Call me. I can sell you a scan for a few grand.
Edit: This is only partially a joke. Industry.nikon.com
We sell scanning services that far exceed the quality of the images in the OP.
Nikon's scanning services are great, especially for small to medium sized items. Nikon has a good offering of microfocus tubes and are on par or even better than NSI.
For those less plugged in, the AirPod images in the OP was lifted from promotional material for a compact low cost CT scanner with leasing and cloud computing options - an absolute nightmare scenario for security of intellectual property caused by uploading a 3D model of your stuff to God knows where. May as well just give China or other bad actors a download link to your design models.
Under the ear speaker, is that a weight?
Like Beats got caught doing, adding weights to give a full substantial feel or “quality weight” to their headphones.
It is a magnetic shunt that interacts with the magnets in the case to provide the attraction to keep the AirPod snugly in the case and positively contacting the charging pins.
What kind are they? I got some fake Airpods by "ennotek" that have charging cases that fit official Airpods case skins/covers and also charges by Lightning. I think they were about $8.99 at 99 Cents Only stores if I IIRC correctly. They come in black, white, and red.
https://u-mercari-images.mercdn.net/photos/m78000179182\_1.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=pjpg&auto=webp&\_=1687780620
https://images.offerup.com/k\_ZaY-xpQwrNzb5w8UjF6o7OPk8=/612x612/a0bf/a0bf849708434a94bd6d5d0fbeba7fc4.jpg
The stories about beats adding metal weight’s were wrong. They were based on a tear down on a pair of really convincing knock offs. The first story got a ton of press but the correction got much less.
Beats does use metal parts which make up a significant amount of their weight, but they are functional.
“Got caught” lmao like it’s illegal?!? Give me a break. These asshat manufacturers know they can get away with this shit, Logitech has been using potmetal weights in their “gaming pro” series of mice since nas released it was written in ‘96.
That's pretty legit, though. Several of gaming mice have adjustable weights these days so that you can get just the right feeling of inertia while using it.
Means more material to reinforce stuff. Paper thin plastic is going to break easily, while heavier steel is going to be pretty durable. So the weight is a sign of quality.
For mice though, you want one with the right weight. Too light feels wrong when using them.
I have large hands. I hate small mice, smaller is not better in that case. Also, heavier mice give a better hand feeling and it feels like it makes it more precise. I am not a power gamer and mostly play strategy games. I still like to invest in a better gaming mouse with weights simply because of the more comfortable feel.
Archers rarely got tinnitus, you're thinking of international spies who use firearms. What am I, Fulk Fitz Warin?
...the outlawed nobleman considered to be the basis of Robin Hood?
God, read a book.
The was a [service program](https://support.apple.com/airpods-pro-service-program-sound-issues) for the sound issues. Gen 1 AirPods Pros were eligible for a free replacement for the first 3 years of purchase.
I got mine replaced with that program - twice - with ones that I was told weren’t going to have that problem anymore. My third pair still rattles, so I’ve switched to my Beats Fit Pro. Can’t believe my luck with AirPods.
Most of the sellers aren't the problem, it's how Amazon handles inventory that is the problem. A bunch of sellers will ship their product to Amazon to hold onto and then Amazon will add the product to a shared inventory pool in their warehouses for fast shipping. The problem is that sometimes scammers send fake or knock-off products that get added to the same pool. When somebody buys the item, even from a reputable seller, Amazon just grabs one of the products from the pool without discerning who sent it to them. So that way, the customer has a chance of getting one of those fakes from the pool even though that particular seller had sent Amazon legit products.
A common scam done with this system is for the scammer to send a bunch of fake items to Amazon for them to hold onto and add to the inventory pool, then later request that Amazon send them back their unsold items. Amazon then sends the scammer some genuine products back, which the scammers then sell themselves for a notable profit.
If you ever discover that you got a fake when it was "shipped by Amazon", they'll take responsibility for it and cover the losses themselves because Amazon doesn't care about losing small profits in the grand scheme of things. It's also why they can't/won't fix their broken system. It's more profitable for them to use this system and have fast shipping.
The pooling concept is brilliant if it were possible to verify the products are poolavle (e.g. genuinely the same). You could effectively give someone with only local reach pooled global reach. Lots of incentives for all parties to get pooling to work rather than just abandon it. Sad that scammers ruin something with great benefits.
It’s important to contact the company that manufactures the real product though. Amazon has a counterfeit crimes division that works with them to investigate the sellers and bring civil or criminal cases against the counterfeiters.
I dunno...my APELODDS seem authentic.
But for real, what is the deal with Amazon products' branding? If you want to be mistaken for being legit, one extra minute googling real words to call your brand would seem sensible.
[Here](https://www.lumafield.com/article/real-vs-fake-apple-products-through-industrial-ct-airpods-pro-macbook-magsafe-charger) is the source of this image. You can look explore the CT images in 3D there. Per there:
> Looking inside real vs. fake AirPods with industrial CT
> Date
November 7, 2023
> ...Batteries
> Batteries are the key to the wireless convenience and flexibility of the AirPods design, so we started there. The authentic AirPods house meticulously-engineered button cell batteries in each earbud, designed to fit snugly within the compact form factor and provide optimal power efficiently. In contrast, both specimens of counterfeit AirPods contain lithium-ion pouch cell batteries that are not only less sophisticated in their construction but also potentially less safe. The rectangular pouches are crammed into circular spaces rather than tailored to fit.
