Bluetooth currently limits AirPods. The main obstacle, according to Gary Gives, is probably bandwidth.
When AirPods were first announced, there were a lot of people who laughed at the design and price. That being said, these true wireless earbuds are one of the best-selling accessories in the world today, and have increased in number, even qualifying for a Pro version. The sound may not be the main selling point for AirPods, but rather the ease of use, connection, or interaction with other Apple products.
Bluetooth currently limits AirPods
But what else can the Cupertino company improve on their headphones? At the moment there are not many options left. And to go further, we may need a new wireless protocol. At least that’s what Gary Gives suggests. For those who don’t know, Gary Gieves is none other than Apple’s VP of Acoustics. He especially helped lead the team responsible for creating the AirPods.
The main hurdle, according to Gary Gives, is probably throughput.
Specialist magazine What HiFi interviewed Gary Gives and specifically asked him if Bluetooth would be one of the limiting factors for AirPods, especially with headphone sound quality. The chief executive of Cupertino made it clear that this is indeed possible. In his own words:
Of course, wireless technology is critical for delivering the content you’re talking about, but also for things like the latency you experience when you move your head and, if it’s too high, between your movement and the sound that’s moving.. Changes or remains static, it can make you more or less nauseous, so we need to focus a lot to get the most out of Bluetooth technology, and there are a number of things that we can use to maximize or bypass some of the limitations of Bluetooth. But it would be absolutely fair to say that we would like to have more bandwidth, and. .. I will stop there. We just want more bandwidth.”
It’s unclear if this comment means that the Apple brand is working on its own proprietary wireless technology or may be using other technologies to improve its AirPods. To find out, we will have to wait for the next generations. To be continued!