12 AirPods Features You Should be Using
Are you making the most of your AirPods? Apple’s convenient wireless headphones include some additional features that you might not be aware of until you go hunting for them.
Computers Tech Games Crypto Music and More
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
All of Apple’s current AirPods models are available at a discount this week across Verizon and Amazon. This includes solid deals on the AirPods Pro 2 ($199.99, $50 off), AirPods 3 ($149.99, $20 off), and AirPods 2 ($99.00, $30 off). We’re also tracking the first $99 discount of 2023 on the AirPods Max, priced at $449.99 in multiple colors on Amazon.
We’re tracking a large selection of Apple Watch discounts on Amazon today, including a few record low prices on the Apple Watch SE ($219.00, $30 off) and Apple Watch 8 ($329.00, $70 off). There’s also the Apple Watch Ultra for $749.00 in numerous configurations, which is $50 off and a solid second-best price.
Earlier in the week, Amazon and B&H Photo introduced a new deal on the 14-inch MacBook Pro, available for $1,799.00, down from $1,999.00. This deal on the 10-Core M2 Pro, 512GB notebook is a match of the best price we’ve ever tracked on the notebook.
Following the MacBook Pro, Amazon also introduced an all-time low price on the M1 iMac this week. You can get the 8-Core, 256GB computer for $1,199.99, down from $1,499.00, and it’s still available in multiple colors as we head into the weekend.
Additionally, there are a few other 24-inch iMacs on sale today on Amazon, including the 7-Core GPU, 256GB model for $1,099.99, down from $1,299.00. Lastly, the 8-Core GPU, 512GB M1 iMac is on sale for $1,499.99, down from $1,699.00.
Nearly every model of the 2022 iPad Air saw a discount on Amazon this week, and they’re still available right now. Prices start at $499.99 for the 64GB Wi-Fi iPad Air and $649.99 for the 256GB Wi-Fi iPad Air. If you head to our full article on the sale, you’ll also find discounts on both cellular devices.
Our full Deals Roundup has more information on the latest Apple-related sales and bargains.
This article, “Best Apple Deals of the Week: AirPods Max Return to $449.99 Along With All-Time Lows on iMac, MacBook Pro, and More” first appeared on MacRumors.com
Discuss this article in our forums
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Verizon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Starting with the AirPods Pro 2, these are available for $199.99, down from $249.99 [matched at Amazon]. Last month we saw a discount to $194.99, but this rare deal never emerged again and today’s deal remains a solid second-best price.
Secondly, Verizon has both models of the AirPods 3 on sale. You can get the AirPods 3 with Lightning Charging Case for $149.99, down from $169.99; and the AirPods 3 with MagSafe Charging Case for $159.00, down from $179.00. Deals on the AirPods 3 have been rare over the past few months, so this is a great chance to finally get some savings on these models.
Finally, only Amazon has the AirPods 2 for $99.00, down from $129.00. Although this is an overall second-best price, it is the most consistent deal we’ve tracked on the AirPods 2 in 2023.
We track sales for every model of the AirPods in our Best AirPods Deals guide, so be sure to bookmark that page while you shop around for the wireless headphones. Keep up with all of this week’s best discounts on Apple products and related accessories in our dedicated Apple Deals roundup.
This article, “Deals: Get Up to $50 Off AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 3, and AirPods 2 in New Sales” first appeared on MacRumors.com
Discuss this article in our forums
We check for tech deals every weekday. On Fridays, we pull together the best of what we found that still happens to be on sale. This week, Amazon continued to sell Apple’s latest AirPods Pro for a $50 discount and one more retailer joined in too. Samsung’s flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S23 series, finally got a proper discount, instead of just a free storage upgrade, so you can grab the base configuration S23 Ultra for its lowest price yet. Depending on which options you want, Microsoft’s tablet-PC hybrid, the Surface Pro 9, is up to $300 off during the company’s spring sale. There’s also a deal on a rugged portable SSD, as well as discounts on a graphics card, bluetooth speakers and even a projector. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
If you didn’t dive in last week and are still hoping to save on Apple’s second-gen AirPods Pro, here’s good news: Amazon is continuing its $50 discount on the buds. Verizon is now matching the price too, so if you’d rather buy from them, you can. The $200 price point matches the lowest price we’ve seen so far and if you’re an iPhone person, we think these are the best buds you can buy. They’ve got one of the best transparency modes of any buds we’ve tested, perfect if you like to listen to music but still keep an ear on what’s going on around you. The overall sound is clear and much improved over the previous generation Pros, with properly immersive sound. And of course, they work seamlessly with iOS and Apple’s ecosystem in general. They earned an 88 in our review.
