Unboxing

The AirPods Max (Sky Blue) – Unboxing and a Short Review

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AirPods Max Sky Blue

I know this is way past the AirPods Max’s launch period, but I was not able to have access to one until very recently. I have been testing it heavily for more than a week already, and I can not find anything bad about it (other than the price, which obviously is going to be higher than the flimsy plasticky headphones that the tech community are familiar with).

It is way more comfortable than all the full size headphones I have, the sound quality is great, and most importantly spatial audio and the transparency mode is way beyond what the competition can offer.

No doubt that it will be an expensive purchase, even with the recent discounts, but the AirPods Max will be well worth your money, especially in a year when most have all the time at home to enjoy the Max.

Comfort

I tend to have problems with wearing full size headphones. The cushion headbands on those put pressure on the top of my head andI will feel a dull pain on my head after wearing headphones for a hour or so. Not so with the AirPods Max. The mash headband does not feel like it is there at all, even after two or more hours. Normal headphones’ ear pads usually puts pressure on the side of my ears and makes my ears feel like they are suffocating, the fabric earpads on the Max for some reason do not do the same, my ears feel like they can breath.

Sound Quality

Way better than both the Bose QuietComfort 25 and 35 (Bose headphones have terrible sound), and the Sony XM3s (I have not tested the XM4s, but I have heard that the sound is similar). Some reviewers prefer a punchier and more “exciting” sound (that the Sonys provide by its default sound signature), and thus rated the Max’s sound as not as good. However, if you use an iOS device, you can use the headphone accommodations settings to tune to sound into something similar to the Sonys, I recommend the “Slight – Brightness” setting.

Headphone Accomodations

You can access the headphone accommodations setting in Settings > Accessibility > AirPods>AirPods Max (or the name of your AirPods) > Audio Accessibility Settings > Headphone Accommodations > Custom Audio Setup.

Cons

The aluminium ear cups are so nice and they feel like they can be accidentally scratched if you were not paying attention. You will likely need to buy covers for them to feel at ease. Also there is simply no way to have a pure analog input into the AirPods Max, even with the Apple 30USD cable. If you want to use this with your high-end DAC it is a no go.

Unboxing

Here are the unboxing pictures.

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Unboxing my Engraved Apple AirTag

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Almost one week after the launch of the AirTag, mine is finally here. Having my order engraved meant that I will definitely not be receiving my order on launch day, as the item will be shipped from China on the 30th of April, instead of being shipped from Apple’s Singapore warehouses.

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The shiny stainless steel of past Apple iPods ia back!

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There is just the AirTag and some documentation inside.

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The box the single AirTag pack comes in is the same size as the box for the MagSafe charging puck.

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You have to choose an emoji to represent the AirTag on the map in Find My.

Despite the additional delay, everyone buying an AirTag directly from the Apple Online Store should have the AirTag engraved, especially with an emoji mixed in. You will be asked to select an emoji during the AirTag pairing process for the purpose of identifying the AirTag in Find My, so engraving with at least an emoji will help to mark the AirTag physically.

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This shiny back itself is worth the 45SGD.

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Sorry I prefer not to expose what I engraved.

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A closing look at the AirTag without its plastic wrapping.

Unlike the laser engraving on iPods and iPads, which are tiny enough to be insignificant (yet causing a significant drop in their resale value), the engraving option on the AirTag is essential to the design of the AirTag. The plain white circle side of the AirTag is an empty canvas where your personal design (albeit with a maximum of 4 characters/3 emoji) will go on. You pay the same whether you get your AirTag engraved or not, so definitely choose to have it engraved unless there are discounts for unmarked ones. I mean, nobody buys a notebook and leave it empty for its lifespan.

I talked about the AirTags and the other new products Apple introduced at their Spring Loaded event on my brand new podcast, the MacRyu Podcast, which is now available on Apple Podcasts. You can also subscribe using one of the links below or by adding the RSS link directly to your podcast player.

iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro Max Unboxing Videos

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Today the embargo for the iPhone 12 mini and the iPhone 12 Pro Max has finally been lifted, and all the big shot Youtube channels have released their unboxing videos. Having preordered the iPhone 12 mini, I am excited to see the first impression videos of the mini, and it sure does not disappoint.

The Verge, who are usually pretty anti-Apple, says that the 12 Pro Max has the best smartphone camera.

