Apple has just announced that Airpods Max with USB-C port They will receive a software update in April that will allow them to reproduce audio without loss (Lossless) and ultra-low latency.
The trap: this characteristic, highly anticipated from The arrival of Lossless A Apple Music in 2021will only work when they are connected with cable. That is, wireless headphones of 579 euros (originally costing 629) will need to be physically tied to a device to offer the highest sound quality. One part is technically understandable, but the other part is paradoxical.
Irony. The Max Airpods were born promising “high fidelity sound” In 2020, but when Apple launched the audio without loss in Apple Music just five months later, these premium headphones were able to reproduce it. Not even by cable, because the decision to introduce lightning instead of USB-C or a 3.5 mm jack prevented it.
Four years and a port change later, finally this capacity comes, but with a giant asterisk that changes the nature of the product: you must give up wireless freedom, precisely the main characteristic for which customers are willing to pay that price.
Between the lines. This movement says a lot about the current Apple. The company that was once characterized by its obsession with details and coherence is now allowed to fragment in divisions with disconnected priorities.
- The USB-C port allows a completely digital transfer, eliminating the technical problem of lightning. But this solution, although technically correct, is late and fragmented. Why not include this capacity from the release of the USB-C version? Why announce it now, months later?
- Apple has even created its own wireless protocol for loss without loss With the pro. Why not expand it to iPhone and Mac? The answer has more to do with product calendars and allocation of resources than with purely technological limitations.
The background. Apple’s decisions about high quality audio reflect a commercial strategy rather than an absolute commitment to excellence. Audio without loss in Apple Music was mainly a competitive response to rival services, not a crusade for audio quality. If it were the second, it would have planned from the beginning a real solution for its premium devices, instead of adding patches over the years.
Meanwhile, ecosystem fragmentation grows:
- The AirPods Pro 2 They offer lossless audio, but only with Vision Pro.
- The Max Airpods will now, but only with cable and only the USB-C version.
The consistency of the experience, the “It Just Works“That defined Apple for years, fades. Perhaps it is a consequence of the Growth of its catalog, which has gone from minimalism to calculated maximalism. Sometimes, perhaps, inconsistent maximalism.
And now what. Apple is subtly repositioning the Max Airpods with this ad. In his press release They highlight “significant improvements for composers, producers and mixers”, with focus on Workflows of Logic Pro. This new approach to audio professionals lets us intuit a strategic change:
- The Premium consumer segment has not responded as expected.
- They need to differentiate themselves from competitors that offer similar characteristics at a lower price.
- They look for a niche where the high price is more justifiable.
The big question. Is this fragmentation simply the inevitable cost of the growth of the company and the catalog, or does it reflect a deeper problem? The Apple of Steve Jobs made fewer products but each told a clear story and occupied a specific place in a perfectly integrated ecosystem. The Apple of Tim Cook has multiplied its catalog of products and services, but at the expense of a certain coherence.
The result: users who need to investigate what generation of which product is compatible with what functionality –The iPad and Apple Pencil is the icing-. A scenario that contradicts the promise of simplicity that defined Apple.
Turning point. Apple is increasingly adopting a philosophy of “good enough now, better after.” The products are launched with incomplete characteristics that are then added by updates. This approach can work well for software, but it is frustrating when it affects premium hardware that users do not usually replace.
- For current Airpods Max owners with USB-C, this update is a late but welcome improvement.
- For those who have the Lightning version (for sale until seven months ago) is another reminder that Apple can leave relatively recent products behind without too many objections.
- And for potential buyers, it is a signal to wait for a future version with better wireless capabilities.
The ironic thing is that, after eliminating the 3.5mm jack from the iPhone, arguing that the future was wireless, Apple now reminds us that for the best audio quality we need … return to the cables. Specifically to one of forty -five euros.
The circle closes, but not precisely in the most elegant way.
Outstanding image | Ravi Palwe in Unspash
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