One other sale we can point you to is a discount that’s still holding strong on our favorite earbuds overall, Sony’s Sony WF-1000XM4. They’re $198 after a 29 percent discount, which is the lowest price outside of the shopping holidays last November.
Samsung’s latest flagship phone, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is $200 off at Amazon right now — and that discount applies to the 256GB and 512GB configuration. We’ve seen sales on the S23 Ultra before, but the savings essentially amounted to free storage upgrades, as they made the 512GB phone the same price as the 256GB model. But now if you just need the base model of the premium handheld, you can still save some money. We like the long battery life, brilliant display and improved cameras on the S23 Ultra and gave it an 89 in our review. We also happen to think it’s the best Android phone you can buy.
If you’re thinking of grabbing the Galaxy S23+ instead, that model is getting a $150 discount, again in both storage configurations, making the 256GB size $850 and the 512GB capacity phone $970. The S23+ earned an 86 in our review, but don’t necessarily think you need to upgrade to this model if you already have the S22+.
For an even bigger bargain, you can check out Google’s Pixel 7, which Amazon is selling for 25 percent off, making it $450 instead of $600. The phone earned a 90 in our review, in which we called it and the Pixel 7 Pro the best bargain in flagship phones.
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is down to $394.49 at Amazon right now, which is a 12 percent discount over its usual $450 price tag and actually lower that it sold for on Cyber Monday. The watch features GPS tracking for your hikes and runs and offers sleep tracking and coaching. The sensors can even give you a body composition analysis. The deal only applies to the black Bluetooth model. If you want it in gray or with LTE connectivity, you’ll have to pay full price.
Of course, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 is cheaper overall, and it’s on sale for $249. That’s $20 above the lowest price we’ve seen, but it’s still more affordable than the Pro version. We called the standard Galaxy Watch 5 the best smartwatch for Android users and it gives you in-depth fitness and health tracking, body composition analysis and sleep coaching. The only thing it lacks over the Pro model is the larger titanium case and the turn-by-turn hiking and biking directions you get from the Pro’s GPX-format routes.
Many of Amazon’s Blink security devices are on sale right now, including the Blink Mini for 29 percent off and the Blink Outdoor for 36 percent off. Both discounts are within $5 of the all-time-lows the devices hit during last year’s Black Friday sales. We named Blink Outdoor the best wireless security camera in our guide to smart home devices. Amazon is discounting other Blink devices as well, including the Blink Video Doorbell for 30 percent off, making it just $35 instead of $50. While doorbell cams can bring peace of mind, we should note that these devices do have their share of security concerns. But if the benefits of keeping tabs on your homefront outweigh any possible risks, you may also be interested in Arlo’s sale on similar security devices.
If you’d rather Google kept an eye on things over Amazon, you may want to check out Google’s sale on its Nest security devices. At both the Google Store and at Amazon, the wired Google Nest Doorbell is down to $130, which is a $50, or 28 percent, discount and the lowest we’ve seen it drop yet. This is the wired version, which means the device will never go dead (outside of a power outage) but you’ll need to have doorbell wires available for installation. Otherwise, you’ll want the battery version of the Nest Doorbell.
Other Google home devices are on sale too, including the Nest Thermostat which is $90 after a 31 percent discount, and the outdoor or indoor Google Nest Cam — down to $140 after taking 22 percent off the $180 list price.
