Jimmy Iovine Thinks Apple’s Earbuds Are Bad

It was yesterday that Apple announced that they would be officially acquiring Beats for $3 billion. They also announced that Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, Beats’ founders, will be joining Apple and working under Eddy Cue. Apple will also be designing future Beats Electronics’ headphones, but in the meantime it seems that Iovine is in work mode already, as he has stated that he thinks Apple’s earbuds are bad.

Iovine made the observation during the Code Conference held in San Francisco where he was interviewed on stage. He definitely did not hold back the punches as he stated that Apple’s bundled earbuds were simply designed to make sure your device was working, and that it seemed to downplay sounds that were meant to sound loud and epic.“You listen to Apocalypse Now, and the helicopter sounds like a mosquito.”

He goes on to state that he believes that Beats has done a better job than Apple and other headphone manufacturers, although we’re sure that plenty of people in the Head-Fi forums and other audiophiles will beg to differ. Eddy Cue, who joined Iovine on stage, seemed to be in agreement with his statement, stating that Apple makes the best headphones that come in the box, which is also true as Apple’s Earpods are some of the better bundled earphones around.

He goes on to mention that if listeners wanted better sound, it would cost more money. This is very true, especially when you consider earphones like the classic Shure SE535 which can retail for almost half a grand. In fact there are even higher-end earphones which can go well above $1,000 for a single pair. So what does this mean for Apple? Was Iovine simply making an observation, or will his role at Apple be to make sure that every Apple device that rolls out comes with the best sound ever? What do you guys think?

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Audio
Tags: beats, Headphones