Apple has managed to significantly improve the audio quality of the AirPods Pro 2 without supporting lossless audio — and in a new interview, Apple engineer Esge Andersen reveals some secrets on how to do that.
In short: it’s all about airflow, Andersen tells What Hi-Fi? in extensive discussions. Andersen, who works on Apple’s acoustics team, described how the company hopes to give everyone “the AirPods Max in their pocket.” While the overall design of the AirPods Pro 2 is nearly identical to the first-generation AirPods Pro, they’ve redesigned the vents to optimize airflow to the audio drivers, which is clearly key to improving the sound.
“How We Move Air”
“When we talk about good sound, it’s all about how we move the air in the product — which is kind of weird because it’s not talking about the enclosure or how it looks — it’s about making sure we’re designing for airflow as well,” says Andersen .. Obviously, the AirPods Pro 2 are particularly focused on improving high-frequency response, but it delivers clearer highs and deeper, more precise bass. There are also subtle adjustments to each volume level.
Andersen also revealed how the earbuds are designed to behave slightly differently depending on the device they’re connected to – and there’s a panel of “expert listeners” to help ensure the sound is as impressive as possible.
Analysis: AirPods Standard
Apple has been developing its AirPods wireless earbuds since 2016, and the introduction of the first pair of wireless earbuds kicked off a new wave of technology: There’s now a pair of wireless earbuds on sale from almost every manufacturer.
While there’s a lot of competition in the space right now, the AirPods are still the technologically superior, not least because of the high fidelity and great responsiveness that the AirPods Pro 2 offer.
Combine that with the more affordable AirPods 3 and the more expensive AirPods Max, and as far as consumers are concerned, they’ve got a pretty good coverage of what they can get — although in a recent interview, Andersen conceded that it’s impossible to get every Listeners have perfect audio output.
The next step will be to support lossless audio. Apple has previously said it may have to develop its own replacement for the Bluetooth codec to prepare its headphones and earbuds for lossless headphones.