Lots of trickle-down tech helps AirPods 3 sound great [Review]

October 28, 2021

I'm really enjoying the new AirPods. Now in their third generation, the little white earbuds have benefited from a lot from trickle-down design and tech from their pricier Pro siblings.

They don't have Active Noise Cancellation like the AirPod Pros, but they do have great sound, stellar battery life and a host of great features like wireless charging.

Check out the review; I think they're well worth their $179 price tag.

In other news:

  • If you're looking for earbuds with Active Noise Cancellation, check out our review of the new Jabra Elite 7 Pros. They're great!

  • Apple continues to make boatloads of money, even with supply chain issues, which would have added an extra $6 billion in revenue.

  • The new colorful HomePod minis are shipping soon; perhaps as early as next week.

  • At last, the batteries in the new MacBook Pros are easy to replace. Maybe Apple has been paying attention to iFixit, which has been campaigning for better repairability for years?

-- Leander Kahney, EIC.

The new AirPods 3 are marvelous little earbuds. They sound fantastic, are dead easy to set up and use, and the wireless charging case is a godsend. Compared to their predecessors, Apple greatly improved just about everything — and they are well worth their $179 price tag.

With the new Jabra Elite 7 Pro earbuds, I seem to have found near-ideal audio with active noise cancellation (ANC) for both music and phone calls. The compact earbuds offer surprisingly expansive sound and are incredibly comfortable to wear for long periods of time.

Apple’s string of stellar quarters continues with the July-to-September period bringing in $83.4 billion in total revenue, up 29% year over year and a new record for the quarter. That lead to an dramatic increase in net income. Revenue from iPhone was up significantly, while iPad, Mac, wearables and services revenue grew by smaller percentages.

You can wirelessly charge three devices with this folding charging station that’s perfect at home or on the road. It looks like Apple’s pricey MagSafe Duo — but it can handle more and costs a lot less! The MagStack Foldable 3-in-1 Wireless Charging Station with Floating Stand packs three charging surfaces — for iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods — and it’s on sale for just $44.99. (That’s 35% off its regular price.)

When the time comes to replace the battery inside your 2021 MacBook Pro, you can avoid the pricey repair shops. Apple has made this particular process significantly easier than it was on earlier MacBook models.

HomePod mini’s new color options, which were introduced during Apple’s big MacBook Pro event on October 18, will go on sale in the U.S. next week, according to a new report. Fans in Europe will have to wait a little longer.

The new Plugable UD-3900C universal docking station is a reasonably priced means of “hot-desking” with Macs and PCs. That allows hybrid workers to easily connect and get right back on the job when they come back to the office, even if they always use a different desk.

In Cult of Mac's Halloween Sale, you’ll find a ghoulish array of iPhone cases, Apple Watch bands, chargers and more. The sale ends Monday, November 1, at 11:59 p.m. PST.

Tweets o' the day

One more thing ...

"I'm not a 62-year-old statesman that's traveled around the world all his life. So I'm sure that there was a situation when I was 25 that if I could go back, knowing what I know now, I could have handled much better. And I'm sure I'll be able to say the same thing when I'm 35 about the situation in 1985. I can be very intense in my convictions. And I don't know; all in all, I kind of like myself and I'm not that anxious to change." -- Steve Jobs.

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