The verbiage makes it sound high end, but they're decidedly not talking to people who already spend a lot of money on headphones. There are some audiophiles using wireless these days, but always lossless. Apple has, to that market's dismay, been using lossy bluetooth. The silence here suggests they still are.
It's too expensive for the 'anything that works' crowd but is definitely not an audiophile product. Noise cancellation? Crowded market. Not sure where else this could fit in.
It's similar to the Apple watch. On the low end it really doesn't have any competition. Other smart watches look awful in comparison and you get a lot for $400 or whatever they cost.
But the high end of their range? I know zero watch people who have swapped their mechanical watch for a high end Apple watch. They might wear a low end one occasionally, but an expensive watch that has to be plugged in daily -- well, that's electronic at all -- is the antithesis of high end watches.
More succinctly: An audiophile AirPods is like an Hermes Apple Watch. Cringey, expensive, but will probably find an audience somewhere in the gap between low income and high taste.
This isn't an audiophile product. It's a status symbol marketed at the same people who own an iPhone and beats. People who have money and would like everyone else to know it.
The verbiage makes it sound high end, but they're decidedly not talking to people who already spend a lot of money on headphones. There are some audiophiles using wireless these days, but always lossless. Apple has, to that market's dismay, been using lossy bluetooth. The silence here suggests they still are.
It's too expensive for the 'anything that works' crowd but is definitely not an audiophile product. Noise cancellation? Crowded market. Not sure where else this could fit in.
It's similar to the Apple watch. On the low end it really doesn't have any competition. Other smart watches look awful in comparison and you get a lot for $400 or whatever they cost.
But the high end of their range? I know zero watch people who have swapped their mechanical watch for a high end Apple watch. They might wear a low end one occasionally, but an expensive watch that has to be plugged in daily -- well, that's electronic at all -- is the antithesis of high end watches.
More succinctly: An audiophile AirPods is like an Hermes Apple Watch. Cringey, expensive, but will probably find an audience somewhere in the gap between low income and high taste.