[Suraj25]

Originally Posted by feluda86

Any one here use the Apple air pods? How good is the sound quality? How does it hold up against other wireless earphones in the market? Is it worth the 11k (as per amazon)?
How difficult is Siri?

I have been using them and find them to be very convenient. Sound quality is just like the EarPods or maybe 5% better.. you will be disappointed if you are expecting a lot. Battery life is nice, the EarPods last for 4 ish hours with continuous usage and the case will last for a good 3-4 days with moderate usage. Best part is that the EarPods are always at a 100 percent and ready when you take them out of the case and they charge pretty fast inside the case as well.
Coming to the double tap feature, I struggled for the first few days but now I almost always tap at the right spot. You can configure the double tap to either skip tracks, play/pause or enable Siri. The AirPods are more about convenience than anything else and the iPhone + Watch + AirPods combo is something that has got to be experienced!

I have not used many other wireless earphones but these have been the best in terms of sound quality and balance. But if you are an audiophile you would rather go for something with wires.

[ach1lles]

I have been meaning to write a full blown thing on AirPods, but I've been busy. Per me, they're the best and the most innovative thing to come out of Apple since the iPhone 4. They work always, they connect always, the carrying case is so convenient to use, and if the regular EarPods stayed in your ear, these will never fall out. You can run with them, shake, dance, head bang, whatever, they won't fall out.

They're not the best sounding buds, but, they're certainly the best sounding true wireless buds. And there are other advantages. You haven't known true freedom till when you want to move about doing stuff while listening to music, and you can leave your phone or computer anywhere in the room. Siri works the fastest, and most accurately with them compared to any other Apple device. I mean, they're right next to the source of your voice with some fancy noise cancellation happening. My favourite thing about them is by the time you put them in the ear, they're ready to go. They're already connected, and selected as output source on the device. You just have to hit play, or double tap on any pod.

I kept my wired headset around when I bought these because I wasn't sure if I'll be using them (AirPods) all the time. It's been about 6 months, maybe more, and I don't remember where my wired set is, or when I last used it.

I miss two things: the ability to control volume, and a 'previous track' control with triple tap. I'm also a little paranoid. While around on the road, and walking` outside, anyone could just 'pluck' one out of your ear and you won't be able to do shit. You won't even know who it was, and you'd have lost an expensive piece.

Also, I bought mine for 15.5k, so 11 is a really good price.

[tj123]

Apple has finally acknowledged that they are are deliberately slowing down older phones. Read on..

The tech giant issued a rare statement of explanation on Thursday, saying that it has used software updates to limit the performance of older iPhones that may have battery issues that would cause them to turn off suddenly.

Tech analysts and angry customers have reported in recent days that operating system updates had caused older iPhones to slow considerably, with some suggesting that Apple could be using the tactic to encourage fans to buy new phones.

Apple insists the updates were made with a different goal in mind: It said the performance of lithium-ion batteries degrades over time, which can sometimes cause phones to suddenly shut down in order to protect their components.

The company said its software updates for the iPhone 6, iPhone 6S, iPhone SE and iPhone 7 are designed to "smooth out" peak power demands, prevent these surprise shutdowns and ultimately prolong the lifespan of batteries.But the updates can also lead to disappointing speeds.

Doron Myersdorf, CEO instant-charging battery startup StoreDot, said that "smoothing out" means that phones will reorder incoming commands to make sure not all of them are done in parallel.

"The inevitable outcome of it will be an inherent slowdown of the average response times by the system," he explained.

Apple (AAPL) said in its statement that it will continue to use the feature with other products in the future.

"Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices," it said.

The revelation sparked an outcry among Apple fans, with some suggesting they may switch to rival Samsung.

Source:http://money.cnn.com/2017/12/21/tech...nes/index.html

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by tj123

Apple has finally acknowledged that they are are deliberately slowing down older phones.