And of course iJustine and Rene Ritchie with their really well-done unboxings.

Then of course we have the guys who really know cameras, Jonathan Morrison(@toldtoday) and Peter McKinnon.

Apple Watch Series 6 (PRODUCT)RED Aluminum and Blue Aluminum Unboxings

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Thanks to a friend, I am able to do the PRODUCT(RED) unboxing. The blue watch I had purchased when the watch was first announced, but subsequently returned when the bundled band did not fit into the watch’s slots.

The PRODUCT(RED) Series 6

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The Blue Series 6

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The blue watch is very dark

I first unboxed it in a indoor environment with only artificial lighting available, and at first sight I did not like it. In most less than idea lighting, you will not be able to tell the Blue watch from the Space Grey watch. The shade of blue on the watch looks pretty nice if you are in strong, bright lighting, but for most other situations, the blue watch is going to look very understated. If that is what you are going for, the blue watch is worth considering. However, I went to the Apple Store to take a look at the PRODUCT(RED) watch when it was just out, and the blue just looked really dull next to the bright and shiny thing that is the PRODUCT(RED) watch, even in Apple Store lighting.

Band pairing is an art

Unlike the relatively safe colours out for the Apple Watch so far, the blue and PRODUCT(RED) watches will NOT look nice when paired with certain watch band colours. If you made a bad pairing, everyone is going to know that you have no taste. However, for those who are either band savvy or just plan to use the bundled band, you are going to be just fine.

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Nah.

Public Service Announcement regarding the geniune Apple Sport Bands this year

…and especially this season. I was first made aware of this issue when the bundled Deep Navy sport band did not fit into my blue Series 6, and I had to return the watch. After much discussions with fellow genuine ‘Apple Watch Band masketeers’ online, we discovered that the quality control of the sport bands are extremely lacking this year, especially for the bands announced with the Series 6 and SE. The two main complaints are either the band is too thin and can not lock into place when slot into the watch, or the band is too thick and cannot even fit into the slots in the first place. There are cases where only one or two (out of three) of the sport band parts in the box have this issue, so for now the advice is to buy directly from Apple where you get the choice of returning or a direct swap (within 14 days from purchase) if you find such issues. If you buy in store and try it on there and then, you can get an immediate swap if the bands do not fit.

Cannot afford a new Apple Watch this year? Dying to find out if your Apple Watch Series 2, 1 and 0 can pair with iOS 14 phones? Find out..

Blue Microphones Yeti Unboxing

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Been so busy with the General Elections (and cursing and swearing) lately that I have totally no time to unbox my Yeti USB microphone, which was delivered Friday.

The thing is MASSIVE, and saying that it’s heavy is an understatement. I have no freaking idea why a mic needs to be this heavy but I love the look already. Might do a short review if I’m in the mood to after playing with it.

P.S. This is a test sound file I recorded with the Yeti. Click here to download

Google Nexus S unboxing

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Okay well I did the unboxing days ago, but so what? This phone is Google’s iPhone. It is exactly what Google will and did make if there are no manufacturer’s input involved in the whole dumb Android ecosystem. Google’s finest, you may say. It is therefore the perfect target for attacks on all the bad points of Android, which in this phone cannot be blamed on manufacturers’ software mods, there isn’t any.

Nevertheless it’s a pretty nice phone. Software is fast, much faster than the crappy XT720 in my family. The phone is really light, probably as a result of being made from really cheap-arse plastic. The curved glass on the screen is a total gimmick. The thing just made it a lot more difficult to make proper screen protectors for it, since many won’t stick properly due to the curving of the glass. And I’ve heard, the curving of the glass is exactly why the glass is NOT Gorilla Glass, despite the Galaxy S having those, due to the simple fact that the costs for curved Gorilla Glass, if it’s even possible, will be much higher. And the reason why girls and fashionable guys will never be spotted using this phone? There are simply no decent accessories for it. Have been trying for weeks and still haven’t come across a half decent case for the phone. Anyone with a source for decent cases let me know in the comments? Thanks.

Will eventually do an in-depth write-up on the phone, but right now the well-known Android faults are very obvious – nonsensical lack of decent battery life, lousy browsers, etc, as well as some of the pros of the OS, like the ability to have the HTC weather/clock-lookalike widget on my phone.

Read the rest of the article for the other unboxing pics.

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