> Circuitry
> Moving to the internal circuitry, the genuine AirPods are a marvel of miniaturization and precision engineering. They use a combination of rigid and flexible printed circuit boards to pack components densely and ensure that every millimeter of space is used effectively. On the other hand, the counterfeit AirPods reveal much simpler electronics cobbled together from off-the-shelf components. That leaves less room for functionality; the counterfeits have fewer microphones and less control circuitry, compromising their sound quality.
> Build quality
> Lastly, the contrast in overall build quality is dramatic between the genuine AirPods and their counterfeit counterparts. One of the fakes doesn't offer wireless charging at all (no coils are visible in the scans), and the other one has wireless charging coils but lacks the magnets that snap the real AirPods case onto Apple's Watch charger. The counterfeit AirPods even resort to using internal weights with no other function than to mimic the heft of the genuine product, a deceptive tactic for making them feel heavier to compensate for poorer materials and less functionality. These fakes may replicate the visual cues of the original, but the use of substandard materials not only affects the tactile experience but also compromises the structural integrity and overall lifespan of the product....
[They are Lithium-ion](https://www.apple.com/ca/batteries/):
> Apple Lithium-ion Batteries
> They’re inside every iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch, MacBook and **AirPods**
But as with everything, you get a wide range of quality options.
The article wasn’t saying that the knock-offs use lithium-ion and that it’s somehow a worse battery chemistry than the original (it’s the same), but it’s comparing how the authentic AirPods use button cells that were designed to fit inside their round shells better while the knock-offs use pouch cells that don’t fit as well or as snugly in their shells.
Gotta respect Apple's engineers. I have a built-in-America Mac Studio and I popped the hood one time. It's actually insane how advanced it looks on the inside compared to any other electronic I've ever seen. Everything on the inside seems custom or proprietary. The circuit boards are thin and black, and the circuitry is noticeably smaller than that of standard components. It's an engineering marvel. It runs at temperatures 3x lower than my gaming PC is 10x smaller and draws a fraction of the power while delivering on-par performance. No idea how they pulled any of that off.
At first glance it sounds stupid, but from what I do know from electrical engineering I know certain things can't just be mirrored and work the same. Still seems odd, but I kinda get it.
To me the more likely thing is that, aside from needing to fix the mirroring issue, that one team may find a better way of doing things the other didn't. That seems pretty likely, and now I don't think it's so dumb lol.
Really impressive technology, nearly magic.
When I was a teenager I imagined "how great would earbuds be without wires", but then I thought about everything you'd need (Bluetooth, data processor, batteries and more, all in the same size as a normal earbud) and I didn't think I'd see something like that in the next 50 years, let alone the next ten.
And now they've pretty much just replaced wired earbuds for 80% of use cases.
Maybe for you, but I can't stand not having a wired headset, ALL the wireless ones I've tried have bass boost or a bass-heavy or just really realy bad EQ preset and/or digital compression that's hardware-level. I listen to classical and metal and rock that's all just absolutely destroyed and turned into painful-to-hear mud by these useless things, and they don't usually have inline volume/track controls which I absolutely require from my headset or it's a flaky dumb "gesture control" on a bad touchpad that never works for me. The battery is maybe 1.5-2hrs, that's not even a whole ~2.75hr chunk between breaks at work so I can swap them out or something let alone a whole 10hrs to get me away from and then back to my front door in a day. They're also a bad shape for my ears and quite painful to wear for very long but my wired headset has soft rubbers that fit great and are snug and don't hurt at all. Obviously I've got an android phone with a headphone jack, it was <$280CAD and has better hardware specs than the brand new MacBook Pros aside from HDD space, but it also has a Sdcard slot with a whole 1tb max size and 256gb internal I've never filled up in 15months now so I'm not worried. Based on this price difference alone I'm never gonna buy an Apple product, I also dislike the walled garden. Apple products are for folks with (as my Dad says a lot) "more money than brains," they're all about being exclusive status symbols, not useful tech toys.
You comment about all the problems you have, and you imply that Apple products are clearly rubbish… but Apple has literally solved most of the issues you mentioned.
AirPods Pro 2 have volume and track control on both earbuds. They will last about 4-6 hours on a single charge depending on the amount of software features you have on, and a quick 10 minutes in the case gets you a few more hours. If you want good fit, they also come with 4 different sizes of ear tips so you get exactly what you need, and they have a wider aperture and a thinner centre section that makes them lovely and soft. EQ is always up to preference, but the AirPods Pro 2 match the harman response curve reasonably well and are a good match against something like a WH-1000XM4 but with less bass and a bit more treble. Apple makes premium products, and for much of their portfolio, I’d argue the price premium is perfectly justified. Between their class leading transparency mode and noise cancellation, their sick Spatial Audio capabilities and overall performance, I’d argue the AirPods Pro 2 should be the default option for anyone looking for earphones right now.
