Apple introduced the new AirPods 3 back in October of this year. The third-gen accessory brought forward a new design along with support for spatial audio, Adaptive EQ, and a boatload of new features. Now, Apple's vice president of acoustics Gary Geaves shared some interesting insights on the limitations of Bluetooth and the features in AirPods 3. Scroll down to read more details on the subject.
Apple's Acoustics VP Talks About the Limitations of Bluetooth and AirPods in New Interview
In an interview with What HiFi (via 9to5mac) Gary Geaves stated that the AirPods 3 were made entirely with custom-made components to ensure the best possible sound quality. While Apple can enhance the sound quality through AirPods 3, Bluetooth remains to be a limitation. Geaves did not share many details on whether Bluetooth is holding back the true capabilities of the AirPods but he did coin that Apple would "like more bandwidth."
"Obviously the wireless technology is critical for the content delivery that you talk about", he says, "but also things like the amount of latency you get when you move your head, and if that's too long, between you moving your head and the sound changing or remaining static, it will make you feel quite ill, so we have to concentrate very hard on squeezing the most that we can out of the Bluetooth technology, and there's a number of tricks we can play to maximise or get around some of the limits of Bluetooth. But it's fair to say that we would like more bandwidth and... I'll stop right there. We would like more bandwidth", he smiles.
When conceptualizing the new AirPods 3, the AirPods team observed the strengths of the AirPods 2 very closely, It "creates challenges for the audio team" to design a product without an open seal. This is because both ears are not the same size and the design team made use of Adaptive EQ to cover up for the lack of open fit. The AirPods 3 are designed to provide "consistent frequency response regardless of the level of fit that each person gets."
When designing the audio hardware for the AirPods 3, Apple took into account a "strong analytic foundation" with "extensive measurement" and "deep statistical research" for an "internal acoustic analytic response." Apple also considers the emotional aspect of the music and undertakes help from critical listeners and tuners to offer the best sound experience. You can check out the full interview with Geaves for more details.
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