> Well, Apple has had obvious flops over the years, specifically because the price didn't match the features. The HomePod, for instance.
I would not argue with this and in fact I specifically addressed the does-the-market-actually-exist concern in my comment.
> But if you claim that Apple made a product that sounds better than Bose or Sony's counterparts, and has better ANC, that is not verifiable, at least not until there are in-depth reviews out there confirming it.
I don’t claim any such thing. The point of my comment is that the parent comment implied that there is no real difference, then said that even if there is a difference who cares because does anybody really need better sound anyway?
So my point is, what is the point of that comment? What is it bringing to this discussion, suggesting that Apple’s new headphones may be overpriced wrt. their sound quality, and if not then they’re overpriced anyway? Good sound is something some people care about and will pay for.
> So my point is, what is the point of that comment?
I'm going to take a guess and say that, given the facts, there are reasonable doubts about Apple's offering, compared to other products. Mainly two: noise cancelling is not on par with Bose and Sony, as stated by early reviewers, and the lack of high quality codecs.
Functionality-wise then, they may be overpriced.
And I would be the first to admit that I like the overall design. I'm an Apple user myself. But I'm skeptical that Apple has achieved the technical proficiency to make some reasonably good sounding, wireless, ANC cans, that compete with either Bose or Sony.
I see this more as a luxury product or a status symbol, like Bang & Olufsen.
> Good sound is something some people care about and will pay for.
The people willing to pay +$500 for a pair of headphones would be even more skeptical than me, I presume.
Well, if the comment wanted to make some insightful points about Apple’s speculative ability to compete with the incumbents in the market, it should have done that. It didn’t, though, and that’s why I responded to it with the words I did. If it had been more explicitly speculative and less vaguely negative, I probably would have ignored it completely, because I don’t think that’s a very interesting discussion. Most of the points I’ve heard so far are fairly obvious, and the proof will be in the product pudding.
Since we’re talking about it now, though ... Apple has a decent record building products that meet a reasonable quality bar, even in markets they’re relatively new to. So I think there is a good chance these will end up being regarded as pretty good headphones, worth the asking price for a certain class of consumer. There is also some chance that they will be regarded as overpriced Beats by Dre trash, though I think that window is closing as more positive
impressions come in. Outcomes in between those extremes are, obviously, also possible.
Apple’s hardware design and engineering are first rate, and the things they build with speakers in them don’t sound half bad. Personally, I’d be surprised if these weren’t competitive on features alone, and I’ve paid up to around $1000 for (wired) headphones.
I feel like none of you have taken into account that every single color way is sold out and won’t be available for at least 12 weeks.
So, without a doubt, people will pay for these. And I don’t know what sources that other guy has, but all the early impressions I’ve seen mention much better ANC than the competition
I would not argue with this and in fact I specifically addressed the does-the-market-actually-exist concern in my comment.
> But if you claim that Apple made a product that sounds better than Bose or Sony's counterparts, and has better ANC, that is not verifiable, at least not until there are in-depth reviews out there confirming it.
I don’t claim any such thing. The point of my comment is that the parent comment implied that there is no real difference, then said that even if there is a difference who cares because does anybody really need better sound anyway?
So my point is, what is the point of that comment? What is it bringing to this discussion, suggesting that Apple’s new headphones may be overpriced wrt. their sound quality, and if not then they’re overpriced anyway? Good sound is something some people care about and will pay for.