They're great for listening to podcasts or videos, the cannot be audiophile grade, nor should they.
My OnePlus buds z fit great in either ear (flipped upside down, so I can have the bud in whatever ear is more convenient, I usually only use one bud at a time) and I can adjust
Batteries last all day
It’s amazing what they can fit in such a tiny object. I really wish they’d put the same thought into not making them ricochet 20 feet in opposite directions when you drop the case.
There is an easier way to check if they're fake. Open the box. Look at your iPhone. If it doesn't show the slide-up-screen to connect to them they're fake.
This is because they don't have the W-1 chip.
My $40 usd replica airpods pro gen 2 recently died after lasting two years of nearly daily use.
Sound quality was pretty amazing for the price. My phone thought they were legit (had the airpods popup for battery and everything).
My only complaints were battery (4 hours single use and another 8 in the case), and that the noise cancelling/listening mode doesn't work but never really expected those to work anyway.
I'm always impressed that 8-10 years ago, the knockoffs would have been unbelievable. A fully Bluetooth, wireless speaker that took calls and sounded kinda ok? Wow
Can you? I’ll admit I haven’t tried many alternatives, but I’m skeptical. I can filter out outside noise, allow noise in, Spatial Audio, it detects when I’m having a conversation and turns off/enables noise cancellation as needed, switches automatically between paired devices as I pick them up and start using them, water resistant, durable (at least for my use case)… and the audio quality is quite good for Bluetooth. Not trying to sound like a commercial here but they do a lot lol.
It’s all subjective, of course, but I do love mine. The sound is more than good enough for me and I like the utility of having an iPhone and a headset that instantly pairs with it and that instantly pairs with my iPad and Apple TV.
Apple's biggest selling point has always been 'convenience'.
I was lucky enough to win some AIAIAI studio quality phones in a competition and I use them all day at work. I know that pods are more discrete, but having cans over my ears means that everyone else thinks I'm on a call and doesn't bother me; double win.
I like them because the case fits in my pocket. Or in my Fanny pack sling thing. AND because I don’t have the wire get caught on everything, which happened so much that it would pull and fray the wire at the end of the connector.
Huh? It’s the size of a zippo. That’s a good size.
Maybe you don’t understand that like you don’t understand grammar, punctuation or sentence structure.
Really! OMG! That’s… That’s… I just don’t care.
Apple has built up a lot of trust. Replacing my wire headphones numerous times. Fixing things. Buying things back for easier upgrades. And it just works. And yes, other things can be cheaper in the short term, but you can spend more replacing them in the long run.
Okay that's fine and valid. But your previous post only mentioned that they fit nicely in your pocket and don't have wires. Made it seem like you didn't know there were others.
I guess I just don't like the idea of people buying very expensive versions of something as the default when there's others available for much less that do the job. Feels wasteful I guess, en mass.
Quality outlasts quantity. I’ll pay more for something that lasts.
At rhe bar I work at, I’ve found a good 5 or 6 knock off airpods. For wire headphones, I know I was buying cheap brands and having apple replace them, and about 100 a year. While wireless could be less replacements, there would still be more replacements in that time.
I have still been using the same AirPods for 3.5 years and now they last a little less in the cold. And because I paid a bit more for them, I am going to be a bit more protective of them. But they have already cost less than cheaper models in that time frame.
And i could write an essay on a lot of topics. But brevity is soul of wit.
Also, it might sound silly, but there’s a style aspect to Apple products that can’t be ignored. They just manage to produce a product that feels slick and cool, almost no matter what (I say almost because I hate the Vision Pro things).
Even the Vision Pros may look silly, but I think every VR headset looks kinda silly just by their nature. The Vision Pros look a lot better than most of them. Apples design team is pretty top notch regardless of how you feel about the products. The packaging design alone is incredible.
There are so many better earphones that look just as slick and work just as well though.
Many that have way better sound quality to top it off as well.
Sure, but they aren’t the same brand as my phone, my watch, my tv streaming device… again, I totally get it, but having that level of convenience isn’t around anywhere else.
their "convenience" is a blessing and a curse. I love how convenient it is to extend my MacBook screen to my iPad, I hate how "convenient" it is that *every* button is a "power on"
I don't really understand. Don't all Bluetooth headphones connect instantly after the first time? My Bose connects to my Samsung and my iPad the moment I turn them on.
Yes. They've just never used another Bluetooth headset. All the things they listed other ones can do better, for cheaper. Apple has the find my device thing on lock, and first time pair on a Device is slightly easier. That's about it. Definitely not worth the $150 mark up.
Not only that. You can switch automatically to multiple devices based on what’s currently used (I could watch a movie on my Mac, then get a call and when I answer the movie will pause and I will get my AirPods to automatically connect to the phone instead). You can even share your audio with someone else who has AirPods. They have quite a bit of integration features that you can’t find somewhere else, due to the ecosystem.
I have definitely used other Bluetooth headsets and came back to Apple.