Portable projectors can bring your movies and shows to more places — including outside. The XGIMI MoGo Pro Portable Projector is our favorite portable budget projector in our updated guide to projectors and right now it’s seeing a 40 percent discount at Amazon, making it $300 instead of $500. You can snag the same discount directly from Xgimi too. MoGo Pro is small enough to fit in a backpack and can run for over two hours on a charge. The image it delivers from the 300 lumen DLP projector is reasonably accurate, with 1080p resolution. Keystone and auto focus will help you get it looking as sharp and accurate as possible, and the built-in Harman Kardon speakers will handle the accompanying audio.
This particular bundle went on sale last month, but it’s back — good news for those who weren’t yet ready for a PS5 but are now. The PS5 God of War: Ragnarok bundle includes Sony’s latest console along with one of our favorite games of last year. The 9 percent discount knocks $50 off the game and console, which basically means you’re getting GoW: Ragnarok for $20, since it usually goes for $70 on its own. While that may not sound like the largest discount, the bundle is notable for being available at all — in 2022 the PS5 was tricky to find in stock anywhere. As for the game, we think its one of the best games you can play on Sony’s console. If you prefer, you can get the same deal from Target, Adorama or Best Buy.
We named Bose’s SoundLink Flex one of our favorite portable Bluetooth speakers and right now it’s getting a solid $20 discount from Amazon, Adorama, Best Buy or directly from Bose itself. The speaker is about the size (and sort of looks like) a clutch bag, but still manages to deliver good clarity and significant bass. It’s not a room-filler, but can pair up with similar speakers for stereo sound. The IP67 rating means it’s dust proof and can handle a dunk in water without damage. Perfect for taking outside as the weather warms up.
A slightly bigger speaker that also gets the nod of our recommendation is JBL’s Charge 5. Both Amazon and JBL are selling it for $140, which is a 22 percent discount and the lowest price we’ve seen outside of the shopping holidays last November. The Charge 5 delivers an impressive 20-hour battery life and can even recharge your smaller devices. The bright output and decent low end is great for entertaining a few people and comes in a portable two-pound package.
If you’ve been thinking about getting a Surface device, now is a good time to do so as Microsoft is hosting a spring sale with up to $300 off different devices. Discounts apply to the tablet-PC hybrid Surface Pros, with the more expensive versions seeing the larger savings. Not to be outdone, Amazon is also offering deals on different configurations of the Pro 9.
Microsoft came out with the Surface Pro 9 in October of 2022 and they essentially made two different models: one with WiFi connectivity running on an Intel chip and a 5G-enabled version powered by Microsoft’s own SQ3 ARM chip. We got the chance to review the 5G model and you can read our review here. For the record, we prefer the Surface Pro 9 without the 5G connectivity, and recommend it as the best convertible laptop in our guide to the best laptops.
Microsoft is also including discounts of up to $450 on newer models of Surface Laptops, including the Surface Laptop 5, which impressed us with its faster Intel processor and added Thunderbolt support, but we felt that the chassis and overall design could use an update.
We covered a similar deal on Amazon’s Eero Pro 6 mesh Wi-Fi 6 router a couple weeks ago at Wellbots. If you didn’t take advantage then, and still want better Wi-Fi coverage for your home, you can snap up a unit now for the same $40 discount. That’s 20 percent off and, while it’s not the lowest price yet, it’s the cheapest the unit has sold for since last year’s holiday sales. The router will cover 2,000 square feet, offers support for WiFi 6 and can deliver speeds of up to a gigabit per second. If you’ve got a lot of smart home devices, the Eero Pro 6 can connect up to 75 of them at once. If you’ve got a late-model Echo speaker, Eero routers can turn them into WiFi extenders to offer even more coverage.
