Apple’s annual fall event (or close enough to fall, anyway) has arrived. And with it we have the iPhone 16, of course, a new version of the AirPods Max — and new entry-level and midrange AirPods (to go along with new features for the existing AirPods Pro).
Apple has said goodbye to the original long-stem AirPods design, with the new AirPods 4 looking a lot like the third-gen AirPods. It has also created a separate version called the AirPods 4 with ANC.
The AirPods 4 with ANC, as the name suggests, will include active noise cancellation, marking the first time we get that feature outside of the AirPods Pro line. It’s also the first time Apple has offered ANC without the use of passive noise isolation solutions like silicone eartips or over-ear ear cushions.
Apple credits the AirPods 4 with ANC’s new H2 processor for this achievement. They’ll also include transparency mode and adaptive audio, which can automatically switch depending on what it hears in the environment around you.
The AirPods 4 with ANC also offer a USB-C case with wireless charging plus a built-in speaker for Find My, while the regular AirPods 4 can only charge via USB-C. Both cases are 10% smaller than the third-gen model and Apple claims that the AirPods 4 with ANC’s case is the smallest on the market to offer wireless charging.
If you want all that ANC goodness, however, you’ll have to pay a little extra. The non-ANC version costs $129, and the model with ANC costs $179. By comparison, the AirPods Pro cost $249.
Curiously, battery life has been slightly reduced. The third-gen model had a claimed 6 hours of playtime on a single charge and a total of 30 hours when you include the case. The fourth-gen are now rated for 5 hours per charge, yet they still get 30 hours total.
Apple calls these new AirPods models the best-fitting AirPods ever. According to the company, the new design is built with “an unparalleled data set” that uses advanced modelling tools, like 3D photogrammetry and laser topography, to precisely map and analyze thousands of ear shapes and over 50 million individual data points in total. Apple boasts that they’re also the best-sounding AirPods ever, with a “massive improvement” to audio quality, thanks to a new acoustic architecture.
AirPods 4 will include all the usual Siri and Mac features you’ve come to expect, and conversation awareness and adaptive audio are on board, too.
The AirPods 4 — as well as everything else new Apple announced — are available for preorder now and will ship September 20.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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