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Comment by khalilravanna | Hacker News Reader

Assuming these compare in fidelity of sound, I think it’s a no brainer for a lot of people. Likely works seamlessly with apple products similar to other airpods and, unlike those other cans, doesn’t require a proper sound system or external amp to drive them.

That being said, the fact that they stipulate they only work with apple products is a bit insane to me. I’ll stick with my wireless Sennheisers that I have to charge once a month thanks.

EDIT: Here’s the bit about them being Apple only. Hopefully it changes.

  AirPods Max require Apple devices running iOS 14.3 or later, iPadOS 14.3 or later, macOS Big Sur 11.1 or later, watchOS 7.2 or later, or tvOS 14.3 or later.

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Ah, that's from the Press Release, which is for a more mainstream audience who maybe would expect all features to work otherwise.

From the tech specs page on the product itself though:

> AirPods Max can be used as Bluetooth headphones with Apple devices using earlier software and with non-Apple devices, but functionality is limited.

I imagine that like the Airpods they require an Apple device to take full advantage of all the features but they can still be used as a generic Bluetooth headset on other operating systems.

> the fact that they stipulate they only work with apple products is a bit insane to me.

If (and a big if, though also a possible if) they are truly exceptional and better than the competition, the desire to own these could funnel into buying more Apple products in general, so you can use them. Also, if they are that great, non-Apple users will find another reason to switch to Apple and it will boost the overall brand.

So, not an unreasonable idea. But it is bold.

The Airpod Pros works with other devices - but they seem to have a lot of issues though. Loosing sync between each unit and loosing sound and needing reconnect all the time.

That's my personal experience when using them with Windows 10 and Android devices. No issues when using them with Apple devices.

Even if it changes, don't ever buy an Apple product to use with a non-apple product. I got burned by this with the powerbeats pro to use with my Android phone, which has ended up as the single worst electronics purchase I have ever made.

They have a significantly reduced feature set when used on Android vs Iphone, and they just don't work well at all.

Really glad Apple decided to buy Beats so that they could close off their audio technology to Apple customers only.

Where does it say that they only work with Apple products?

Wayyyy at the bottom:

  AirPods Max require Apple devices running iOS 14.3 or later, iPadOS 14.3 or later, macOS Big Sur 11.1 or later, watchOS 7.2 or later, or tvOS 14.3 or later.

Pretty sure that's the "if you want to use them with Apple devices, you need these versions".

For example AirPods Pro require iOS 13.2 or older, but work fine via Bluetooth to all non-Apple hardware.

Perhaps paranoia on my part but this opens them up to deprecate that support whenever they feel like it.

If they have bluetooth, how do they "deprecate support"?

They work fine on older Apple hardware, as well. The older versions of iOS just don't auto-pair, can't support spatial audio, etc.

This is a way to keep the especially ignorant tied into the ecosystem.

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