Need a little more storage for games and files? The T7 Shield SSD takes our favorite portable SSD, Samsung’s T7, and wraps it up in a tough rubber casing to make it water- and dust-resistant. Right now, the 1TB and 2TB versions of the drive are on sale at Amazon, Best Buy and directly from Samsung, going for $80 and $130, respectively. Both prices are at or very near the lowest we’ve seen on the drives yet.
SanDisk’s Extreme Portable SSD in the 1TB size is also getting a discount this week, with 64 percent savings at both Amazon and at B&H Photo.
Newegg is selling ASRock’s AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT graphics card for $610 after a $50 discount and a $20 promo code. Enter VGAEXCAA496 at checkout to get the full deal. You’ll also get a free game code for The Last of Us, just in case you don’t have that title yet. When it launched last year, the card went for around $1,000, so this a decent discount and a new low. While this isn’t the newest GPU from AMD (and it eats a lot of power), it can still capably play many games in 4K, with strong high-fps performance in 1440p.
It’s no accident that this discount is coming shortly after Nvidia’s launch of the similar RTX 4070, which is probably the card you should get if you care about ray tracing. But if not, or if you’d specifically prefer an AMD card, this is a relatively good value. Newegg is also selling ASRock’s AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Phantom graphics card for $540, which is a decent price for another 1440p option, and also includes TLOU game code.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-second-gen-airpods-pro-are-down-to-200-plus-the-rest-of-this-weeks-best-tech-deals-181113985.html?src=rss
We check for tech deals every weekday. On Fridays, we pull together the best of what we found that still happens to be on sale. This week, Amazon continued to sell Apple’s latest AirPods Pro for a $50 discount and one more retailer joined in too. Samsung’s flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S23 series, finally got a proper discount, instead of just a free storage upgrade, so you can grab the base configuration S23 Ultra for its lowest price yet. Depending on which options you want, Microsoft’s tablet-PC hybrid, the Surface Pro 9, is up to $300 off during the company’s spring sale. There’s also a deal on a rugged portable SSD, as well as discounts on a graphics card, bluetooth speakers and even a projector. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
If you didn’t dive in last week and are still hoping to save on Apple’s second-gen AirPods Pro, here’s good news: Amazon is continuing its $50 discount on the buds. Verizon is now matching the price too, so if you’d rather buy from them, you can. The $200 price point matches the lowest price we’ve seen so far and if you’re an iPhone person, we think these are the best buds you can buy. They’ve got one of the best transparency modes of any buds we’ve tested, perfect if you like to listen to music but still keep an ear on what’s going on around you. The overall sound is clear and much improved over the previous generation Pros, with properly immersive sound. And of course, they work seamlessly with iOS and Apple’s ecosystem in general. They earned an 88 in our review.
One other sale we can point you to is a discount that’s still holding strong on our favorite earbuds overall, Sony’s Sony WF-1000XM4. They’re $198 after a 29 percent discount, which is the lowest price outside of the shopping holidays last November.
Samsung’s latest flagship phone, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is $200 off at Amazon right now — and that discount applies to the 256GB and 512GB configuration. We’ve seen sales on the S23 Ultra before, but the savings essentially amounted to free storage upgrades, as they made the 512GB phone the same price as the 256GB model. But now if you just need the base model of the premium handheld, you can still save some money. We like the long battery life, brilliant display and improved cameras on the S23 Ultra and gave it an 89 in our review. We also happen to think it’s the best Android phone you can buy.
If you’re thinking of grabbing the Galaxy S23+ instead, that model is getting a $150 discount, again in both storage configurations, making the 256GB size $850 and the 512GB capacity phone $970. The S23+ earned an 86 in our review, but don’t necessarily think you need to upgrade to this model if you already have the S22+.
For an even bigger bargain, you can check out Google’s Pixel 7, which Amazon is selling for 25 percent off, making it $450 instead of $600. The phone earned a 90 in our review, in which we called it and the Pixel 7 Pro the best bargain in flagship phones.
