Comment by 0xmarcin | Hacker News Reader

Comment by 0xmarcin | Hacker News Reader

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When it comes to Bluetooth headphones, I have a totally different experience with iPhone 11. I have Sony WH1000XM3 headphones. I really like them, yet every time I connect them to my iPhone the sound volume jumps to almost 100%. I reported the issue to Apple but got no answer (the headphones are working without any problems with my old android phone - Samsung Galaxy s7). The only solution so far was to enable EU sound volume limits to decrease the initial bang.

The other problem that I had with my iPhone is that for the first few days it was getting really hot. I called the Apple support and they told me that it is "normal" - just wait for about a week. OK they where right, after a week problem was gone, but for something that costs a lot of money I would expect better.

Macbooks (I got one at work and I own a small 13'' MBP) are OKish. My only complain is that they can heat up to really high temperatures (maybe I will appreciate it in the winter).

When it comes to Linux, it a good OS but it still has troubles with hardware accessories. About I year ago, (I have a 4 year old PC with Ubuntu) I tried to connect Bluetooth headphones with it and it was a total disaster. I tried about 2 different Bluetooth dongles and installed at least 2 different BT stacks, without effect. After about 15 mins the BT disconnected. I searches the Internet but I couldn't make it work. It may be connected to the fact that I was running quite old Ubuntu 16 LTS back then.

Actually those Sony headphones are one of the reasons I am interested in Linux instead of OSX. LDAC support is not present on OSX, but it is for Linux.

It makes a huge difference in audio quality over bluetooth in my experience.

*edit: Just realized I posted the wrong link. https://eischmann.wordpress.com/2019/02/11/better-bluetooth-...

The XM3s support the AAC codec too, [0] as that's the codec iPhones use (iPhones don't support aptX or LDAC). Does macOS not support AAC?

[0] https://helpguide.sony.net/mdr/wh1000xm3/v1/en/contents/TP00...

I have never been able to get it to negotiate AAC on OSX, though technically it does support it. iPhone works fine.

Even still LDAC seems superior from my comparison to my Android and iPhone audio.

See this thread for some discussion on it. https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/bion53/force_macos_t...

I think LDAC should be expected to sound better than AAC or aptX, looking at that Sony.net page. Did you mean SBC?

No, I meant AAC. The XM3s do not seem to negotiate AAC over BT on OSX. They fall back to SBC and obviously sound bad. AAC would be a step up, but AptX HD or LDAC would be ideal. They work fine in my case on both iPhone and Android.

So as I was saying I'm tempted to move back to Linux for my work laptop for LDAC over BT support as well as other reasons of course.

They shouldn't be connecting with SBC. Mine connect with AptX by default on macOS.

You can also force them to connect with AptX by following this guide: https://9to5mac.com/2018/08/31/mac-how-to-force-aptx-aac-on-...

I've successfully configured my Mac to use AptX with my Sony headphones.

Follow this guide: https://9to5mac.com/2018/08/31/mac-how-to-force-aptx-aac-on-...

Thanks, it looks similar to what I've tried so far. I'll give it another run through and see if I missed something.

Excellent, not sure what I missed before, but I have aptx and aac now! A good step in the right direction. Still would love LDAC and/or Aptx HD of course in the long run.

Agreed! Funnily enough, this doesn't work on my 2015 MBP, just my newer Touchbar one.

That is because the integration is not there in the linux ecosystem. Apple has this very tight integration because it controls both the hardware and the software.

But there are some companies which have started doing the same thing:

- System76

- Tuxedo

These companies test their devices well on a distro and well, it reflects in their pricing too!

Dell also sells an XPS “Developer Edition” with Ubuntu pre-installed and officially supported, and Lenovo recently announced a range of workstations and Thinkpads being certified to support Ubuntu and Fedora. There’s also Purism that created a custom PureOS to closely fit their custom hardware, eg. a TPM designed for user security instead of vendor lock-in.

> fit their custom hardware, eg. a TPM designed for user security instead of vendor lock-in.

Just here to point out that they use a standard commercial off-the-shelf TPM manufactured by Infineon. It's not custom hardware. As with all TPMs, it is the firmware/OS that decides whether to use it for lock-in purposes or freedom.

I think the firmware is custom (and of course it’s the nexus of hardware and software, so exactly the part that OEMs can best provide the user unique value through. System76 and Pine64 (and I think Purism) provide open source firmware you can reflash yourself for custom keyboard layouts, firmware killswitches, etc., though System76’s hardware itself seems very off-the-self (Clevo white-label). (Edit: And I think Purism Librems overall design with hardware killswitches, etc. are custom ofc.)

Lenovo talk a good game, but I have thus far been unable to find a linux laptop available for purchase on the lenovo site.

I don’t think they ship anything with it preinstalled right now (unlike each of the other companies I and the parent mentioned). But they’ve had a reputation of generally good Linux support for a while now, and it’s seems they’ve just now decided to make it official, and there’s plenty of hope for preinstalled GNU/Linux in the future.

I'm hearing they will ship the P53 and a few other models with Fedora Workstation 32 by the end of the year: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2020/08/10/lenov...

No quite the same thing. None of the Linux vendors make their own laptops, they just use barebones from Clevo etc.

So they can never achieve the same integration as Apple.

> None of the Linux vendors make their own laptops

Dell, Lenovo, Purism, Pine64 et al. do.

The two in your parent may (at least System76’s laptops are said to) use Clevo hardware, but they can still ship with custom open source firmware.

It’s also not as if Apple sells their own custom CPU at the moment. Even then, they’ll probably buy other parts from third parties (eg. they buy iPhone OLEDs from Samsung, though they’re said to calibrate them differently).

And finally, integration can be seen as a bad thing. It’s conducive to lock in (see above comment on ARM Macs ending Hackintoshes).

Dell's Linux laptops are not custom made for linux (they even still have a Windows key!). They just swap out the wifi card.

I'm pretty sure Purism's are just standard barebones too, but with some extra modifications like hardware switches. They showed how they solder the wires to the motherboard - if they'd designed it themselves they wouldn't have to do that.

Pine64, indeed, that's true. The enclosure is standard (the PB Pro is the same as my Chinese "ChuWi" laptop :') ) but indeed they made a custom motherboard. I really like that company.

I have the same headphones. I've had that issue too, but only a few times. It might be relevant that I use them almost exclusively with my iPhone, rarely with other devices.

Strange about the WH1000XM3s I haven't had that problem with the same headphones and an iPhone X. I have however gotten the same heat issues from time to time.

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