charging and Battery… it’s quite the same.
The wirelessly-charging case that comes with the AirPod Pro sustains the AirPods for 24hrs as usual. On a single charge, the AirPod Pros can function smoothly for 4.5hrs with Active Noise Cancellation and for 5hrs without it. If you charge it just for 5 minutes, it’ll do the job for an hour.
As always, the AirPod Pros come with “Hey Siri” support. These AirPods connects automatically when brought near your iPhone or Apple Watch. But voice commands works with iPhone 8 or later and iPod touch (7th generation) with the latest version of iOS; and 12.9-inch iPad Pro (2nd generation or later), 11-inch iPad Pro, 10.5-inch iPad Pro, iPad (5th generation or later), iPad Air (3rd generation), and iPad mini (5th generation) with the latest version of iPadOS.
Also, you can engrave your name or your initials or basically anything you want on the AirPod Pro for free if you buy it from the official website.
The AirPods can’t be repaired…
Apple had made a statement saying that the AirPods can’t be repaired. And in case of any damage, it’ll only be replaced if under the usual free limited warranty of 1 year of the Apple Care+. In case your initial limited warranty has expired and you haven’t purchased the Apple Care+, then your AirPods are worthless. You’ll have to buy a new pair of them.
Let’s tear it down!
iFixit, the website that teaches how to fix various gadgetries, recently released a teardown of the AirPods Pro. The website ranks device according to their repairability score which tells about how much can you repair the device. And the AirPod Pro gets a repairability score of 0/10. The final reason stated in iFixit is:
While theoretically semi-serviceable, the non-modular, glued-together design and lack of replacement parts makes repair both impractical and uneconomical.
Price
The AirPod Pro comes with a price tag of $250 (and in India, ₹24,900, official website) with the wireless charging case. And there’s no other variant. These AirPods are ~$50 more than the usual AirPods with the wireless charging case. Also, if you want the Apple Care+, you’ll have to pay $30 extra. This makes the deal to be $280.
Now coming to Memes…
Ever since Apple unveiled the new AirPods, people have compared it with stupid things making memes that were flooding twitter. Most prominently, Marques Brownlee tweeted some pictures of things that looked like the new AirPods and ignited the fuel for the rest of the internet.
And we’ve found some of the best memes that the internet made: (Swipe, swipe, swipe!)
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