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is down to $394.49 at Amazon right now, which is a 12 percent discount over its usual $450 price tag and actually lower that it sold for on Cyber Monday. The watch features GPS tracking for your hikes and runs and offers sleep tracking and coaching. The sensors can even give you a body composition analysis. The deal only applies to the black Bluetooth model. If you want it in gray or with LTE connectivity, you’ll have to pay full price.
Of course, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 is cheaper overall, and it’s on sale for $249. That’s $20 above the lowest price we’ve seen, but it’s still more affordable than the Pro version. We called the standard Galaxy Watch 5 the best smartwatch for Android users and it gives you in-depth fitness and health tracking, body composition analysis and sleep coaching. The only thing it lacks over the Pro model is the larger titanium case and the turn-by-turn hiking and biking directions you get from the Pro’s GPX-format routes.
Many of Amazon’s Blink security devices are on sale right now, including the Blink Mini for 29 percent off and the Blink Outdoor for 36 percent off. Both discounts are within $5 of the all-time-lows the devices hit during last year’s Black Friday sales. We named Blink Outdoor the best wireless security camera in our guide to smart home devices. Amazon is discounting other Blink devices as well, including the Blink Video Doorbell for 30 percent off, making it just $35 instead of $50. While doorbell cams can bring peace of mind, we should note that these devices do have their share of security concerns. But if the benefits of keeping tabs on your homefront outweigh any possible risks, you may also be interested in Arlo’s sale on similar security devices.
If you’d rather Google kept an eye on things over Amazon, you may want to check out Google’s sale on its Nest security devices. At both the Google Store and at Amazon, the wired Google Nest Doorbell is down to $130, which is a $50, or 28 percent, discount and the lowest we’ve seen it drop yet. This is the wired version, which means the device will never go dead (outside of a power outage) but you’ll need to have doorbell wires available for installation. Otherwise, you’ll want the battery version of the Nest Doorbell.
Other Google home devices are on sale too, including the Nest Thermostat which is $90 after a 31 percent discount, and the outdoor or indoor Google Nest Cam — down to $140 after taking 22 percent off the $180 list price.
Portable projectors can bring your movies and shows to more places — including outside. The XGIMI MoGo Pro Portable Projector is our favorite portable budget projector in our updated guide to projectors and right now it’s seeing a 40 percent discount at Amazon, making it $300 instead of $500. You can snag the same discount directly from Xgimi too. MoGo Pro is small enough to fit in a backpack and can run for over two hours on a charge. The image it delivers from the 300 lumen DLP projector is reasonably accurate, with 1080p resolution. Keystone and auto focus will help you get it looking as sharp and accurate as possible, and the built-in Harman Kardon speakers will handle the accompanying audio.
This particular bundle went on sale last month, but it’s back — good news for those who weren’t yet ready for a PS5 but are now. The PS5 God of War: Ragnarok bundle includes Sony’s latest console along with one of our favorite games of last year. The 9 percent discount knocks $50 off the game and console, which basically means you’re getting GoW: Ragnarok for $20, since it usually goes for $70 on its own. While that may not sound like the largest discount, the bundle is notable for being available at all — in 2022 the PS5 was tricky to find in stock anywhere. As for the game, we think its one of the best games you can play on Sony’s console. If you prefer, you can get the same deal from Target, Adorama or Best Buy.
We named Bose’s SoundLink Flex one of our favorite portable Bluetooth speakers and right now it’s getting a solid $20 discount from Amazon, Adorama, Best Buy or directly from Bose itself. The speaker is about the size (and sort of looks like) a clutch bag, but still manages to deliver good clarity and significant bass. It’s not a room-filler, but can pair up with similar speakers for stereo sound. The IP67 rating means it’s dust proof and can handle a dunk in water without damage. Perfect for taking outside as the weather warms up.
A slightly bigger speaker that also gets the nod of our recommendation is JBL’s Charge 5. Both Amazon and JBL are selling it for $140, which is a 22 percent discount and the lowest price we’ve seen outside of the shopping holidays last November. The Charge 5 delivers an impressive 20-hour battery life and can even recharge your smaller devices. The bright output and decent low end is great for entertaining a few people and comes in a portable two-pound package.
