charlesn

netrox said:

The last SE was $429. Now it's $599. That's a $170 increase! (edited to correct math)

Keep in mind that the dramatic increase in price was not because shortage due to pandemic but as a result of tariffs imposed by our President Trump. People voted for Trump who slapped tariffs on our imports and the costs are being passed to us. 

Stop calling it "a new low price point" - it's NOT. It's "increased due to tariffs." 

Hey... there's plenty of blame to go around for the Felon & fElon Circus, but the price of the 16e has got nothing to do with it. No new tariffs have been imposed--yet--that would affect the 16e. Also note that the 16e is being made in India, not China. 

stephanjobs said:

MKBHD 
Claims that AirPod Pros 2 have slightly beater noise canceling transparency mode. Can you explain why he thinks this if they have the same Apple H2 noise canceling and transparency? 

That they share the H2 chip does not mean the ANC and transparency mode will perform the same. There's a lot more involved than just the chip: microphones, microphone placement, software coding, algorithms and even the physical shape and materials of the pods themselves can have an impact. FWIW, I own both the Lightning and USB-C versions of the AirPod Pro 2 and I've found the newer USB-C version--although it's allegedly "identical"--to have slightly better ANC than my Lightning pair. This perception of being better held up in blind-testing, when I had my wife give me one pair or the other without my knowing which pair I had over a number of rounds of tests, and I could pretty consistently identify the USB-C pair. I wouldn't say it's a big difference at all, certainly enough to be worth replacing the Lightning version, especially since the AirPods Pro 3 can't be that far off. But--at least for the two pair I own--the difference was there. 

"The additions of things like ANC and Transparency immediately bring it in line as the sport-focused version of the AirPods Pro"

Exactly, Which is why I'm surprised the PBP2 wasn't compared directly to APP2 in areas like noise reduction and audio quality. As to how good these are in the latest USB-C version of APP2, I can only say this: I've mostly stopped using my AirPods Max completely because the AirPods Pro 2 are just THAT good. 

The addition of heart rate monitoring is really interesting, and I would think Apple will find a way to track heart rate even more accurately by analyzing signals from both the wrist and the ear if the user is wearing two devices. 

M68000 said:

SuntanIronMan said:

M68000 said:

tobian said:

I so love the convenience of TouchID on my SE3, superior to FaceID, I would say. Sad to see fingerprint sensor ditched on iPhones

Yeah,  why can’t we get an iPhone with under screen Touch ID?  Android phones have had that for years it seems.  Not everyone is keen to keep having their face scanned and hopefully there is no long term harm to the eyes.

Of the sun’s light that reaches the earth’s surface, about half of it is infrared. (With about 42% being visible light and the remaining 8% being ultraviolet.) You have been getting a face full of infrared light long before FaceID ever existed.

Yeah,  well remote controls use IR as well and they usually come with warning not to look directly at them. 

You need to post a screenshot of that warning -- I have AT LEAST a half dozen IR remotes from major manufacturers and not a single one ever came with a warning. And with good reason: do a search and learn that IR remotes are extremely low power and disperse IR over a wide area (i.e., no focused beam) and are absolutely not harmful to your eyes. They've also been in use since the 1980s, so there's a 40-year track record of safety. Of course, if you're going to put a magnifying glass over your eye and stare directly into an activated IR remote pressed against the other side of the magnifier, then yeah, maybe you shouldn't do that. 

Sounds like a fine idea but, as they say, the devil is in the details. Verbatim true story from CVS at the pharmacy counter the other night with a customer I was standing behind who was using the iPhone app:

Cust: Hi, I'm trying to find out what's happening with my prescription. I really need it, your app says you've been "working on it" for three days but it's still not ready for pickup? No one ever answers the phone when I call, so I came in. What's happening?

CVS: (checking computer screen) Oh, your insurance company didn't approve it, so now we're waiting for your doctor to call us back with more information, so we can call the insurance company and try to get approval. 

Cust: But the prescription WAS approved. 

CVS: I'm sorry, sir, no it wasn't.

Cust: (holding up phone) But look, it says it was approved. 

CVS: I'm sorry, sir, but I can't go by something you have on your phone. 

Cust: But this is YOUR app that's saying it's approved. Look--it's the CVS app and it says "Approved." 

CVS: Well we have no way of confirming that here. 

Ugh. We've all ended up in conversations like this at one time or another and it truly is a special level of hell.