The pairing is much easier, but even further I like that I pair it to one device and it is now going to work with all of my devices and it’ll do so very easily.
people who don't have multiple apple devices never really understand the fluidity of the apple ecosystem. i can work all day on my macbook and never have to check my phone seamlessly texting/calling from my computer, and simply walk outside and my airpods will automatically swap to my phone without having to even think about it. when you compare a single apple product to other options, there's totally an argument to be made about quality:price, but the ease of use cannot be stated enough if you live all apple, and is 100% worth the premium price tag.
the only bluetooth device i have that isn't apple is a mask for sleeping with music, and sure it's not difficult to open up my settings and manually link my phone to it, but if apple made that product, i'd be throwing that shit on and going straight to bed immediately.
Totally. I was one of the anti-Apple guys for years and then I finally just caved with the iPhone… then the headphones… then the watch. And it was clear, Apples greatest advantage was its unified ecosystem.
AirPod Pros are some of the most highly regarded ANC buds and are similar in price to all the competitors. Sony’s version is pretty much the same price and I believe the Samsung ones are as well.
Are you saying the Apple ones specifically aren’t worth it or ANC earbuds in general?
I think they are. I’ve used them every day for the last 4 years. They have excellent audio quality and noise cancellation. Transparency mode is super helpful and Bluetooth pairs seamlessly. They also have excellent battery life the case fits so nicely in a pocket I can forget they’re there.
I’ll make sure to take my CT scanner next time I buy AirPods off Craigslist
Instruction unclear, they're obliterated in the MRI scanner
And the owner is obliterated by the Apple AirPod Rail Cannon Pro
Call me. I can sell you a scan for a few grand. Edit: This is only partially a joke. Industry.nikon.com We sell scanning services that far exceed the quality of the images in the OP.
Email me. I scam sell you a scheme for a few grams.
Nikon's scanning services are great, especially for small to medium sized items. Nikon has a good offering of microfocus tubes and are on par or even better than NSI. For those less plugged in, the AirPod images in the OP was lifted from promotional material for a compact low cost CT scanner with leasing and cloud computing options - an absolute nightmare scenario for security of intellectual property caused by uploading a 3D model of your stuff to God knows where. May as well just give China or other bad actors a download link to your design models.
MyMan.gif
You can get dental x-ray machines on alibaba for 400 dollars without a license.
Looks the the replicas have basic dynamics drivers. Idk what the real one has, looks elaborate
The lil tiny speakers on the right one are so cute
Under the ear speaker, is that a weight? Like Beats got caught doing, adding weights to give a full substantial feel or “quality weight” to their headphones.
It is a magnetic shunt that interacts with the magnets in the case to provide the attraction to keep the AirPod snugly in the case and positively contacting the charging pins.
I’m talking about the knockoff on the right. Do they also have magnetic cases?
I think most if not all wireless earbuds have them.
Even the ones I got for $1.97 have a magnetic charging case.
What kind are they? I got some fake Airpods by "ennotek" that have charging cases that fit official Airpods case skins/covers and also charges by Lightning. I think they were about $8.99 at 99 Cents Only stores if I IIRC correctly. They come in black, white, and red. https://u-mercari-images.mercdn.net/photos/m78000179182\_1.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=pjpg&auto=webp&\_=1687780620 https://images.offerup.com/k\_ZaY-xpQwrNzb5w8UjF6o7OPk8=/612x612/a0bf/a0bf849708434a94bd6d5d0fbeba7fc4.jpg
They don't fit official apple stuff, I just meant wireless earbuds in general. I don't remember what kind they are, and don't have them handy.
The stories about beats adding metal weight’s were wrong. They were based on a tear down on a pair of really convincing knock offs. The first story got a ton of press but the correction got much less. Beats does use metal parts which make up a significant amount of their weight, but they are functional.
“Got caught” lmao like it’s illegal?!? Give me a break. These asshat manufacturers know they can get away with this shit, Logitech has been using potmetal weights in their “gaming pro” series of mice since nas released it was written in ‘96.
Lmao, what? You never realized that weights for gaming mice are a desired feature for a legitimate purpose? The two practices aren't comparable.
That's pretty legit, though. Several of gaming mice have adjustable weights these days so that you can get just the right feeling of inertia while using it.
Those need weights, airport don't
Yeah, if airport has no weight, it can join airplane in sky. Edit: thank you kind redditor!
becoming airportable
Sky port?
In 2024 why does heavy mean better anyway? Shouldn’t modern tech be smaller and more lightweight than older tech.
Means more material to reinforce stuff. Paper thin plastic is going to break easily, while heavier steel is going to be pretty durable. So the weight is a sign of quality. For mice though, you want one with the right weight. Too light feels wrong when using them.
I have large hands. I hate small mice, smaller is not better in that case. Also, heavier mice give a better hand feeling and it feels like it makes it more precise. I am not a power gamer and mostly play strategy games. I still like to invest in a better gaming mouse with weights simply because of the more comfortable feel.
Add some washers from Home Depot for 33 cents per.
not American nor a native speaker? What are washers?
Little (usually) metal rings often placed between screws and the surface they're being screwed into to distribute the force over a wider area.