If you’ve been thinking about getting a Surface device, now is a good time to do so as Microsoft is hosting a spring sale with up to $300 off different devices. Discounts apply to the tablet-PC hybrid Surface Pros, with the more expensive versions seeing the larger savings. Not to be outdone, Amazon is also offering deals on different configurations of the Pro 9.
Microsoft came out with the Surface Pro 9 in October of 2022 and they essentially made two different models: one with WiFi connectivity running on an Intel chip and a 5G-enabled version powered by Microsoft’s own SQ3 ARM chip. We got the chance to review the 5G model and you can read our review here. For the record, we prefer the Surface Pro 9 without the 5G connectivity, and recommend it as the best convertible laptop in our guide to the best laptops.
Microsoft is also including discounts of up to $450 on newer models of Surface Laptops, including the Surface Laptop 5, which impressed us with its faster Intel processor and added Thunderbolt support, but we felt that the chassis and overall design could use an update.
We covered a similar deal on Amazon’s Eero Pro 6 mesh Wi-Fi 6 router a couple weeks ago at Wellbots. If you didn’t take advantage then, and still want better Wi-Fi coverage for your home, you can snap up a unit now for the same $40 discount. That’s 20 percent off and, while it’s not the lowest price yet, it’s the cheapest the unit has sold for since last year’s holiday sales. The router will cover 2,000 square feet, offers support for WiFi 6 and can deliver speeds of up to a gigabit per second. If you’ve got a lot of smart home devices, the Eero Pro 6 can connect up to 75 of them at once. If you’ve got a late-model Echo speaker, Eero routers can turn them into WiFi extenders to offer even more coverage.
Need a little more storage for games and files? The T7 Shield SSD takes our favorite portable SSD, Samsung’s T7, and wraps it up in a tough rubber casing to make it water- and dust-resistant. Right now, the 1TB and 2TB versions of the drive are on sale at Amazon, Best Buy and directly from Samsung, going for $80 and $130, respectively. Both prices are at or very near the lowest we’ve seen on the drives yet.
SanDisk’s Extreme Portable SSD in the 1TB size is also getting a discount this week, with 64 percent savings at both Amazon and at B&H Photo.
Newegg is selling ASRock’s AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT graphics card for $610 after a $50 discount and a $20 promo code. Enter VGAEXCAA496 at checkout to get the full deal. You’ll also get a free game code for The Last of Us, just in case you don’t have that title yet. When it launched last year, the card went for around $1,000, so this a decent discount and a new low. While this isn’t the newest GPU from AMD (and it eats a lot of power), it can still capably play many games in 4K, with strong high-fps performance in 1440p.
It’s no accident that this discount is coming shortly after Nvidia’s launch of the similar RTX 4070, which is probably the card you should get if you care about ray tracing. But if not, or if you’d specifically prefer an AMD card, this is a relatively good value. Newegg is also selling ASRock’s AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Phantom graphics card for $540, which is a decent price for another 1440p option, and also includes TLOU game code.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apples-second-gen-airpods-pro-are-down-to-200-plus-the-rest-of-this-weeks-best-tech-deals-181113985.html?src=rss
In an updated AirPods firmware support document, Apple today addressed this situation, recommending those without an Apple device visit an Apple Store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider to update their firmware. From the support document:
If you don’t have an Apple device nearby, you can set up an appointment at an Apple Store or with an Apple Authorized Service Provider to update your firmware.
Visiting a retail location just for firmware is inconvenient, but it stands to reason that most people who own AirPods have an Apple device of some kind. Android users and PC users will not be able to install firmware updates from their devices because Apple does not make any kind of AirPods management app for those platforms. Apple does have a Beats app for Android devices that allows firmware to be updated.
