Apple officially announces special event for April 20: ‘Spring Loaded’

Vudgie

Not unexpected at all given that it is attached to a bunch of keys but after 4 days my air tag is covered in visible scratches.

Bob24

Vudgie wrote: »

Not unexpected at all given that it is attached to a bunch of keys but after 4 days my air tag is covered in visible scratches.

For sure. It is basically the same glossy plastic and polished metal back they have been using since the iPod. Infamous for scratching super easily.

daraghwal

Vudgie wrote: »

Not unexpected at all given that it is attached to a bunch of keys but after 4 days my air tag is covered in visible scratches.

I doubt any engravings will last too long on a set of keys if they're scratching up that quickly

murpho999

Bob24 wrote: »

For sure. It is basically the same glossy plastic and polished metal back they have been using since the iPod. Infamous for scratching super easily.

Just get the Hermes holder and you'll be fine.

Bob24

murpho999 wrote: »

Just get the Hermes holder and you'll be fine.

If I had money to waste on this thing I’m sure I’d be fine yes ;-) (although if the idea is to prevent scratches I don’t think it actually helps much since it doesn’t cover the whole AirTag).

At the end of the day I don’t think anyone cares about scratched airtags anyway.

Leftwaffe

Airtags are gonna get scratched simple as that. It’s a 35 euro item, I’m willing to take the hit on scratches, etc.

I’m the same with my Apple Watch tbh, although I try take care of it, I’ve fully accepted that it’s gonna get scratched. I see people with screen protectors and protective film on them and think that’s a complete waste. Just enjoy it for what it is.

Creamy Goodness

Leftwaffe wrote: »

Airtags are gonna get scratched simple as that. It’s a 35 euro item, I’m willing to take the hit on scratches, etc.

I’m the same with my Apple Watch tbh, although I try take care of it, I’ve fully accepted that it’s gonna get scratched. I see people with screen protectors and protective film on them and think that’s a complete waste. Just enjoy it for what it is.

Yup I think case/screen protectors - especially on the watch - are a complete waste of money. Fair enough on an iPhone where they hold their value much more.

I don’t baby my watches but definitely don’t go around rubbing it against granite walls or anything. There’s a few light scratches on the glass but by no means hinders the use of the product.

Gregor Samsa

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

I don’t baby my watches but definitely don’t go around rubbing it against granite walls or anything.

That’s exactly what I did with my Series 0. Accidentally rubbed it off a granite wall on the top of Bunratty Castle, and put a deep gash right across the screen.

I’ve a Zagg protector on my Series 4 now. Don’t even notice it, and the watch is in pristine condition despite being knocked about a fair bit. The glass is tougher on the newer watches than the aluminium 0, so maybe it’s not needed as much, but that incident scarred not only the watch, but me too.

Bob24

I am careful enough but I have to say cases/protectors simply don’t cross my mind when it comes to the Apple Watch.

To each their own of course and I have no issue if someone wants to protect theirs.

But I would point out that *very* few people would ever think of adding a protective cover to their “regular” watch (even if it is a very expensive luxury watch). It is interesting that just because a watch has an Apple logo on it, the way of thinking about this can be different (it might be a smart watch, but at the end of the day the way to wear it the potential for hitting it against something are the same as with any other watch).

Gregor Samsa

Bob24 wrote: »

But I would point out that *very* few people would ever thing of adding a protective cover to their “regular” watch (even if it is a very expensive luxury watch).

People bring good watches in for polishing if they get bad scratches.

Creamy Goodness

A polishing of a good watch would rival the cost of an Apple Watch titanium/ceramic edition too, small price in comparison

Bob24

Gregor Samsa wrote: »

People bring good watches in for polishing if they get bad scratches.

And if it is a cheaper watch they usually just live with the risk of damaging it.

I would personally apply the same reasoning to the Apple Watch.

whippet

I got my airtags today - I did go with the apple keyring as I'm a sucker for apple stuff. Nice and neat and same brown leather colour as my Apple Watch strap !! now if only I had somewhere to go to loose stuff to check it out

DubDJ

Been on the lookout for a few weeks for a cheap AirTag keyring. Amazon was slow with options but eventually came across this one.

Got it today and happy enough with it. Worked out around €9.50 so bang on around the price I was looking to pay. It was offering free one day delivery too which was a nice addition.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B091Y9VVDV/

Gregor Samsa

Alright, that's it. After my wife misplacing the keys yet again, and me running around like a madman this morning looking for them while trying to get the kids to school, I'm getting an AirTag. This thing is going to be used more than my shoes. I would get the 4 pack, but the lead time is 4-5 weeks.

soc

Gregor Samsa wrote: »

Alright, that's it. After my wife misplacing the keys yet again, and me running around like a madman this morning looking for them while trying to get the kids to school, I'm getting an AirTag. This thing is going to be used more than my shoes. I would get the 4 pack, but the lead time is 4-5 weeks.

Picked up a 4 pack In Harvey Norman.
If you need asap no harm checking out your local store?

peteeeed

a few stories knocking about that air pods 3 and apple hifi will be announced on may 18th

https://9to5mac.com/2021/05/13/sketchy-rumor-claims-apple-will-launch-airpods-3-on-may-18/

Bob24

peteeeed wrote: »

a few stories knocking about that air pods 3 and apple hifi will be announced on may 18th

https://9to5mac.com/2021/05/13/sketchy-rumor-claims-apple-will-launch-airpods-3-on-may-18/

Hopefully this means they have something in the pipeline to allow for Hi-Fi audio over Bluetooth. If they announce a Hi-Fi streaming service but Bluetooth transmission to their high end AirPod Max headphones is still 256kbps AAC, it wouldn’t look great (basically using that setup the Hi-Fi streaming service would make no difference as Apple Music already streams 256kbps AAC and currently this is the best the headphones can receive over bluetooth).

