AirPods Max
Headphones for Apple devotees
£549 FROM Apple, apple.com/uk FEATURES Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), 2x optical sensors, 2x position sensors, 2x case-detect sensors, 2x accelerometers, 1x gyroscope, 9x microphones (8x for ANC, 3x for voice pickup), H1 chip, Digital Crown, up to 20 hours’ listening time, Smart Case, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C charging port; 168.6x83.4x187.3mm, 384.8g
The AirPods Max were the most hotly-anticipated headphones of 2020. Costing £549, they are more expensive than many of the best over-ear headphones on the market, including our current favourites, the Sony WH-1000XM4.
There’s an unmistakable ‘Apple’ quality to the headphones. The ear cup outers are made from aluminium and the headband frame is stainless steel, so the headphones are actually quite heavy, coming in at 385g (in comparison, the Sony WH-1000XM4 weigh 254g). The extra heft does make them feel sturdy and well made, but it’s a lot of weight to be carrying around on your head all day.
The headband frame features telescopic arms that you adjust to find a good fit and, to offset the overall weight, it’s covered with a knitted mesh canopy that’s designed to reduce on-head pressure.
The memory foam cups feel comfortable and pivot independently. They’re also removable, snapping in place via a magnet; replacement cups cost £75, though they’re still listed as ‘coming soon’ at the time of writing.
The on-ear controls are minimal; Apple has reprised the Digital Crown dial of the Apple Watch, which it says enables precise volume control, as well as enabling you to play or pause audio, skip tracks, answer or end phone calls, and activate Siri. We liked the tactility a dial provides, and it feels like a more precise way of adjusting the volume as opposed to a button or swipe controls.
The right ear cup also houses a button that allows you to switch between active noise cancellation (ANC) and Transparency mode, which allows some environmental noise to pass through, while the bottom of the ear cup houses a Lightning port for charging.
What isn’t included is a 3.5mm audio port. If you want to listen with a wired connection, you’ll have to fork out for a Lighting to 3.5mm audio adapter for an additional £35. It’s frustrating that this doesn’t come included with the headphones – if you’re paying £549, you might (quite reasonably) expect to be able to plug them into an amplifier or DAC.
The lack of audio port isn’t the most divisive design aspect. That award goes to the Smart Case, which puts the headphones in an ‘ultra-low power state’ to preserve the battery. So far, the Smart Case has been compared to a bra, a sleeping mask, and a handbag… Bizarrely, the case also leaves the headband exposed and, while an opening at the bottom of the case does make it easy to charge the headphones without removing them, it leaves them vulnerable to debris finding its way inside. The rubberised material is also a magnet for smudges and scrapes; just placing the Smart Case in a bag is enough to ruin its initial pristine look. Again, we’d expect more from Apple at the price; while lightweight and compact, a hard case with a zip would provide far more protection and peace of mind.
Audio performance
Audio quality is simply outstanding. They come with a wide, well-balanced soundstage that leaves plenty of room for each instrument to sing – and this is paired with features like automatically pausing music when you remove the headphones and spatial audio.
The AirPods Max are great for listening to pretty much any genre of music, whether it’s sparkly pop with strong vocals or hip-hop with punchy bass lines, and they can handle classical music with precision, too. As we turned up the volume, we didn’t experience any issues with distortion, partly thanks to the neodymium ring magnet motor inside the headphones that powers its 40mm drivers.
Support for hi-res audio files is limited to Apple’s own Apple Digital Masters tracks, which are only available via Apple Music. Again, this makes it feel as though we’re being somewhat shortchanged, as we’d expect comprehensive codec support at this price.
Core features
The AirPods Max come with the Apple H1 chip in each ear cup, which features no less than 10 audio cores to allow for Adaptive EQ, active noise cancellation, Transparency mode, and spatial audio. The spatial audio feature works for content in 5.1, 7.1 and Dolby Atmos, which positions sound all around you within a virtual sphere. The headphones are able to track head movement using accelerometers and gyroscopes, as well as the position of your iOS device; as you move your head, the audio will always sound as though it’s coming from the screen. It’s not as convincing as true Dolby Atmos surround, but it does make movie watching feel far more immersive.
Noise cancellation is also strong. Each ear cup features three outward-facing microphones to detect environmental noise, while one mic inside the ear cup monitors the sound reaching your ear. The headphones also use computational audio to continuously adapt the performance. We found that the Transparency mode also worked well.
The AirPods Max provide up to 20 hours of high-fidelity audio, talk time, or movie playback; given that this is with ANC enabled, it’s a respectable figure. We like the fact that the Smart Case puts the headphones into low power mode; however, the inability to actually turn the headphones off is puzzling.
Connectivity comes courtesy of Bluetooth 5.0, and as such, pairing is fast and stable, and you shouldn’t lose connection if you’re within an 800-foot range. The Automatic Switching feature means you can easily switch between iPhone, iPad and Mac when jumping between music listening and taking calls.
You can also share audio between two sets of AirPods from pretty much any Apple source device – even the Apple TV 4K or the iPod Touch – so you and a friend can listen to the same music simultaneously.
Apple has included support for Siri too, so you can use voice commands to play music, make phone calls, adjust the volume and get directions when you’re on the move, among other things. Siri can also read your incoming messages, which is useful if you don’t want to dig your phone out of your pocket.
There are some design foibles, but the AirPods Max boast some great features and sound quality is excellent. Olivia Tambini