AirPods Adaptive Audio is Apple’s latest take on active noise cancellation and transparency modes. The idea is that it allows in the external sounds you’re likely to want to hear, like someone speaking to you, while blocking unwanted noise (like vacuum cleaners or Coldplay albums). But as well as improving your music listening experience when walking down the street, or sitting on a plane, Adaptive Audio could well prove the best solution when listening to live music … more… The post AirPods Adaptive Audio could be the future of hearing protection at gigs appeared first on 9to5Mac.

Illustration by Samar Haddad / The Verge When you read a review of a smartphone, you will usually be hit with a long list of screen specs: the display type, its dimensions and aspect ratio, its resolution in pixels, its HDR support (or lack of it), and its brightness, for example. Too often, it’s assumed that everyone understands the significance of each of these specs. So in this article, we’re going to focus on the basics of the refresh rate, which you’ll see in the specs of monitors and TVs as well. It tells you how many times the display is refreshed per second, typically measured in Hz (hertz). In other words, a 90Hz display refreshes itself 90 times a…

Macworld At a glanceExpert's Rating ProsFun transparent design (other colors are available)Improved ANC and sound qualityGood battery lifePriced wellConsDon’t sound as good as AirPods ProMissing a few Apple ecosystem featuresNo wireless chargingOur VerdictPriced similarly to 3rd-gen AirPods, the Beats Studio Buds+ have a more usable design, ANC, and better sound quality. But they’re missing a few Apple ecosystem perks and 2nd-gen AirPods Pro have more features and sound better. Best Prices Today: Beats Studio Buds+ Retailer Price $169.95 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide In our review of the original Beats Studio Buds, we found they outclassed AirPods Pro in several ways but lacked some Apple-specific features. That, along with mediocre noise canceling, made them less desirable…

Macworld You can generally find a pair of AirPods on sale, but it’s rare that they’re all on sale at the same time. Today’s one of those days—Amazon is cutting the price of every model of AirPods it sells, from the older second-gen model to the high-end AirPods Max and even the wired EarPods: AirPods Pro (2nd-gen) Price: $200 at Amazon Savings: $49 The 2nd-gen AirPods Pro have the same design as their predecessor, but they’re all-new on the inside, with 2X better noise cancellation, longer battery life, and a new Adaptive Transparency mode that automatically blocks out harmful noises. You’ll also get all of the new features coming in iOS 17. AirPods (3rd-gen, Lightning case) Price: $149 at Amazon…

Illustration by Samar Haddad for The Verge My smart home journey began, like so many others, with a poorly placed light switch. My partner and I had just bought our first house, and the switch that illuminated the kitchen was in the laundry room all the way on the other side, meaning we had to wander through darkness to get to it. I hated that light switch. So what to do? Well, I could spend a bunch of money I didn’t have to hire someone to move it, try to do it myself and accidentally burn my house down with a bad wiring job, or take the plunge on a smart home. I took the path of least resistance (that’s…

Macworld You can generally find a pair of AirPods on sale, but it’s rare that they’re all on sale at the same time. Today’s one of those days—Amazon is cutting the price of every model of AirPods it sells, from the older second-gen model to the high-end AirPods Max and even the wired EarPods: AirPods Pro (2nd-gen) Price: $200 at Amazon Savings: $49 The 2nd-gen AirPods Pro have the same design as their predecessor, but they’re all-new on the inside, with 2X better noise cancellation, longer battery life, and a new Adaptive Transparency mode that automatically blocks out harmful noises. You’ll also get all of the new features coming in iOS 17. AirPods (3rd-gen, Lightning case) Price: $149 at Amazon…