After many months of rumours, Apple has finally unveiled its own over-ear noise-cancelling headphones, the AirPods Max.
This first ever over-ear headphones by Apple was quietly launched via a press release and according to Apple, they boast “incredible high-fidelity audio, Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancellation, and spatial audio”, like the AirPods Pro.
Design
The AirPods Max feature oval-shaped ear cups with a U-shaped inverted knit mesh headband and knit mesh ear cushions. The design of the headband allows it to distribute weight and reduce on-head pressure, plus it has adjustable arms to fit multiple head sizes.
Ear cups attach to the headband through what Apple calls a “revolutionary mechanism” meant to balance and distribute pressure, and each ear cushion has been designed with acoustically engineered memory foam to create a seal for immersive sound.
At the top of the AirPods Max, there’s an Apple Watch-inspired Digital Crown that provides precise volume controls and gestures for playing/pausing audio, skipping tracks, answering/ending phone calls, and activating Siri.
Sound
According to Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, the AirPods brings the “magical AirPods experience to an over-ear design with high fidelity audio”.
“The custom acoustic design, combined with powerful H1 chips, and advanced software enable AirPods Max to use computational audio to wirelessly deliver the ultimate personal listening experience.” he said in the press release announcing the new headphones.
To provide excellent sound quality, the airpods max are equipped with a 40mm apple-designed dynamic driver. Apple says the airpods max deliver deep bass, accurate mid-ranges, and crisp, clean high-frequency extension.
With a dual neodymium ring magnet motor, it maintains a harmonic distortion of less than 1 percent across the audible range, even at max volume.
Despite the high price of the AirPods Max, support for Hi-Res Audio files is limited (aside from Apple Masters, which are only available via Apple Music), this is low as you’d probably expect comprehensive codec support from headsets at this price.
Released as part of iOS 14, the Spatial Audio feature first came to the AirPods Pro, and works in 5.1, 7.1 and Dolby Atmos, which positions sound all around you within a virtual sphere – that means that if you’re watching a Dolby Atmos film that shows a plane flying overheard, it will sound as though the plane is really passing above you.
Apple has quietly added a Lightning to 3.5mm bi-directional audio cable to its online Apple Store, a $35 accessory that can be used with the just-launched AirPods.
Battery & Charging
AirPods Max have a battery that lasts for up to 20 hours for listening to music, talking on the phone, or watching movies with Active Noise Cancellation enabled and the volume set to 50 percent.
It charges using Lightning cable, apple cliams a five minute charge provides 1.5 hours of listening time.
Included with the AirPods Max is an unusual-looking Smart Case made out of a soft material that puts the headphones in an “ultralow power state that helps to preserve battery charge when not in use”.
Sensors
Sensors in the AirPods Max allow them to determine when they’re on the head, so when the headphones are removed, audio will pause, and when placed back on the head, audio will resume. Pausing the music can also be done by lifting up an ear cup.
Each ear cup includes an optical sensor, position sensor, case detection sensor, and an accelerometer. There’s also a gyroscope in the left ear cup.
Software and Device Requirements
Using the AirPods Max to their fullest capabilities requires macOS Big Sur 11.1 or later, iOS 14.3 or later, iPadOS 14.3 or later, watchOS 7.2 or later, or tvOS 14.3 or later.
AirPods Max are compatible with the iPhone 6s and original iPhone SE and later, the iPad mini 4 and iPad Air 2 and later, Apple Watch Series 1 models and later, and the Apple TV 4K.
Price
They’ll be available to buy from December 14 (though you can be pre-ordered now), and costs $549, which is far more expensive than most of the best headphones on the market today.
There were originally rumors that the AirPods Max would be available in two varieties including a lower-cost sport variety, so that’s potentially something that to be seen in the future.
