AirPods Max 2

mhitza

To me they look like shit. I'm sure gen Z and Alpha will love it. I'll be interested in seeing a review on specialized sites. The 20 hours of battery life is impressive.

wincy

There’s been a lot of grumbling about RTO at my work, and if it happens, these will be a day one purchase. I used to have some Bowers and Wilkins PX headphones that I liked, and my wife really loves her Bose QuietComfort, but the weird thing I detested about both of those is how seemingly every headphone manufacturer except Apple feels the needs to add voice feedback to your device? “Headphones connected” and whatnot. It just really messes with my vibes, man. Also quite frankly I’d rather just not have to buy them and keep working from home. Listening to music using good speakers is an objectively superior experience.

goblin89

New AirPods Max finally have lossless wired audio, which is pretty nice and makes them finally catch up with the Pros. Does anyone have experience with obtaining a flatter frequency response from any AirPods, though? While maintaining the full power of noise cancellation. My experience with Pros has always been that they exaggerate the bass. EQ settings available in Music are coarse, and I don’t know of any other way to control frequency response independently of the app that plays the sound. I know they are not really best for critical audio work, but they are damn convenient.

alstonite

My AirPods Max 1 left a headband dent in my skull from how poor the quality of the headband was after more than a year of daily use. They also are super heavy and don't travel well at all. Apple deciding that, on their 2nd refresh of these (after usb-c), they still aren't going to fix those fundamental issues is very frustrating for what feels like a very disproportionately expensive product (even by Apple standards). I'm now a very happy QC Ultra 2 user. Can't recommend enough.

delduca

I was about to buy the first one. Is it really worth the price? (I have AirPods Pro 2)

owlbynight

https://github.com/jstilwell/MacAudioInputLocker I maintain a fork of this app, which allows you to quickly set and lock your audio input device, so that they don't switch your audio input device to bluetooth as soon as you turn them on. Mostly because of the first gen of these headphones. They LOVED to keep the mic on at all times with no way to disable that behavior. I assume it's the same with the second gen.

steinvakt2

Still the weird case??

HumblyTossed

I really don't understand how these are $549. As others have pointed out, some people say the head band is not great. Others say the sound is solid but not exceptional. What makes these worth that much when there are so many options?

hrmtst93837

The headphones cost nearly as much as the MacBook (Neo).

dewey

The first thing I checked was if there's a better case. At this point I'm assuming it's a marketing move to have people just carry them openly on their neck at all times.

dude250711

I like my wired headphones. Just like tube amps, they will never be outdated.

alsetmusic

My AirPods Max headphones are incredible. They sound amazing. They also squeeze my head so much that they hurt so I don't use them. Kinda sad, really. I'd use them at my desk every day if they were comfortable to wear.

gabeio

Do they brick less? I bought a pair for my husband and after a year they were bricked, apple support basically told him to buy a new one. I will never waste my money on the max line ever again.

stego-tech

No wireless lossless audio means these are a hard pass for me. I really expected Apple of all folks to figure that out since they engineer their entire stack, hardware to software, but they’re still just pushing the same bluetooth audio that my Airpods Pro 2’s consume (which are half the price and incredibly excellent). Sony’s LDAC is niche, but sounds objectively better to my ears than the AAC used on Apple’s kit when I opt to use my Walkman+XM4s. As for wired listening? My XM4s sound okay wired in, and at home I’ve got critical-listening kit already. Adding a USB-C cable to the Max is not appealing given that 3.5mm already exists, USB-C cables are heavier than analog audio wires, and more corps block USB ports in general or mess with them in ways that corrupts the audio stack. Give me wireless CD-quality audio and I’ll be a happy dinosaur. Until then, I have zero reason to upgrade what I currently have.

stephc_int13

My experience with headphones: Passive noise cancellation beats active hands down. (no weird air pressure, reliable, no need for batteries, less expensive) Analog and wired beats bluetooth if you care for sound quality, portable DACs are very good in 2026. Professionals are using BeyerDynamics and Sony headphones made for studios and almost unchanged since the 90s for good reasons. The only good reason to opt for wireless is for practical reasons when you are running, and you want smaller models. Also, this design is kind of ugly and dated.

GaggiX

I have used Soundcore q20i for more than a year, and I'm sure the AirPods have a better sound and have a better noise cancelling, but the difference in price $549 and 30€ (as I bought them) is pretty insane, also my Soundcore q20i last much longer than 20h and the noise cancelling is already quite good. Edit: also has a proper cushion on the headband.

nielsole

Issues with my AirPods Max 1: * occasional deafening screatch when there's too much moisture. I'm surprised they didn't need to recall them over that * occasional reboots when you move it a bit on your head. Unfortunately in apple-manner they don't mention if such issues were resolved with this v2

zamadatix

From the wording it sounds like there will still be the annoyance of not having a mic if you're using lossless wired audio.

BoneShard

They're one year old at this point, why is this news?

dc_ist

I owned a pair of the first gen AirPods Max. After a couple of months of usage, I began noticing a rattling inside the right earcup. I had never dropped them or exposed them to any sort of physical damage that could knock something loose. The rattling would happen every time I tilted my head in any direction. I had taken them to Apple Genius support in store 3 different times and 2 of those times the onsite tech agreed that there was a rattling sound. All 3 times they were sent to an Apple repair facility and they always came back with "cannot reproduce". I sold them on FB Marketplace for a deep discount, having alerted the potential buyer to the issue before I sold them to him. Never again will I purchase a set of AirPods.