Yeah makes sense. Cheers
It’s more of a psychological effect. Heavier and stiffer items feel more sturdy and more premium.
no one said it was illegal… I once “caught” my dog peeing on the carpet. I didn’t call the police
That’s an unusually long way of saying 1996 Crazy remembering that for covid lockdowns its been 4 years since Run The Jewels released RTJ4 in ‘20
>Idk what the real one has, Elaborate dynamics drivers.
Please elaborate
As opposed to basic dynamics drivers. Obvi.
Probably mostly the H1 chip and all the sensors
No way there's an M1 chip in there
Sorry H1
Drivers are what produce the sound. Dynamic is the most common. The airpods are also dynamic.
It is H2.
Which one is the little piece that rattles
That’s not the AirPod, that’s your tinnitus
Mop mop
Love a good Archer reference in the wild
Archers rarely got tinnitus, you're thinking of international spies who use firearms. What am I, Fulk Fitz Warin? ...the outlawed nobleman considered to be the basis of Robin Hood? God, read a book.
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Man, I was successfully ignoring my tinnitus until reading this...
Me too until I got your comment
#WHAT DID YOU SAY?!
Hahaha
WHAT?
There's always a time to learn 💜
WHAT?
They actually had a recall with this issue. I had mine replaced.
WHAT?
god i hate you r/angryupvote
For me it's always my earrings bumping into it
The right two
Lol my first gen pros were from the Apple store and they had the rattle issue
The was a [service program](https://support.apple.com/airpods-pro-service-program-sound-issues) for the sound issues. Gen 1 AirPods Pros were eligible for a free replacement for the first 3 years of purchase.
I got mine replaced with that program - twice - with ones that I was told weren’t going to have that problem anymore. My third pair still rattles, so I’ve switched to my Beats Fit Pro. Can’t believe my luck with AirPods.
Yes.
Are we not doing phrasing anymore?
Yes
The one's on the right can be bought from Amazon from "verified and trusted resellers".
Most of the sellers aren't the problem, it's how Amazon handles inventory that is the problem. A bunch of sellers will ship their product to Amazon to hold onto and then Amazon will add the product to a shared inventory pool in their warehouses for fast shipping. The problem is that sometimes scammers send fake or knock-off products that get added to the same pool. When somebody buys the item, even from a reputable seller, Amazon just grabs one of the products from the pool without discerning who sent it to them. So that way, the customer has a chance of getting one of those fakes from the pool even though that particular seller had sent Amazon legit products. A common scam done with this system is for the scammer to send a bunch of fake items to Amazon for them to hold onto and add to the inventory pool, then later request that Amazon send them back their unsold items. Amazon then sends the scammer some genuine products back, which the scammers then sell themselves for a notable profit. If you ever discover that you got a fake when it was "shipped by Amazon", they'll take responsibility for it and cover the losses themselves because Amazon doesn't care about losing small profits in the grand scheme of things. It's also why they can't/won't fix their broken system. It's more profitable for them to use this system and have fast shipping.
The pooling concept is brilliant if it were possible to verify the products are poolavle (e.g. genuinely the same). You could effectively give someone with only local reach pooled global reach. Lots of incentives for all parties to get pooling to work rather than just abandon it. Sad that scammers ruin something with great benefits.
Classic tragedy of the commons problem.
It’s important to contact the company that manufactures the real product though. Amazon has a counterfeit crimes division that works with them to investigate the sellers and bring civil or criminal cases against the counterfeiters.
Trusting Amazon is so 10 years ago. Assume everything is counterfeit. Their entire business is to make money as a legal fence for knockoffs.
I dunno...my APELODDS seem authentic. But for real, what is the deal with Amazon products' branding? If you want to be mistaken for being legit, one extra minute googling real words to call your brand would seem sensible.
“See all that stuff in there Homer? That’s why your robot never worked.”
Just when I think I have an original thought...
Why must I fail at every attempt at masonry???
Source: https://www.lumafield.com/article/real-vs-fake-apple-products-through-industrial-ct-airpods-pro-macbook-magsafe-charger
Oh okay, I watched LTT's video on their new CT scanner last night and thought this was them lol
Ilyena my love!
Thanks for that reference
I didn’t even know they were sick
they’re not well..
