For the love of pods! - Apple iPod rumors and Lossless audio for Homepods!

[Bratstech]

8 minutes ago, sub68 said:

Thats not the point

well it depends on what OS you like

Both are easy to use (well it depends on the android skins some are more and less complicated) The point of the iPod is to be an offline device and to be for little ones that are not old enough for a full phone yet. A cheap android phone is insecure and I saw someone say earlier how they've had an android phone their entire life and have never had a virus. Well chances are that you have but the virus just didn't show itself or maybe you haven't had a virus. if you really haven't then lucky you. Little ones that are around age 5 don't know how to judge weather something is a scam or a virus. They don't know internet safety yet. Yes it is the parents job to help teach them internet safety but the child will still run into stuff like scams. iPods run iOS which has the whole Family iCloud where the parent can restrict websites apps and even music right from their phone. You can do that with an android phone but you will have to do it with a third party and you might even have to have a monthly subscription. if you already have an android phone for yourself then I guess go for the cheap android route but if you are apart of the Apple ecosystem then I suggest the iPod for the little ones

[Bratstech]

7 minutes ago, Den-Fi said:

Correct. You assumed people were interested in being corrected. Instead, all that edit did was add fuel to the flames of derailment.

I wasn't trying to correct anyone I was just linking it cause it was a fun video to explain why iPods exist still

[Zodiark1593]

If I recall correctly, the Homepod actually has a fairly beefy CPU, and can probably handle decoding in software. The H1 chip, designed to use a handful of milliwatts in a tiny earpod, probably not so much. 

[Brooksie359]

3 hours ago, sub68 said:

Thats not the point

well it depends on what OS you like

But it is the point. The iPod is simply easier to setup for a kid to use while the cheap android phone is not nearly as easy if you are trying to have it not work as a phone. Also let's be honest here I think alot of people who buy Apple products generally are just going to get the ipod for their kids because they already are in the ecosystem. 

[suicidalfranco]

if it comes out with actual decent (above average) DAC, I might end up stuck trying to choose between it and the HiBy R3 Pro, Fiio M6 or M5 DAPs.

High grade, high fidelity balanced audio player vs a jack of trades situation

[Arika]

16 hours ago, Bratstech said:

there is a lot of people questioning why you would buy an iPod Touch in 2021 instead of a cheap Android phone. The thing is that it's NOT a phone. It is an iPod. It's meant to be an offline device for music and kids that don't need a full phone yet.

DAPs have existed for a long time now and are clearly popular enough for manufacturers to keep making them. I have a DAP that is effectively the only device i listen to music on, even if i'm using my PC.

 

The wonders of having a mixer for multiple sources.

[Tenelia]

17 hours ago, Den-Fi said:

What's the point in coming to an Apple new article just to bring up Android things that don't apply to someone looking to stay within the Apple ecosystem. This isn't a thread celebrating the greatness of Apple. It's a Tech News thread with information, presented as that and nothing more. I don't get why people always want to fight over ecosystems. People use what they want to use.

Amen to this. Like wow people, I can sense your anger and frustration, but maybe deal with those emotions in a healthier way?

[sub68]

On 5/24/2021 at 2:05 PM, Bratstech said:

I feel like no one is watching the video I linked in my edit

I have watched it before.

[spartaman64]

i saw some rumors that the airpod max could be lossless with airplay but they are avoiding announcing it for now since another proprietary standard might seem anticompetitive and hurt them in the epic games trial

https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2021/05/20/apple-airpods-pro-airpods-max-apple-music-lossless-dolby-atmos-free-iphone-upgrade/?sh=59eaeb01e1a2

Quote

Why didn’t Apple announce both Apple Music lossless audio and AirPlay support for AirPods together? Prosser believes there is a cynical motive: in a week where senior Apple executives, including Tim Cook, will testify in the Apple Vs Epic trial, the news of a groundbreaking free lossless audio launch for Apple Music acts as a great distraction. Tie the feature exclusively to AirPods, however, and it appears anti-competitive at the critical moment of an anti-competitive lawsuit. 

 

[Blademaster91]

On 5/24/2021 at 4:14 PM, Brooksie359 said:

But it is the point. The iPod is simply easier to setup for a kid to use while the cheap android phone is not nearly as easy if you are trying to have it not work as a phone. Also let's be honest here I think alot of people who buy Apple products generally are just going to get the ipod for their kids because they already are in the ecosystem. 

All someone would have to do is buy a cheap android phone and just not put a SIM card in it. I don't really see the point in this lossless ipod unless they're already in the apple ecosystem, even then it doesn't make sense if the kid already has a phone.

On 5/25/2021 at 3:11 AM, Tenelia said:

Amen to this. Like wow people, I can sense your anger and frustration, but maybe deal with those emotions in a healthier way?

Thats really ironic because someone always feels the need to make comments about apple in a lot of android news threads.

[Brooksie359]

52 minutes ago, Blademaster91 said:

All someone would have to do is buy a cheap android phone and just not put a SIM card in it. I don't really see the point in this lossless ipod unless they're already in the apple ecosystem, even then it doesn't make sense if the kid already has a phone.

Thats really ironic because someone always feels the need to make comments about apple in a lot of android news threads.