In addition to today’s AirPods update, Apple added this absurd sentence to the AirPods page:
“If you don’t have an Apple device nearby, you can set up an appointment at an Apple Store or with an Apple Authorized Service Provider to update your firmware.”https://t.co/78Im4WSWRD
— Aaron (@aaronp613) April 11, 2023
Apple also updated the document to clarify that firmware updates are installed automatically when the AirPods are charging and are within range of an iPhone, iPad, or Mac that is connected to WiFi.
New AirPods firmware was released today, with firmware 5E133 bringing bug fixes and other improvements to the AirPods 2, AirPods 3, AirPods Pro, AirPods Pro 2, and AirPods Max.
This article, “AirPods Users Without a Nearby Apple Device Can Visit an Apple Store to Update Firmware” first appeared on MacRumors.com
Discuss this article in our forums
Apple does not offer immediately available release notes on what’s included in refreshed firmware updates for the AirPods, but the company does maintain a support document with release information.
There is no standard way to upgrade the AirPods software, but firmware is installed over-the-air while the AirPods are connected to an iOS device. Putting the AirPods in the case, connecting the AirPods to a power source, and then pairing the AirPods to an iPhone or an iPad should force the update after a short period of time.
You can check your AirPods firmware by following these steps:
If we find notable changes after the firmware updates are installed, we’ll update this article, but the software likely includes performance improvements and bug fixes.
This article, “Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods, AirPods Max and AirPods Pro” first appeared on MacRumors.com
Discuss this article in our forums
Filed by Apple in September 2021 and published last week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, “Devices, Methods, and Graphical User Interface Interactions with a Headphones Case” clearly depicts various embodiments for such a design, complete with images of AirPods and a touchscreen on the case’s front.
“Audio output device cases are commonly passive devices used to charge audio output devices,” reads the patent. “The utility of a headphone case can be enhanced, and user control over a user’s wireless headphones can be improved, by configuring a headphone case with an interactive user interface to enable user control of operations associated with the wireless headphones.” The patent continues:
There is a need for a headphone case device that can control operations that are traditionally associated with headphones (e.g., playback controls, changing audio sources, changing audio output modes, etc.). There is a further need for a headphone case that can also convey information to a user, through haptics and/or display devices. Such methods and interfaces optionally complement conventional methods for controlling wireless headphones. Such methods and interfaces reduce the number, extent, and/or nature of the inputs from a user and produce a more efficient human-machine interface.
In one embodiment, Apple envisions controlling Apple Music via the case through the use of a capacitive touchscreen with a GUI that also provides tactile feedback, allowing the user to control audio playback, adjust volume, favorite songs, and interact with their music in other ways without necessarily looking at the case to do so.
In another embodiment, the case responds to specific gestures such as taps and swipes to navigate onscreen content and invoke Siri. In one scenario, Apple describes how squeezing the case could even be a way to change the listening mode of the AirPods – likely referring to Noise Cancelation and Transparency.
Apple suggests that the case could include additional processors and memory modules that would allow it to carry out specific instructions that are traditionally associated with smartphones, computers, and other connected devices. For instance, some embodiments show the case’s touchscreen providing interactive access to iPhone apps including Phone, Mail, Messages, Camera, Calendar, Weather, Maps, and more.
By integrating an interactive touchscreen display in such a way, the patent argues, “deficiencies associated with user control of wireless headphones are reduced or eliminated.”
As with any filed patent, the technology it describes is unlikely to appear in a product anytime soon, if at all, but it does offer an interesting look at how Apple is exploring ways to make an AirPods case more of a functional intermediary between the AirPods themselves and the connected audio source.
Since the first AirPods launched in 2016, Apple has worked to enhance the functionality of the AirPods Case for different models. The AirPods Pro case in particular has benefited from the addition of MagSafe wireless charging, a U1 Ultra Wideband chip that supports Precision Tracking with Find My, a lanyard loop, a built-in speaker for locating and status updates, and increased battery life.
(Via Patently Apple.)
This article, “Apple Researching AirPods Case With Built-in Interactive Touchscreen” first appeared on MacRumors.com
Discuss this article in our forums