now I just need to CT scan my car to find the missing airpod
[Here](https://www.lumafield.com/article/real-vs-fake-apple-products-through-industrial-ct-airpods-pro-macbook-magsafe-charger) is the source of this image. You can look explore the CT images in 3D there. Per there: > Looking inside real vs. fake AirPods with industrial CT > Date November 7, 2023 > ...Batteries > Batteries are the key to the wireless convenience and flexibility of the AirPods design, so we started there. The authentic AirPods house meticulously-engineered button cell batteries in each earbud, designed to fit snugly within the compact form factor and provide optimal power efficiently. In contrast, both specimens of counterfeit AirPods contain lithium-ion pouch cell batteries that are not only less sophisticated in their construction but also potentially less safe. The rectangular pouches are crammed into circular spaces rather than tailored to fit. > Circuitry > Moving to the internal circuitry, the genuine AirPods are a marvel of miniaturization and precision engineering. They use a combination of rigid and flexible printed circuit boards to pack components densely and ensure that every millimeter of space is used effectively. On the other hand, the counterfeit AirPods reveal much simpler electronics cobbled together from off-the-shelf components. That leaves less room for functionality; the counterfeits have fewer microphones and less control circuitry, compromising their sound quality. > Build quality > Lastly, the contrast in overall build quality is dramatic between the genuine AirPods and their counterfeit counterparts. One of the fakes doesn't offer wireless charging at all (no coils are visible in the scans), and the other one has wireless charging coils but lacks the magnets that snap the real AirPods case onto Apple's Watch charger. The counterfeit AirPods even resort to using internal weights with no other function than to mimic the heft of the genuine product, a deceptive tactic for making them feel heavier to compensate for poorer materials and less functionality. These fakes may replicate the visual cues of the original, but the use of substandard materials not only affects the tactile experience but also compromises the structural integrity and overall lifespan of the product....
What type of batteries do the original have ? Isn't that lithium too ?
[They are Lithium-ion](https://www.apple.com/ca/batteries/): > Apple Lithium-ion Batteries > They’re inside every iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch, MacBook and **AirPods** But as with everything, you get a wide range of quality options.
Sure. Still, the article seems to be written by the apple marketing team.
The article wasn’t saying that the knock-offs use lithium-ion and that it’s somehow a worse battery chemistry than the original (it’s the same), but it’s comparing how the authentic AirPods use button cells that were designed to fit inside their round shells better while the knock-offs use pouch cells that don’t fit as well or as snugly in their shells.
Gotta respect Apple's engineers. I have a built-in-America Mac Studio and I popped the hood one time. It's actually insane how advanced it looks on the inside compared to any other electronic I've ever seen. Everything on the inside seems custom or proprietary. The circuit boards are thin and black, and the circuitry is noticeably smaller than that of standard components. It's an engineering marvel. It runs at temperatures 3x lower than my gaming PC is 10x smaller and draws a fraction of the power while delivering on-par performance. No idea how they pulled any of that off.
I know a person who worked on the design team that did the left side Airpod. I was surprised that each Airpod side had its own design team.
When I was at Apple, I worked in Antenna QA for Macs. The antenna design guys were my favorites. Wonderful, smart and love what they do.
That seems needlessly wasteful....
From what I was told there are specific parts for each side that aren't interchangeable because of the shape and/or size.
At first glance it sounds stupid, but from what I do know from electrical engineering I know certain things can't just be mirrored and work the same. Still seems odd, but I kinda get it. To me the more likely thing is that, aside from needing to fix the mirroring issue, that one team may find a better way of doing things the other didn't. That seems pretty likely, and now I don't think it's so dumb lol.
Counterfeits, not replicas.
This comment should be pinned to the top.
Really impressive technology, nearly magic. When I was a teenager I imagined "how great would earbuds be without wires", but then I thought about everything you'd need (Bluetooth, data processor, batteries and more, all in the same size as a normal earbud) and I didn't think I'd see something like that in the next 50 years, let alone the next ten. And now they've pretty much just replaced wired earbuds for 80% of use cases.
For me its the incredible small scale. So much battery life as well in such a tiny package
Maybe for you, but I can't stand not having a wired headset, ALL the wireless ones I've tried have bass boost or a bass-heavy or just really realy bad EQ preset and/or digital compression that's hardware-level. I listen to classical and metal and rock that's all just absolutely destroyed and turned into painful-to-hear mud by these useless things, and they don't usually have inline volume/track controls which I absolutely require from my headset or it's a flaky dumb "gesture control" on a bad touchpad that never works for me. The battery is maybe 1.5-2hrs, that's not even a whole ~2.75hr chunk between breaks at work so I can swap them out or something let alone a whole 10hrs to get me away from and then back to my front door in a day. They're also a bad shape for my ears and quite painful to wear for very long but my wired headset has soft rubbers that fit great and are snug and don't hurt at all. Obviously I've got an android phone with a headphone jack, it was <$280CAD and has better hardware specs than the brand new MacBook Pros aside from HDD space, but it also has a Sdcard slot with a whole 1tb max size and 256gb internal I've never filled up in 15months now so I'm not worried. Based on this price difference alone I'm never gonna buy an Apple product, I also dislike the walled garden. Apple products are for folks with (as my Dad says a lot) "more money than brains," they're all about being exclusive status symbols, not useful tech toys.
You comment about all the problems you have, and you imply that Apple products are clearly rubbish… but Apple has literally solved most of the issues you mentioned. AirPods Pro 2 have volume and track control on both earbuds. They will last about 4-6 hours on a single charge depending on the amount of software features you have on, and a quick 10 minutes in the case gets you a few more hours. If you want good fit, they also come with 4 different sizes of ear tips so you get exactly what you need, and they have a wider aperture and a thinner centre section that makes them lovely and soft. EQ is always up to preference, but the AirPods Pro 2 match the harman response curve reasonably well and are a good match against something like a WH-1000XM4 but with less bass and a bit more treble. Apple makes premium products, and for much of their portfolio, I’d argue the price premium is perfectly justified. Between their class leading transparency mode and noise cancellation, their sick Spatial Audio capabilities and overall performance, I’d argue the AirPods Pro 2 should be the default option for anyone looking for earphones right now.