See i think you are thinking too highly of the average person. You might think its that easy but someone who isn't tech savvy wouldn't. First its highly likely they have no idea that is even an option and second they likely would have to research to figure that out. It's like asking a child how to do multiplication. Sure it easy once they know how to do it but they would still have to learn before they could do so. As for the phone thing I would sorta agree unless someone wanted the ipod simply for the battery. Playing music can suck up phone battery and having an ipod that you can use exclusively for music to save battery might be nice for some. 

[NotTheFirstDaniel]

On 5/24/2021 at 2:46 PM, Zodiark1593 said:

If I recall correctly, the Homepod actually has a fairly beefy CPU, and can probably handle decoding in software. The H1 chip, designed to use a handful of milliwatts in a tiny earpod, probably not so much. 

Didn't the HomePod have an A10 Fusion? I just remember it was *way* too overkill for what it was doing, I'm assuming because Apple just didn't have any good low power silicon in 2017. I think the HomePod mini now has the same S5 chip that's in the new Apple Watch, which itself is just an efficiency core of the A13.

 

If you're talking about AirPods using lossless, I don't think the H1 is *that* severely underpowered. If AirPods switched to AirPlay like rumors suggest, I think it would be able to process lossless audio just fine.

10 hours ago, spartaman64 said:

i saw some rumors that the airpod max could be lossless with airplay but they are avoiding announcing it for now since another proprietary standard might seem anticompetitive and hurt them in the epic games trial

This. This is *exactly* what they did with Find My. They released the standard a few weeks before they released AirTags to get 3rd parties releasing products for it before Apple did. I'm assuming at WWDC we will see AirPlay 3 or AirPlay over Bluetooth, whatever the marketing name will be called, and we will see Apple promote not just their own first party headphones, but those from competitors such as Bose and Sennheiser. They're just giving them time to work on it. They just announce it now to get headlines rolling that AirPods won't support lossless to avoid questions like that being brought up at the trial.

2 hours ago, Blademaster91 said:

All someone would have to do is buy a cheap android phone and just not put a SIM card in it. I don't really see the point in this lossless ipod unless they're already in the apple ecosystem, even then it doesn't make sense if the kid already has a phone.

I can see a scenario where a family would want, for instance, a young child to go to school with a device they can use, and one from Apple, but not want them to have a phone number because they don't trust/want them giving it out. But it's not like its a dud because at the end of the day with an iPod, you can still use iMessage and Facetime, it's just you can *only* use those services (or any other messaging/VOIP services in the App Store), and you can't use SMS, and you can more easily set restrictions on who you talk to with iMessage and Facetime.

 

But at the same time, most parents opt for tablets instead of iPods, and since you can buy an iPad for $100 more than this iPod (If you're buying a tablet for a child who's in school, I don't feel bad about using the Education store that gives you a $100 discount on the iPad), it does cut the value proposition a bit.

 

I think some people brought up the point that a device this cheap could be given to a more careless kid. For the current iPod, you could literally buy two of them for the price of the lowly iPhone SE, let alone the iPhone 12 mini. If a kid breaks this phone, or cracks the screen, it won't be too much to replace.

 

And personally, I would not buy an Android phone for under $500. Every Android phone I've used that wasn't a flagship or a semi-flagship phone (S20 FE) has been absolute garbage. It doesn't matter who it's from, they've all been shit. And if they're not shit, you can't get replacement parts for them because they're imported, but since we're talking about Apple, you weren't gonna get replacement parts anyways so...

 

 Assuming Apple will put an A12 in here (which is still probably faster than a $200 Android phone despite being released in 2018), A $200 "phone" without the phone doesn't sound too bad. What would kill me is the data. Apple would need to make a cellular model that takes data like the iPad. I can foresee a lot of carriers having addon "iPod" packages for "cheap" to get people to bring their kids into the network. But at that point you'd likely be paying $300 for it, and the iPhone SE is $399.

[26astr00]

Still a useless device, no matter how many times OP is gonna edit his post. Android is objectively a better OS than iOS at this point, and security isn’t a real issue if you are gonna use this as an offline music device. If anything, Android with its easy transfer of audio files from a PC to the mobile device is better suited at being a music player than anything based upon iOS

[dalekphalm]

32 minutes ago, 26astr00 said:

Still a useless device, no matter how many times OP is gonna edit his post. Android is objectively a better OS than iOS at this point, and security isn’t a real issue if you are gonna use this as an offline music device. If anything, Android with its easy transfer of audio files from a PC to the mobile device is better suited at being a music player than anything based upon iOS

Android is not objectively better than iOS.

 

Please, take the fanboy blinders off and look at it objectively. Both have pros and cons, but for the vast majority of users, both are equally good. The OP might be a massive Apple fan (I don't know them well enough to state that as fact), but iOS is an excellent choice for a mobile OS.

 

The new rumoured iPod isn't a bad device either - it's just super niche. Most people would be better suited getting a full iPhone or an Android phone, rather than a dedicated music player/mini-tablet.

 

If, however, you're in the market for a dedicated music player or mini-tablet, the new rumoured iPod should definitely be under consideration, even if you ultimately decide on something else.