BobbyT28

peteeeed wrote: »

a few stories knocking about that air pods 3 and apple hifi will be announced on may 18th

https://9to5mac.com/2021/05/13/sketchy-rumor-claims-apple-will-launch-airpods-3-on-may-18/

ðŸ™ðŸ™ðŸ™ðŸ™

Gregor Samsa

Bob24 wrote: »

Hopefully this means they have something in the pipeline to allow for Hi-Fi audio over Bluetooth. If they announce a Hi-Fi streaming service but Bluetooth transmission to their high end AirPod Max headphones is still 256kbps AAC, it wouldn’t look great (basically using that setup the Hi-Fi streaming service would make no difference as Apple Music already streams 256kbps AAC and currently this is the best the headphones can receive over bluetooth).

Hopefully they won't just limit that to the AirPod 3 (although I can't imagine them not supporting the Pros and the Max). Looking at the rumours, there doesn't seem to be very much new about the 3s, other than a slight nod towards the Pro design. I'd be just fearful that they'd use Hi-Fi as their main value proposition, and not give the feature to the 2s.

Bob24

Gregor Samsa wrote: »

Hopefully they won't just limit that to the AirPod 3 (although I can't imagine them not supporting the Pros and the Max). Looking at the rumours, there doesn't seem to be very much new about the 3s, other than a slight nod towards the Pro design. I'd be just fearful that they'd use Hi-Fi as their main value proposition, and not give the feature to the 2s.

I guess the questions are:
- are the current devices technically capable of doing it (bandwidth should be enough for the latest ones which have Bluetooth 5, but they would also need to support a new codec)
- from a marketing perspective, would Apple want to promote the new service by making older hardware compatible, or push sales of new hardware by making it mandatory to make use of the new service

In any case this idea is just me speculating and I haven't seen any rumour about Hi-Fi over bluetooth. But really I think it would look bad if they were to release a Hi-Fi service and their whole line-up of earphones and headphones was unable to leverage it.

whippet

Bob24 wrote: »

But really I think if would look bad if they were to release a Hi-Fi service and their whole line-up of earphones and headphones was unable to leverage it.

especially considering after dropping over €600 on a pair of Airpod Max!

peteeeed

in regard to what devices can handle the hifi sound upgrade
from what hifi's review of the air pod max mention listening to tidals master quality (uncompressed lossless sound quality, streaming at 1411kbps or 16-Bit / 44.1 kHz. Master Quality audio reflects the original source and can stream up to 9216 kbps or 24-Bit / 192 kHz (typically 96 kHz / 24 bit).)

Switch to the Tidal Master recording of The Road (by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis) from the film of the same name, and the delivery is stunning. The AirPods Max nail the beautiful inconsistencies in the timing and pressure of the piano notes that come from the live nature of the recording. They’re both organic and precise, with lovely, subtle degradation to the tail of each note, but a definite, precise end when the vibration of the strings is stopped. All of the notes are full and solid, lending a physicality to the recording that is missed by lesser headphones, plus a texture that makes everything that bit more moving.

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/apple-airpods-max

Bob24

peteeeed wrote: »

in regard to what devices can handle the hifi sound upgrade
from what hifi's review of the air pod max mention listening to tidals master quality (uncompressed lossless sound quality, streaming at 1411kbps or 16-Bit / 44.1 kHz. Master Quality audio reflects the original source and can stream up to 9216 kbps or 24-Bit / 192 kHz (typically 96 kHz / 24 bit).)

Switch to the Tidal Master recording of The Road (by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis) from the film of the same name, and the delivery is stunning. The AirPods Max nail the beautiful inconsistencies in the timing and pressure of the piano notes that come from the live nature of the recording. They’re both organic and precise, with lovely, subtle degradation to the tail of each note, but a definite, precise end when the vibration of the strings is stopped. All of the notes are full and solid, lending a physicality to the recording that is missed by lesser headphones, plus a texture that makes everything that bit more moving.

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/apple-airpods-max

They don’t specify clearly whether they were testing it in Bluetooth mode or with a lighting cable.

You’d have to assume it was wired though: Bluetooth connectivity is limited to SBC and ACC which are both lossy codecs and in this case also happen to have lower sampling rates that Tidal Master files, so there is absolutely no technical way it could convey the advantage of that Hi-Res audio.

Craigels

Has anyone’s pre order of the iPad Pro shipping status changed to preparing to ship yet ?

martin_g

Craigels wrote: »

Has anyone’s pre order of the iPad Pro shipping status changed to preparing to ship yet ?

Nope 😢

martin_g

My order has disappeared from the apple website and is not in orders on account log in? Anyone else having issues?

Vudgie

Is anyone else finding the airtags experience seriously underwhelming? It takes ages to connect and play the sound, volume is really low and it always says poor signal when trying to use the precise finding function.

Bob24

One guy has received his new iPad Pro already (due to a retailer mistake): https://www.macrumors.com/2021/05/16/m1-ipad-pro-arrives-early-for-customer/

peteeeed

the apple hifi link on the browse tab of the app

https://music.apple.com/ie/post/1566904618
'get ready music is about to change forever '

https://twitter.com/LeaksApplePro/status/1394190835898589184?s=20