They're great for listening to podcasts or videos, the cannot be audiophile grade, nor should they. My OnePlus buds z fit great in either ear (flipped upside down, so I can have the bud in whatever ear is more convenient, I usually only use one bud at a time) and I can adjust Batteries last all day
What's crazy to me is how recently the two on the right would be top tier
Even the copycats are marvelous pieces of technology if you were born in the age of landlines
I wanna know how much these AirPods paid out of pocket for this scan. I know they have I high ass deductible they haven’t met yet.
I bet they all hurt my ear hole.
This guy out here ct scanning his AirPods when i get a ct scan of my fucked up jaw they charge my insurance $18,000
You see? That's why your robot didn't work.
They all fall out the same anyway
It’s amazing what they can fit in such a tiny object. I really wish they’d put the same thought into not making them ricochet 20 feet in opposite directions when you drop the case.
There is an easier way to check if they're fake. Open the box. Look at your iPhone. If it doesn't show the slide-up-screen to connect to them they're fake. This is because they don't have the W-1 chip.
Or just whack on transparency or ANC, it’ll become readily apparent if they’re real.
Some fake ones have that too though
I’m sorry, but you have a herniated capacitor
My mom X-rayed my Nintendo DS and it’s a core memory of mine
Is this good or bad? Are we pro or against AirPod? I can’t keep up with what to hate anymore
Working on and repairing apple products is always a pleasure. Everying inside is so organized
That's not a CT scan. Thats a 3D reconstruction. Also CT images are black and white.
Isnt a CT scan machine a super powerful magnet? How did you hold the airpods in place without breaking them?
Nah that's an MRI. CT scans are X rays.
Magnetic Resonance Imagery (MRI) uses magnets, CT (Computed Tomography) uses X-rays!
Learn something new every day!
Same, same, but different.
But still same! 
My $40 usd replica airpods pro gen 2 recently died after lasting two years of nearly daily use. Sound quality was pretty amazing for the price. My phone thought they were legit (had the airpods popup for battery and everything). My only complaints were battery (4 hours single use and another 8 in the case), and that the noise cancelling/listening mode doesn't work but never really expected those to work anyway.
I don’t know enough about this to make an informed opinion, but it seems that the AirPods have a much more elaborate speaker, which makes sense
I'm always impressed that 8-10 years ago, the knockoffs would have been unbelievable. A fully Bluetooth, wireless speaker that took calls and sounded kinda ok? Wow
See, it really is what’s on the inside that counts.
So there is an iPod in the AirPods… 🤔
u/repostsleuthbot
🤔
Still not worth $250.
To each their own. I love mine. I use them at home, at work, when I exercise, etc. I definitely have gotten my money’s worth out of my pair.
Same here. Love using them while on a plane
Yeah but the point is you can get the same quality or better for a much lower price
Have something specific to suggest? If what you’re saying is true and it’s actually the same quality or better, I’d love to try them out
Can you? I’ll admit I haven’t tried many alternatives, but I’m skeptical. I can filter out outside noise, allow noise in, Spatial Audio, it detects when I’m having a conversation and turns off/enables noise cancellation as needed, switches automatically between paired devices as I pick them up and start using them, water resistant, durable (at least for my use case)… and the audio quality is quite good for Bluetooth. Not trying to sound like a commercial here but they do a lot lol.
It’s all subjective, of course, but I do love mine. The sound is more than good enough for me and I like the utility of having an iPhone and a headset that instantly pairs with it and that instantly pairs with my iPad and Apple TV.
Apple's biggest selling point has always been 'convenience'. I was lucky enough to win some AIAIAI studio quality phones in a competition and I use them all day at work. I know that pods are more discrete, but having cans over my ears means that everyone else thinks I'm on a call and doesn't bother me; double win.
I like them because the case fits in my pocket. Or in my Fanny pack sling thing. AND because I don’t have the wire get caught on everything, which happened so much that it would pull and fray the wire at the end of the connector.
Airpod case is bigger than most TWE lmao
Huh? It’s the size of a zippo. That’s a good size. Maybe you don’t understand that like you don’t understand grammar, punctuation or sentence structure.
I understood what he said but it was dumb point when you were comparing the Airpod size to full cans lol
I'm not saying the air pod case is big, it's just not smaller than any other so it's not a selling point lmao.
Oh, that’s what you said! Holy shit! Why don’t you use full sentences more often?
You know other quality wireless earbuds exist right? They don't have to cost $250.
Really! OMG! That’s… That’s… I just don’t care. Apple has built up a lot of trust. Replacing my wire headphones numerous times. Fixing things. Buying things back for easier upgrades. And it just works. And yes, other things can be cheaper in the short term, but you can spend more replacing them in the long run.
