A small German design studio dreamed up an improvement to AirPods Max. The Max Stand from Floating Pixels holds Apple’s new over-the-ears headphones upright, making them easy to pick up and use. And it adds wireless charging, rather than requiring users to plug in a cable.
“One can simply pick up the AirPods to start listening, and easily place them back on the Max Stand when done,” said Stefan Krüger, owner of Floating Pixels. “On the stand they are charged wirelessly via a magnetic connector and displayed in style. No fiddling with a case or cable.”
AirPods Max and Max Stand brings charging without a Lightning cable
Apple’s latest headphones are charged through a Lightning cable. Max Stand includes a tiny connector that fits into the Lightning port. Placing the AirPods Max into the stand lets power flow through this connector.
For use on the go, the stand comes bundled with a USB-C cable that magnetically attaches to the connector in the headphones. Or temporarily remove the connector and use any Lightning cable.
The product will be available in five colors to match the ones that AirPods Max comes in.

Photo: Floating Pixels
Just launched on Kickstarter
Floating Pixels launched Max Stand on the crowd-funding site Kickstarter. The product is at the prototype stage, and the designers expect it to ship in March. Anyone willing to put in a pre-order can get a Super Early Bird deal of €59 (approx. $72.50). That’s 40% below the regular price.
This is an all-or-nothing deal. If Floating Pixels doesn’t get enough pre-orders to cover the eventual production costs, no one will be charged.