Apple AirPods Max are the over-ear AirPods. First released in late 2020, a new version was revealed in September this year. But the only updates to the new headphones were a (welcome) update from Lightning to USB-C connectivity and updated colors. So, when’s the sequel coming?
AirPods Max 2024 version.
Put it this way, don’t hold your breath, as a new report claims there are “no concrete plans” to update the headphones again soon, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in his latest Power On newsletter.
The new comments from Gurman suggest that the current model will be around for a while. This will disappoint many who hoped that the new colors were a stopgap before a completely different pair of over-ear headphoens were released.
After all, the processor that powers the AirPods Max is the H1 first seen in 2019, meaning that the latest and most affordable AirPods 4 have some features the AirPods Max don’t.
That said, the switch to USB-C was a great update and the new colors are fierce, with a feisty orange and lip-smacking purple alongside the eye-catching starlight and more demure blue and midnight options.
And the nature of the over-ear headphones is that the noise isolation they offer is exceptional, so maybe the need for improvements to the current excellent noise cancellation isn’t as urgent as it might have been for in-ears. Even so, the lack of adaptive audio has been noted by some critics.
“I expect the company to keep the Max headphones around for the foreseeable future in their current form,” Gurman said, which sounds to me like a year or two at the least before there’s an update “in a meaningful way,” as he puts it.
It’s thought that the sales of AirPods Max, though decent, are not enough to justify R&D spending enough to bring an update soon. And, to be fair, if you’d just bought the new AirPods Max and a second-gen version appeared soon, you might be a bit put out.
Take heart: assuming Gurman is right, you can splash out on Apple’s priciest headphones safe in the knowledge that they’re not going to be updated soon. And that little thing called Black Friday is already showing discounts on the new models.
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