Apple's enthusiasm for this deliberate sabotage (that's what I think it is) of older iPhones is undoubtedly driven more by the concept of planned obsolescence than improving 'customer experience'.

The scary thing is they intend to do the same to other products which will include iPads and possibly their laptops too.

My enthusiasm for iProducts has hit a new low. But then there are plenty of iSheep around to keep that company's cash registers clinking and coffers full.

[ecenandu]

Originally Posted by R2D2

The scary thing is they intend to do the same to other products which will include iPads and possibly their laptops too.

As per my understanding the throttling of the CPU is based on the battery health and the performance will be back to normal if replaced with a new battery.

[AShubrah]

Originally Posted by ach1lles

Per me, they're the best and the most innovative thing to come out of Apple since the iPhone 4.

+1

I bought mine a couple of weeks ago & I’ve literally stopped using wired earphones.
Most importantly, AirPods solve the problem of not being able to charge the iPhone 7/8, 7+/8+ or X while listening to music.
I also miss the ability to control the volume, but the fact that they are so convenient makes it up for that niggle.
I would also like to point out that one can’t directly speak into the microphone of these, because there have been times when I was in the train & the person on the other end couldn’t hear me as I was whispering, whereas, one can directly speak into the microphone of the EarPods & not have to shout.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by ecenandu

As per my understanding the throttling of the CPU is based on the battery health and the performance will be back to normal if replaced with a new battery.

That's correct.

There were already rumors floating on how Apple deliberately made each successive OS heavier instead of lighter to encourage people to upgrade. Some friends have held back from OS upgrades and sometimes even patches for this reason.

My brother's iPhone 5s has been chugging along for over 3-4 years now and I am sure if he upgrades to iOS 11 (hope he hasn't) he's going to find it a drag to use.

And now? Apple holds a gun to customers' heads - replace the battery or upgrade if you want full performance. Or else put up with a handicapped device.

Given the price of spares + service and upgrades neither option is economical. One has to choose between between what makes more (financial) sense at that point in time.

[AShubrah]

Originally Posted by tj123

The company said its software updates for the iPhone 6, iPhone 6S, iPhone SE and iPhone 7 are designed to "smooth out" peak power demands, prevent these surprise shutdowns and ultimately prolong the lifespan of batteries.But the updates can also lead to disappointing speeds.

Originally Posted by R2D2

Apple's enthusiasm for this deliberate sabotage (that's what I think it is) of older iPhones is undoubtedly driven more by the concept of planned obsolescence than improving 'customer experience'.

Originally Posted by ecenandu

As per my understanding the throttling of the CPU is based on the battery health and the performance will be back to normal if replaced with a new battery.

I bought my iPhone 6S Plus a couple of months ago, and both, the performance, as well as the battery life have significantly dropped after the iOS 11 update.
It’s not just throttling we’re talking about here, fellow members.
Apple just doesn’t want to give its customers optimised versions of the new OS, in order to make them feel like their perfectly capable phone is a piece of garbage, pushing them to upgrade to the latest one.
I am all in for this, but only as long as the prices of all their phones are under the ₹50,000/- range.
Why on earth would I buy the ₹1,02,000/- iPhone X when I know that the phone will feel sluggish & will struggle to keep up with day to day jobs, just about a year from now?
Why wouldn’t I just buy the much cheaper OnePlus 5T, which is decimating all the other phones in the market, when I can already see that my three year old OnePlus 1 is working flawlessly even after all the abuse I’ve thrown at it?
Yes, I too am an Apple fanboy, but getting robbed in broad daylight is just plain stupid.
No offence to anyone who’s already using an iPhone X, but I don’t have the Vitamin M to change phones every year.

Also, as R2D2 mentioned in his post, there are tonnes of people who will keep the company’s cash registers ringing, even after knowing that they’ll be feeling cheated soon.

