AirPods Max
Are Apple’s over–ear headphones worth the big price?
$549 From Apple, apple.com
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, 6.64x3.28x7.37in, 13.6oz
The AirPods Max were the most hotly anticipated headphones of 2020. Costing $549, they’re more expensive than many of the best over–ear headphones today.
There’s an unmistakable Apple quality to them. The ear cup outers are made from aluminium and the headband frame is stainless steel, so the headphones are sturdy but quite heavy, coming in at a weighty 13.6oz.
The headband frame features telescopic arms that you adjust to find a good fit and, to offset the weight, it’s covered with a knitted mesh canopy that’s designed to reduce the pressure on your head. The memory foam cups feel comfortable and pivot independently.
Apple has reprised the Digital Crown dial of the Apple Watch, which enables precise volume control, and lets you play or pause audio, skip tracks, answer or end phone calls, and activate Siri. We liked its tactility, and it feels like a more precise way of adjusting the volume, instead of a button or swipe.
The right ear cup also houses a button that allows you to switch between active noise cancellation (ANC) and Transparency mode, which lets some environmental noise pass through, while the bottom of the ear cup houses a Lightning port for charging.
Sadly, there’s no 3.5mm audio port. To listen with a wired connection, you’ll have to pay $35 for a Lighting to 3.5mm audio adapter.
That’s not the most divisive design aspect, though. 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 sleeping mask and a handbag. Bizarrely, the case leaves the headband exposed and, while the bottom opening makes charging easy, it leaves the headphones vulnerable to debris finding its way inside.
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. They don’t distort at high volume either, 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. This makes it feel as though we’re being somewhat shortchanged, as we’d expect comprehensive codec support at this price. The AirPods Max come with the Apple H1 chip in each ear cup, which features 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 in a virtual sphere. The headphones 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 immersive in movies, if not quite as convincing as true Dolby Atmos surround.
Noise cancellation is also strong. Each ear cup features three outward–facing mics to detect environmental noise, while one mic inside the ear cup monitors the sound reaching your ear. The headphones use computational audio to continuously adapt the performance. Transparency mode also works well.
The AirPods Max provide up to 20 hours of high–fidelity audio, talk time, or movie playback with ANC enabled; a respectable figure. Automatic Switching lets you easily switch between iPhone, iPad and Mac when jumping between listening to music and taking calls.
Apple has included support for Siri too, so you can use voice commands to play music, make phone calls, and more. Siri can also read your incoming messages — useful if you don’t want to dig your phone out of your pocket.
THE BOTTOM LINE. Incredible style, usability and audio quality, but Apple’s over– ear headphones are overly pricey and lack a 3.5mm audio port. OLIVIA TAMBINI