Apple had years to refine its high-end headphones, the AirPods Max. But with the just-announced AirPods Max 2, the company played it safe.
An upgrade to Apple’s H2 chip brings some notable new features to AirPods Max 2. However, with many of the original model’s shortcomings still present, the revamp feels like a missed opportunity.
AirPods Max 2 still has the same old problems
Five years after Apple introduced the original AirPods Max, the long-awaited AirPods Max 2 unfortunately bring the kind of incremental upgrades that make them seem more like a tune-up than a true sequel.
The introduction of Apple’s H2 chip — which isn’t exactly new, as it also powers AirPods Pro 2 and 3 as well as AirPods 4 — brings better noise cancellation and other familiar Apple audio wizardry. But nearly everything else, from the headphones’ weighty design to the awkward Smart Case, remains stubbornly unchanged.
As rivals like Sony and Bose keep pushing headphone design forward, Apple’s modest AirPods Max update refines the original experience without rethinking it. Here are five ways Apple missed the boat.
Table of contents: AirPods Max 2 still has the same old problems
- The same design, five years later
- Same drivers, same sound foundation
- Apple sticks with the same flawed case
- Lossless audio remains out of reach
- Premium price for a familiar experience
- Where the AirPods Max 2 shines
The same design, five years later
Photo: Lewis Wallace/Cult of Mac
Apple did not make any noticeable design changes to distinguish AirPods Max 2 from the original AirPods Max. The headphones look the same as their predecessor, and that means they also inherit their shortcomings.
The AirPods Max 2 will feel premium in-hand due to their stainless steel frame and anodized aluminum ear cups, which still attach magnetically, making them easy to remove and replace.
However, the premium build quality comes at the expense of heft. Like the original model, the AirPods Max 2 weigh 385 grams, making them more than 100 grams heavier than competitors made by Sony and Bose. The extra weight can make the headphones feel uncomfortable and add unwanted neck strain during long listening sessions.
Another bummer is the lack of a dedicated power button, a major design flaw that inexplicably carries over from the original AirPods Max. You can only turn off the headphones by putting them in their much-maligned Smart Case. If you don’t have the Smart Case, you can’t turn off the headphones. You must wait for them to enter sleep mode on their own.
Lastly, the AirPods Max 2 still don’t feature a foldable design. This makes them bulkier and less travel-friendly. They take up much more space than folding headphones released by other manufacturers. Even if Apple wanted to stick to the original AirPods Max design, it should have addressed this problem somehow.
- See also: 5 ways AirPods Max let me down.
Same drivers, same sound foundation
The original AirPods Max still sound excellent, thanks to their 40 mm drivers. (See Cult of Mac’s review: AirPods Max will excite your ears, dazzle your eyes and empty your wallet.)
With the newer H2 chip, the AirPods Max 2 should deliver better sound quality. However, even five years later, the new headphones use the same custom 40 mm drivers as the original model. That’s not necessarily a drawback, especially since flagship headphones from Sony and Bose use smaller drivers.
Still, given the long gap between the two models, Apple should have upgraded or made improvements to the AirPods Max 2 drivers to deliver even better sound quality. (They do feature an updated high dynamic range amplifier and digital signal processing for richer bass and more natural-sounding vocals, Apple says.)
Apple sticks with the same flawed case
Photo: Ian Fuchs/Cult of Mac
The original AirPods Max initially became famous for their weird Smart Case. The purse-shaped case was widely ridiculed, leading Apple to jump to its defense.
Despite being a carrying case, the Smart Case delivered little in terms of protection. Five years and a whole lot of bad publicity later, the AirPods Max 2 stick to the same case. It still leaves large parts of the headphones exposed and relies on magnets to trigger low-power mode. For a “case,” it does a bad job of protecting the AirPods Max 2 from dings and scratches.
Considering the price, Apple failing to bundle a proper protective case the second time around with the AirPods Max 2 feels like a big oversight. (See also: WaterField makes the AirPods Max case Apple should have.)
Lossless audio remains out of reach
This may be a stretch, but if any company can bring lossless music playback over a wireless connection, it’s Apple.
Sadly, that’s not the case with the AirPods Max 2. They support lossless audio playback, but only when you use a USB-C cable. Wirelessly, they cannot deliver Hi-Res audio playback.
With Apple Music‘s vast library of lossless music, wireless lossless audio playback would have given AirPods Max 2 an advantage. Other competing headphones already support higher-bitrate codecs.
By comparison, Apple’s new flagship headphones still rely on AAC over Bluetooth.
If anything, the addition of lossless audio playback wirelessly alone would have helped justify the AirPods Max 2’s steep price over its competitors.
Premium price for a familiar experience
Photo: Matt Birchler/Unsplash License
The original AirPods Max always seemed a bit expensive for what they offered. And, despite arriving five years after the original model and packing little in the way of hardware upgrades, the AirPods Max 2 carry the same hefty $549 MSRP.
That makes them considerably more expensive than their competitors, including Sony’s excellent WH-1000XM6 ($400 list) or the second-gen Bose QuietComfort Ultra ($449 list).
What makes the AirPods Max 2 price even harder to justify is that the headphones boast no other upgrades over their predecessors. Apple could have lowered the pricing by $50 or $100 to justify the lack of other improvements.
Where the AirPods Max 2 shines: Apple’s H2 chip magic
Photo: Apple
As mentioned, the AirPods Max 2 feature only one major upgrade: a newer H2 chip. That alone makes a lot of difference, as the processor improves the overall audio quality, the active noise cancellation and Transparency mode.
Apple says ANC on the AirPods Max 2 is up to 1.5x more effective than on the original. As seen on the AirPods Pro 3, the newer H2 chip also allows for a more natural-sounding Transparency mode.
The newer chip also enables Adaptive Audio, which allows the AirPods Max 2 to automatically adjust the ANC level based on the ambient sound. There’s Conversation Awareness, too, so the AirPods Max 2 will automatically lower the music volume when you start talking.
The Bluetooth standard also gets an upgrade, moving from Bluetooth 5.0 to Bluetooth 5.3, helping reduce latency.
When AirPods Max 2 go on sale
AirPods Max go on sale March 25. Apple says only that the headphones will become available “early next month.”
Still, unless you really value the ecosystem integration the AirPods Max 2 offers with other Apple devices, you are better off getting the Sony WH-1000XM6 or Bose QuietComfort Ultra (2nd gen).
Rajesh has been writing about consumer technology for over a decade, with a strong focus on iPhones, Macs and Apple’s ecosystem. He enjoys digging into Apple software updates, hardware changes, and discovering new Mac apps that make work faster and more enjoyable.
