46 Macworld • January 2022iPHONE
to a more affordable level. Longer
battery life, a more comfortable
design with shorter stems, and greatly
improved sound quality combine to
make this an upgrade worth paying a
little extra for.BIG IMPROVEMENTS TO
SOUND QUALITY
The AirPods’ new look will be the first
thing you notice, but the improved
sound quality will make the most
lasting impression.
Apple uses a new driver in its new
design, which makes a big difference
to clarity and the ‘punch’ of bass-
heavy tracks. You also get software
features like Adaptive EQ and spatial
audio with head tracking while
watching videos in supported apps.
Listening to my playlist of audio
test tracks – a diverse set from
classical to rock, modern pop to
remastered classics – is a totally
different experience than it is on
second-gen AirPods. I would go so
far as to say the new AirPods sound
nearly as good as AirPods Pro when
you listen in a quiet environment.
In particular, bass response is
greatly improved, and overall clarity
is enhanced. Busy, heavy tracks
such as Foo Fighters’ ‘These Days’
or Mötley Crüe’s ‘Kickstart My Heart’manage to avoid turning into a muddy
mess, which is more than I can say
for listening with second-generation
AirPods. C Lo Green’s ‘Bright Lights
Bigger City’ keeps its clean stereo
separation and holds on to those
subtle background crowd noises,
both of which are easily lost on
lesser earbuds.
Spatial audio is a treat when it’s
well-supported. On stereo tracks,
enabling the feature in Control
Panel (long-press the volume slider)
definitely provides a more open
sound space, but can sometimes lose
subtle cues. Tracks mixed in Dolby
Atmos, of which Apple Music now
has quite a few, sound fantastic.
Spatial Audio adds a whole
new sense of space and position
to surround-sound movies and TV
shows. If you use AirPods to watch
streaming video, third-generation
AirPods are a massive improvement
over the second generation for this
reason alone.A NEW DESIGN, A
DIFFERENT FIT
It’s no stretch to say that the third-gen
AirPods look like the AirPods Pro. The
short stems and large black pressure-
equalization grilles on both the pod
and the top of the stem make them