This article is from the WeChat public account Leitech (ID: leitech), and the title image is from IC Photo.

In a blink of an eye, October has come to the last day, and the new machine conferences of major manufacturers have also come to an end. But the role of Apple is not over yet, it is offering iPhone
After 12’s big move, Apple will have a press conference waiting for everyone at the end of the year. In addition to the officially announced ARM version of the MacBook, the popular AirPods series is also expected to launch new products at the end of the year, probably a noise-reducing headset.

Today, the AirPods series has once again become popular, but this hot search has nothing to do with the rumored headset. Apple announced today on its official website that some AirPods Pro produced before October 2020 may experience sound problems, and Apple will provide a free replacement program worldwide.

What is the problem that made the always confident Apple so panicked?

AirPods Pro problem

In the service announcement released by Apple this time, the main problems of AirPods Pro are pointed out:

  • Cracking or static noise, which increases in noisy environments, during exercise, or during calls

  • The active noise reduction function does not work properly, such as missing bass effects, or increased background sounds (such as street noise or airplane noise).

More concerned about AirPods ProFriends, I should have seen a lot of discussions on the above issues on the Internet. Xiaolei is no exception. As the first AirPods Pro user who entered the pit, Xiaolei encountered this problem ten months after the purchase. The right ear headset (noise reduction mode) will send out a “zizi” during exercise. There is no problem if noise reduction is turned off. On the Internet, this abnormal noise is not an isolated case.

It may be AirPods

Pro is still with a one-year warranty. It may also be that Xiaolei has AppleCare+ guarantee service. After running the diagnostic program, employees of Apple direct stores will replace Xiaolei’s single earphone for free (but it takes up one replacement number). Judging from the feedback from Apple employees and online users, AirPods
The noise problem of Pro is the biggest quality feedback problem.

Xiao Lei believes that the noise source of AirPods Pro is the same as AirPods
It is related to the failure of Pro noise reduction related components. It may be that dust has entered the noise reduction feedforward microphone to interfere with sound collection, or the tightly packaged unit may be loose. Apple’s official announcement this time should also be in the first batch of AirPods
Before the end of the Pro warranty, the encapsulation process of AirPods Pro has been improved. The new version of the earphones may have better dust resistance in the future.

As a user who bought AC+ for AirPods from the beginning, this warranty is a good thing for Xiaolei-it will not occupy the number of AC+ warranty in the future. Xiaolei can use the headset with confidence (but in turn, Apple This announcement was posted at least four months late). However, as an editor, Xiao Lei also hopes to take this opportunity to popularize the pits of TWS headsets to those students who are hungry for TWS headsets.

Imperfect TWS headset

As the fastest expanding market in recent years, TWS has become the first choice of most people. According to IDC statistics, in the first half of 2020, China’s wireless headset market will ship 42560,000 units, a year-on-year increase

24%, of which TWS true wireless headphones accounted for 64%, an increase of 49% year-on-year; active noise reduction products accounted for 30%, an increase of 122% year-on-year. Brands such as Huawei, Xiaomi, and OPPO are all madly releasing TWS products and competing for ecology.

However, behind the rapidly popularizing technology, one difficulty has always plagued the TWS market, that is, high precision. The highly integrated components inside the TWS headset make repairs extremely difficult. If there is a problem with the headset, it is difficult to disassemble and repair it except for the official replacement. Apple, which has always advertised “environmental protection”, can only replace all malfunctioning headphones individually.

Due to the high precision inside the TWS headset, two problems it brings have surfaced: stability and longevity. It can be seen from Xiaolei’s search results that at present, all well-known headphone brands that adopt noise reduction solutions generally have problems related to “current noise”, and the high replacement price often discourages consumers. The addition of noise reduction components puts more stringent requirements on the design of headphones and greatly increases the probability of problems.

Another common problem is battery life. Nowadays, most headphones have a single battery of about 40-50mAh. In the case of heavy use (empty every day), the capacity of the headphones will drop to 80% of the dangerous line in one year. The internal battery management program of Xiaolei’s AirPods started to fail in about two years, and the battery life dropped from 5 hours to 3 hours. The battery life of TWS headsets reported on the Internet was generally halved in about 2-3 years.