Edit: no they're not, I was skimming the news too hard. Oops. Well I guess they're trying to fix the Bluetooth latency everyone is complaining about with their existing stuff then.
In a few years I'm sure Apple will find a wireless charging solution they like, and then they'll drop the Lightning connector as well. I cannot even begin to imagine the hue and cry that one's gonna cause.
Update: as noted below, they do use Bluetooth though that's not in the marketing pitch. They don't promise compatibility outside of Apple devices though so who knows if it's based on a standard profile.
See http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMEF2AM/A/airpods, then scroll down to "Tech Specs".
Connections
AirPods: BluetoothHow they pair with non-Apple gear is yet to be seen, but the connection is BT.
Update: CNET is providing a little more on this, looks like they will be compatible (but without any buttons on them, it may not be a great experience):
http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-intros-totally-wireless-airpo...
> They all work with Apple's new proprietary W1 chip that's being described as a custom chip that uses ultra low-power Blueooth and keeps the two earbuds in sync. CNET reporter Shara Tibken spoke to Apple reps who confirmed the headphones will work with other Bluetooth devices, not just the new iPhones
Have a source for that? That they claim it works with existing Macs kind of implies that it uses Bluetooth.
But there is no 'other' open standard yet, although Intel and other vendors are pondering it [1].
This doesn't mean that HDMI or DisplayPort can't be shoehorned to do it and you can't carry those over the USB type-C plug, but they're meant for other things. This type of 'let's invent one that meets our needs slightly better than the 5 others' is what leads to standards proliferating (and I'll avoid linking the xkcd).
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phone_connector_(audio)#TRRS_s...
[1] http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/devclass_docs/audio10.pdf
[2] http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/devclass_docs/frmts10.pdf
It may be that from many people's point of view, the user experience is comparable and/or better. But it's accomplished using a fundamentally different mechanism. I wanted better apples; even if some oranges are tasty too.
Are they? Because none of their computer nor laptops have a lightning connector.
Apple's NIH syndrome is exceedingly strong...and I say this being an Apple product guy.
The shit-show that has been owning a 6 Plus, the rapidly declining quality of OSX & its applications and now this has me quickly looking for the door.
Edit: And they're pushing iCloud hard now...to the point that I don't sign into it on my devices anymore. iOS nags me to create an iCloud Backup _every day_ and when the setting was (accidentally) automatic, a single backup filled all of my free iCloud storage space...which caused iOS to nag me into paying for more iCloud storage. I simply cannot stop it from sending push notifications.
Vulkan was announced first. Apple was even a part of the effort. Then they went off and did their own thing and withdrew from Vulkan and announced Metal.
As I see it, Apple took Vulkan ideas. Of course it was faster for them to create Metal because they didn't have to care about cross-platform and multi-party support.
No it wasn't. Khronos' own slides on Vulkan disprove this (slide 6) [1], saying they began the effort in June 2014. Apple announced Mantle to the public that month.
[1] https://www.khronos.org/assets/uploads/developers/library/20...
Announced, didn't release.
In the same presentation as you linked, on slide 9, you can see Apple was a part of the Vulkan effort. The subsequently withdrew from Vulkan, before releasing Metal.
[1] http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/183567-apple-unveils-metal...
[2] http://appadvice.com/appnn/2014/09/unveiled-at-wwdc-2014-for...
Lightning only operates at USB 2 speeds. Well, except for the large iPad Pro.
Oh, and it requires an authentication chip so has to be approved by Apple (not overly 'usable', but definitely proprietary).
I used the word 'usability' to attempt to imply UX, and I was deliberately avoiding commenting on speed, features, DRM, and the like, because those aren't delivered by USB type-C, which is only the plug. As you imply, those points are addressed by the jump from USB 2 to USB 3.0 or the type-C-compatible USB 3.1.
Source? The entire industry as far as I can tell still uses HLS as the only mobile streaming tech, whether within or beyond the Apple ecosystem. HLS won. If DASH is going to take over, I haven't seen any evidence of that yet, and don't expect to in the near future.
Getting rid of the headphone port would have been better if the alternative port was USB-C rather than Lightning.
-- Lightning pre-dates USB type-C, which fulfill the same usability goal
-- AirPlay pre-dates Miracast
-- Metal pre-dates Vulkan
In some cases, Apple's product was later adopted as the standard:
-- The mini-DisplayPort was their custom connector but later adopted as an official standard
-- the MOV format was adopted for the ISO base container format (MPEG-4 Part 12), which forms the base of MPEG-4 Part 14, commonly known as the 'MP4 container'.
In some cases, they did develop custom tech where open ones existed:
-- ALAC is fairly close in implementation details to FLAC, which pre-dates it.
-- Apple's 'HTTP Live Streaming' came well-after MPEG standard ways of doing HTTP streaming, and is roughly contemporaneous with Adobe's and Microsoft's proprietary ways of adaptive streaming. Later, DASH was developed as a vendor-neutral alternative, and is now the preferred way of doing adaptive streaming via HTTP.
I don't believe that Apple is any more proprietary than a lot of other companies. It's just that they're a tempting target, because they dictate their ecosystem so strongly, and it certainly doesn't help that they ship a lot of locked-down, premium devices.
But blatantly user-hostile changes like removing the headphone jack won't earn them any goodwill.