My Two Cents

[shashank.nk]

As of today, there's a class action suit against Apple in the US of A and i'm guessing we'll see something similar to what happened with the storage fiasco. My year old 5s was very bad in terms of app opening speed after iOS 11 and there was noticeable lag compared to 10.3.

However, RAM management with just 1 gb on board was far better than android devices with 3 gigs of ram, just no comparison at all. My sisters 7+ just flies thru whatever you throw at it and there are no signs of any throttling or lag.

It seems to affect phones which are 2+ years old since launch and will possibly only significantly affect those who intend to use phone for 3-4 years. To me this isn't a deal breaker as my ip 5s was fantastic until iOS 11 and had I not updated I could've used it for another year easily.

[akp]

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

It seems to affect phones which are 2+ years old since launch and will possibly only significantly affect those who intend to use phone for 3-4 years. To me this isn't a deal breaker as my ip 5s was fantastic until iOS 11 and had I not updated I could've used it for another year easily.

You may try a factory reset, going for the option to set it up as a new iphone. I have an ip5s that is 4 years ld now - it got slower after installing ios 11. Then it was hit by the Dec 2 bug and in trying to revive it, I tried the above - since then it has been running very crisp. Except for one or two specific apps (in my case, Day One and ProCamera), all other apps are running fine, and much better than when I initially upgraded to ios 11. It took me half a day to install all the apps and set them up again, but it was completely worth it.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

To me this isn't a deal breaker as my ip 5s was fantastic until iOS 11 and had I not updated I could've used it for another year easily.

You're right. This most affects those who intend keeping their IPs for over 4 years.

As expected my bro upgraded his 5s to iOS 11 and is now facing a major drop in performance. He's given iPhones a pass & recently bought a Note 8. The 5s is now relegated to serving as a backup.

[civic-sense]

Apple says they know best what is good for you. Unless you subscribe to this philosophy, you should never buy an iPhone. I have found that whatever they say is true most of the time.

Coming to the specific problem, it is debatable whether Apple does the throttling to make you upgrade. I'd rather have a device which could last the day albeit a bit laggy. Some may think differently, and for them an option to choose the behaviour would have been better.

All my Android devices have slowed down after several updates, so IF Apple is doing it deliberately, then others are doing it too. I think I will believe Apple than the rumour mongers unless there is some real evidence.

[agambhandari]

Originally Posted by R2D2

You're right. This most affects those who intend keeping their IPs for over 4 years.

As expected my bro upgraded his 5s to iOS 11 and is now facing a major drop in performance. He's given iPhones a pass & recently bought a Note 8. The 5s is now relegated to serving as a backup.

While the problem is big with apple throttling SoCs, Most of the problems that are being brought to light can at least be fixed with a simple battery swap. The fact that 5S got slower with iOS 11 is simply because of the age of the product. Also re-inforced by the fact that officially it has been discontinued.

[shashank.nk]

Originally Posted by akp

You may try a factory reset, going for the option to set it up as a new iphone. It took me half a day to install all the apps and set them up again, but it was completely worth it.

Thanks for the tip, I ended up selling the 5s sometime last month as I wanted to upgrade sometime next month.

Originally Posted by R2D2

You're right. This most affects those who intend keeping their IPs for over 4 years.

I saw a video by The Verge on fb and it seems that this throttling affects a year old phones as well, not the very old phones alone.

I'd like to know if anyone here has got a battery replacement done on their iPhones and what does it cost. In the US it seems to be $79+ taxes and repair charges, if its anything near sub 10k in India, that's the best thing to do after two years if you feel your phone has become unusable instead of going out and spending nearly a lakh on the new launches

[HappyWheels]

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

I'd like to know if anyone here has got a battery replacement done on their iPhones and what does it cost..

I am planning to do with my 6S which is showing all the symptoms of throttling. And yes, my battery is shot.

Plans to discard it has been shelved and am planning to change the battery mid Jan when I am back in Dubai.

Will keep you posted.