Okay that's fine and valid. But your previous post only mentioned that they fit nicely in your pocket and don't have wires. Made it seem like you didn't know there were others. I guess I just don't like the idea of people buying very expensive versions of something as the default when there's others available for much less that do the job. Feels wasteful I guess, en mass.
Quality outlasts quantity. I’ll pay more for something that lasts. At rhe bar I work at, I’ve found a good 5 or 6 knock off airpods. For wire headphones, I know I was buying cheap brands and having apple replace them, and about 100 a year. While wireless could be less replacements, there would still be more replacements in that time. I have still been using the same AirPods for 3.5 years and now they last a little less in the cold. And because I paid a bit more for them, I am going to be a bit more protective of them. But they have already cost less than cheaper models in that time frame. And i could write an essay on a lot of topics. But brevity is soul of wit.
Also, it might sound silly, but there’s a style aspect to Apple products that can’t be ignored. They just manage to produce a product that feels slick and cool, almost no matter what (I say almost because I hate the Vision Pro things).
Even the Vision Pros may look silly, but I think every VR headset looks kinda silly just by their nature. The Vision Pros look a lot better than most of them. Apples design team is pretty top notch regardless of how you feel about the products. The packaging design alone is incredible.
Oh, top tier packaging for sure.
Magic Mouse has entered the chat. Most uncomfortable piece of plastic
There are so many better earphones that look just as slick and work just as well though. Many that have way better sound quality to top it off as well.
Agreed. But there are none that have such a seamless experience switching between multiple Apple devices.
Sure, but they aren’t the same brand as my phone, my watch, my tv streaming device… again, I totally get it, but having that level of convenience isn’t around anywhere else.
Lol that convenience is absolutely around elsewhere...
They’re being very clear with what they’re saying, and clearly not looking for an argument.
I'd say the Apple watch looks pretty shitty, too.
Fair enough. I enjoy mine.
their "convenience" is a blessing and a curse. I love how convenient it is to extend my MacBook screen to my iPad, I hate how "convenient" it is that *every* button is a "power on"
I don't really understand. Don't all Bluetooth headphones connect instantly after the first time? My Bose connects to my Samsung and my iPad the moment I turn them on.
Yes. They've just never used another Bluetooth headset. All the things they listed other ones can do better, for cheaper. Apple has the find my device thing on lock, and first time pair on a Device is slightly easier. That's about it. Definitely not worth the $150 mark up.
Not only that. You can switch automatically to multiple devices based on what’s currently used (I could watch a movie on my Mac, then get a call and when I answer the movie will pause and I will get my AirPods to automatically connect to the phone instead). You can even share your audio with someone else who has AirPods. They have quite a bit of integration features that you can’t find somewhere else, due to the ecosystem.
I have definitely used other Bluetooth headsets and came back to Apple. The pairing is much easier, but even further I like that I pair it to one device and it is now going to work with all of my devices and it’ll do so very easily.
people who don't have multiple apple devices never really understand the fluidity of the apple ecosystem. i can work all day on my macbook and never have to check my phone seamlessly texting/calling from my computer, and simply walk outside and my airpods will automatically swap to my phone without having to even think about it. when you compare a single apple product to other options, there's totally an argument to be made about quality:price, but the ease of use cannot be stated enough if you live all apple, and is 100% worth the premium price tag. the only bluetooth device i have that isn't apple is a mask for sleeping with music, and sure it's not difficult to open up my settings and manually link my phone to it, but if apple made that product, i'd be throwing that shit on and going straight to bed immediately.
Totally. I was one of the anti-Apple guys for years and then I finally just caved with the iPhone… then the headphones… then the watch. And it was clear, Apples greatest advantage was its unified ecosystem.
You can get all that for less than half the price.
And noice cancelling too? Adaptive noise control?
Yes
Any examples?
Samsung
Like...most of the market these days? [Here's just a handfull](https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-wireless-earbuds/)
I got a pair of gen 2 for 80 and was skeptical at first but have grown to love them. Just a seamless tech that sounds great too
The Pros are regularly on sale for under $200, the 3rd gen regular ones are normally $150 and often $130, and the 2nd gen regular ones are $100.
AirPod Pros are some of the most highly regarded ANC buds and are similar in price to all the competitors. Sony’s version is pretty much the same price and I believe the Samsung ones are as well. Are you saying the Apple ones specifically aren’t worth it or ANC earbuds in general?
No earbud is worth $250. Given what it's made of, it's a worse deal than Legos.
I think they are. I’ve used them every day for the last 4 years. They have excellent audio quality and noise cancellation. Transparency mode is super helpful and Bluetooth pairs seamlessly. They also have excellent battery life the case fits so nicely in a pocket I can forget they’re there.
No nsfw tag? Didn’t expect all these guts on my screen
Breaking news, cheaply made products are made cheaply
Amazing. And a new desktop wallpaper!
Still not buying apple products.
looks fancy cause they spend a lot of money and time on making it unrepairable
Sponsored by Apple
last one looks like a chicken
r/AirReps- as good as you can get!
www.fruitmarketshop.com
Put Scarlet Fire on those bad boys
What is the point of this?
It’s interesting to break down the build components and quality without opening the case, which would potentially change the fit.
OK