Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Fake $95 AirPods Pro vs. Real AirPods Pro

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Apple just released the AirPods Pro in late October, but there are already a bunch of knockoffs and replicas on the market to appeal to those who might not be able to afford the $250 asking price of the ‌AirPods Pro‌.

We picked up the $95 i500 Pro TWS Earbuds, a set of ‌AirPods Pro‌ replicas that are remarkably similar in design to Apple's real ‌AirPods Pro‌ and that even advertise some of the same features, like Apple's proprietary H1 chip. In the photos and videos below, the real AirPods are on the left.

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Price wise, these fakes are $95, which is almost half the price of the ‌AirPods Pro‌. That's super expensive for a knockoff, so before reading on, know that we do not recommend purchasing these fakes or any fake ‌AirPods Pro‌ models because you're never going to get the feature set, sound quality, and build quality that you get from Apple's own earbuds.


When it comes to design, the Air i500 Pro TWS look identical to the ‌AirPods Pro‌. The earbuds themselves are similar to the ‌AirPods Pro‌ with almost no design deviations, and there's even a matching Wireless Charging Case that wirelessly charges the case itself and the fake ‌AirPods‌ inside.


Just looking at the Air i500 Pro TWS next to ‌AirPods‌, you're probably not going to be able to tell the difference between the two. There are some minor design discrepancies so they're not totally identical, but if you're not inspecting them up close side by side, it's tough to tell. The Air i500 Pro earbuds do feel lighter and the lid feels a bit different in use, but again, most people might not notice.

On the website, the fake earbuds claim to have a Qualcomm chip and Apple's proprietary H1 chip that allows for quick swapping between devices, simple setup, "Hey Siri" functionality, and more, and these features do appear to work. We don't know if it's a copy of the H1 chip and there are rumors floating around that the company is using spoofed MAC addresses, but functionally, these have some of the ‌AirPods Pro‌ tech on the surface.

Connecting is similar to ‌AirPods Pro‌ in that you just need to open the case and then hold down a button on the back, and when connecting, a battery level indicator pops up on the iPhone just like the real thing. Battery levels are even displayed inside of the battery widget in the Today portion of the notification interface.


Wireless charging works, "Hey ‌Siri‌" is functional, music playback pauses when an earbud is taken out of the ear, and battery life seems to be similar to real ‌AirPods Pro‌, but the similarities end there. The i500 Pro TWS has no force sensor and does not support squeeze gestures, and the key ‌AirPods Pro‌ feature - active noise cancellation - is not included.

There are zero noise cancellation features and there's no Transparency mode either, though there is a decent seal within the ear. Sound quality isn't terrible, but it doesn't measure up to the ‌AirPods Pro‌ or the standard ‌AirPods‌. There's little bass and too much treble, and the sound is not as crisp and clear as the sound from the actual ‌AirPods‌.

Superficially, the Air i500 Pro TWS look like the ‌AirPods Pro‌, but functionally, these have none of the "Pro" features that make the ‌AirPods Pro‌ a worthwhile purchase. We don't recommend spending $95 on a knockoff version of the ‌AirPods‌, but these earbuds do provide an interesting look at how far companies will go to make fake Apple products.

Related Roundup: AirPods Pro
Buyer's Guide: AirPods Pro (Buy Now)

This article, "Fake $95 AirPods Pro vs. Real AirPods Pro" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple Offers 10% Bonus iTunes Credit When Adding Funds to Apple ID

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Apple is once again offering a promotion that provides a 10 percent cash bonus when adding funds directly to an Apple ID account in the United States and other countries from a linked credit or debit card.


Apple is offering the 10 percent bonus for fund additions between $1 and $200, with the maximum bonus credit topping out at $20.

Here's how to add bonus funds:

  1. Open up the App Store app.
  2. Tap on your profile picture.
  3. Tap on Add Funds to Apple ID.
  4. Select an amount.
  5. Tap Next.
  6. Confirm payment with Touch ID or Face ID.
The credit can be used for purchasing iTunes movies and TV shows, buying apps, paying app subscription fees, buying books, paying for iCloud storage, paying for Apple Music, paying for Apple Arcade, and more.

Apple kicked off this promotion earlier in November, and it will be available through December 12, 2019. It's a good way to get a bit of an extra bonus for ‌App Store‌ credit, and this week's Black Friday app deals can ensure that your money goes even further.


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iFixit Does X-Ray Teardown of New iPhone 11 Smart Battery Case

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Apple last week debuted new Smart Battery Cases designed for the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max, with each case adding 50 percent additional battery life to its respective iPhone.

Noted repair site iFixit and Creative Electron today did an x-ray teardown of the new battery cases to take a quick glimpse at what's inside and how the near camera button feature works.


Compared to last year's battery cases, the new cases have a camera button on the right side that's designed to open the camera when it's pressed. With the Camera app open, pressing the button takes a photo, and holding it down takes a QuickTake video.

According to iFixit's x-rays, the camera button works though a little circuit board in the case, which has a thin, flexible circuit that runs to the photo button. The circuit board is designed to connect to the camera button through the Lightning port at the bottom of the case.


The button is designed to be just a bit recessed to prevent it from activating in a pocket or a bag, and you do need to hold it down for just a bit to open the camera app to begin with. All in all, it's a useful little feature that adds some nice utility to the Smart Battery Case.

There's little else of interest in the x-ray, but the inductive charging coil is visible, as is the 10.9v battery and other internal circuitry that makes the case functional.

For more on Apple's Smart Battery Cases for the ‌iPhone 11‌, ‌iPhone 11 Pro‌, and ‌iPhone 11 Pro Max‌, make sure to check out our guide.


This article, "iFixit Does X-Ray Teardown of New iPhone 11 Smart Battery Case" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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