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Comment by JustExAWS | Hacker News Reader

The audio input comes from the AirPods not the iPhone. It’s processed on the iPhone.

The audio is captured by the outward facing microphones used for active noise cancellations. That’s why it only works for AirPods Pro 2, 3 and AirPods 4 with ANC. That wouldn’t just work with any headphones.

Even the AirPods Pro 2 will need a firmware update. They won’t work with just any old headphones and seeing that even the AirPods Pro 2 need a firmware update tells me that it is something they are doing with their H2 chip in their headphones in concert with the iPhone.

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I mean, technically, any competitors with noise cancelling headphones able to pick up a voice stream would be able to use the same processing on the iPhone to offer an equivalent feature.

That it only works with AirPods is just Apple discriminating in favour of their own product which is exactly what the EU was going after.

Sure if they also want to train a model that supports their sound profile, build an app that captures the audio, etc.

But their $60 ANC headphones with cheap audio processing hardware in the headphones aren’t going to be sufficient.

They may even be able to use the exposed models on the phone.

> But their $60 ANC headphones with cheap audio processing hardware in the headphones aren’t going to be sufficient.

The equivalent feature on Android tells me it would. I mean it already does technically.

Are we supposed to treat Apple being late to the party as usual as some kind of exceptional thing only them could do?

According to the specs - it only works with Google’s own headphones

https://support.google.com/googlepixelbuds/answer/7573100?hl...

Which are the same price as Apple’s AirPods with ANC.

So Google also didn’t try to support the feature with generic earbuds.

The contrary is literally written in a large yellow box on the page you linked: “Note: Google Translate works with all Assistant-optimized headphones and Android phones.”

But I mean, you are free to buy overpriced Apple headphones which sounds worse than Sony, only properly works paired with an Apple phone or laptop and whose killer feature was available on their competitors buds years ago if that rocks your boat.

You didn’t look at the prices of other “Google assistant” compatible headphones did you?

And those Sony ones aren’t cheap.

The first review I found comparing them..

https://wasteofserver.com/sony-wf-1000xm4-vs-apple/

Why would I want to by a none Apple laptop with horrible battery life, loud, and that produces enough heat to ensure that I don’t have offspring if I actually put it on my lap?

Over the course of this thread your argument went from "It's not technically possible" and "they will have to train their own models" to "I don't want to buy certain devices".

No I said it wasn’t technically possible on any cheap headphones because while the processing was done on the phone, the audio capture was done by the outside microphones on Apple headphones that have ANC and even the older ones of those required Apple to update the firmware on its own AirPods working in concert.

This is no different than Google not supporting just any old headphones.

Then the argument came that Apple’s AirPods are “overpriced” even though the cheapest AirPods that support it - AirPods 4 with ANC are in the same price range as Google’s and cheaper than the worse sounding and more expensive Sony Earbuds.

I prefer the Apple ecosystem myself but the Sony WF-1000XM are frequently available on sale (refurb WF-1000XM5 are $110 right now). I used to have the WH-1000XM3 (over the ear) and those are good too.

The whole argument seems kind of silly. Just buy the platform you want that has the features you want. If the European thinks Apple is overpriced then it's no harm that they aren't bringing features to Europe. He wasn't going to buy them and now is going to not buy them even harder.

As a reminder, the initial argument was that Apple doesn’t bring their feature to Europe because they would have to open it via an API to their competitors. Someone replied that it’s not a refusal but a technical impossibility which is easily countered by Google having done just that for years. The fact that it’s heavily downvoted despite being factually completely correct is actually hilarious to me.

The rest, which is to say that everything Apple sells beside laptops is subpar, their strategy regarding European regulations deprive them of any credibility when they pretend to care about consumers and their prices conversion in Europe is daylight robbery, is just my opinion and accessory to the discussion. I just couldn’t help myself.

No one said it’s a “technical impossibility”. The original statement was that it wouldn’t work on any cheap headphones. It’s assumed that you thought the iPhone was capturing the audio. Even then, there was some work done between the headphones and the phone and the firmware of the AirPods 2 had to be updated.

You aren’t going to save any money by getting a pair of $50 ANC headphones and hoping they work with the system - the Android variant doesn’t.

> It’s assumed that you thought the iPhone was capturing the audio.

Absolutely not. It assumed the AirPods Pro 2 unique processing was required which it clearly isn’t.

Nobody ever talked about saving money.

The whole discussion is about the EU mandating Apple play fair which would mean letting competitors access their phone processing exactly like Google is already doing.

> Nobody ever talked about saving money.

You didn’t say this?

> But I mean, you are free to buy overpriced Apple headphones

> which sounds worse than Sony,

And the Sony headphones sound worse and are more expensive.

> only properly works paired with an Apple phone or laptop

Which also isn’t true.

The fact that I rightfully qualify Apple products as overpriced don’t magically make the discussion about saving money.

Sony headphones sounds noticeably better than AirPods Pro 2 by the way and their EQ is better. AirPods have great noise cancellation but their sound quality is not that great.

> > only properly works paired with an Apple phone or laptop

> Which also isn’t true.

Care to explain to me how I set what presses do on AirPods without an Apple product. How do I disable noise cancellation and pass through? Where do I setup the level of noise cancellation?

Yes, exactly.

So noise cancelling headphones that are worse at noise cancelling are better?

And the headphones are “overpriced” even though they are the same price as comparable devices that have worse ANC?

And a simple Google search tells you how to pair AirPods to none Apple devices

https://support.apple.com/en-sg/guide/airpods/dev499c9718b/w...

I have both a pair of the over ear Sony XM4’s and AirPods Pro 2 and I’m not sure I’d characterize the Sony’s sound as “better”, even when using lossless audio. They sound good but the sound profile is mostly just different, with the Sony’s leaning more bassy and the AirPods more balanced.

The noise cancellation are neck and neck but the AirPods had much less of that “pressure” sensation when using it. AirPods transparency is just plain better. Comfort for long use sessions is better on the Sony’s. Mic is better on the AirPods.

There's no EQ in the Sony iPhone app?

There is, but I haven’t had the patience to tweak that. My phone also isn’t the device that I usually use those headphones with.

> But their $60 ANC headphones with cheap audio processing hardware in the headphones aren’t going to be sufficient.

Maybe, maybe not. Assuming Apple's motivation isn't pure self-dealing, it's very consistent with Apple's behavior to forbid or impede doing things that are absolutely possible but sometimes result in a sub-par experience.

How many $60 headphones work with Google’s version?

All of them.

Not according to the official specs….

It's oddly difficult to find solid answers to this with a web search, but it appears that it just needs protocol support, not a mic that meets specific standards. The (discontinued?) JBL 110GA is $40 on Amazon.

Which I’m not able to find on Amazon…

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07G2LXMDV

7 year old used headphones with one in stock using Micro USB in 2025?

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