5 Years Later, AirPods Max Feel as Bougie as Ever

Apple’s AirPods Max came out 5 years ago. Feel old yet? I do, but that’s probably because, as my doctor has explained, I am deficient in vitamin D. Me being kind of old doesn’t help, either, but hey, who’s counting? (Me, I’m counting.) Enough about the deafening roar of my own mortality; let’s talk about AirPods Max.

When Apple’s AirPods Max were first unveiled exactly five years ago on Dec. 15, 2020, it marked a big step for the company. Sure, it had been churning out AirPods since 2016, but the AirPods Max were its first pair of over-ear wireless headphones (not counting Beats) that set a new expectation for sound quality and an unprecedented strain on your wallet along with it. In true Apple fashion, the over-ear cans debuted at $549, which is more expensive than any AirPods-branded product to date and well more than halfway to buying yourself a brand new iPhone 17. I’ll give you one guess what they cost now. If you guessed $549, congratulations, because the price hasn’t changed at all.

To be fair, Apple did update the AirPods Max last year, adding USB-C (thank God) and lossless audio support. It also added a few new colors. But I think we can all agree, no matter what a game-changer being able to charge your headphones with USB-C is, a substantive update this was not.

See AirPods Max at Amazon

It’s wild to think that Apple could still be selling its 5-year-old AirPods Max for $549 in the ripe old year of 2025, but if you put a pair on right now, I think most would agree: overpriced or not, they still hold up. Because of the size and form factor of over-ear wireless headphones, AirPods Max brought a few of AirPods’ key features to the next level. One of those features is active noise cancellation (ANC). AirPods Max, like other over-ear wireless headphones, are great at cancelling noise, which is thanks to a couple of things.

One reason is software. In the AirPods Max, Apple included its H1 chip, which was originally introduced on Apple’s second-gen AirPods wireless earbuds. The H1 brought more advanced “computational audio” to the party, which is an Apple way of saying better algorithms for ANC and other features. Computing is only part of the picture, though; on top of the H1, there’s also the fact that AirPods Max are, well, headphones, which means they have passive noise cancellation, meaning the ear cups create a better seal around your ear. That makes all of that high-tech computational audio sound (or technically not sound) even more advanced than on its wireless earbuds.

Introducing the AirPods Max and an over-ear form factor also opened up the door to really hammer home another key feature: transparency. While plenty of wireless headphones and earbuds have transparency modes for hearing your surroundings without taking the headphones off, Apple’s AirPods Max frequently get high marks. The truth is, Apple’s transparency just sounds better—a lot less artificial, tinny, and generally off-putting than competitors. A part of that is, again, thanks to Apple’s H1 chip as well as the bevy of high-quality mics on the headphones. AirPods Max transparency doesn’t just translate your surroundings; it also allows you to hear your own voice naturally, which is a big part of having an organic conversation.

Like ANC, it’s not just the H1 doing all the work; it’s just the fact that AirPods Max don’t require that you stick a piece of silicone in your ear canal. The same could be said for any pair of wireless headphones, obviously, but it’s Apple’s acumen in software and hardware that brings it all home. Hell, it might even make the $549 price tag feel a little less offensive.

As iconic as the AirPods Max are (boy, do I see a lot of knockoffs on the subway in New York City), they’re in a strange spot in terms of where they could evolve next. Theoretically, a next generation could bring a few things—more battery life, for example. While 20 hours on a single charge isn’t bad, there are plenty of over-ear wireless headphones that beat Apple in that department. Nothing’s Headphone 1, for example, get 35 hours with ANC on, while Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) get 30 hours and beat the AirPods Max in the noise-canceling department to boot.

The introduction of Apple’s H2 chip would likely help in that regard, bringing more power efficiency and potentially better ANC and sound quality, but after several years (and counting) without a sequel, will that be enough to justify a number next to the AirPods Max name? On the audio front, Apple seems to be more ambitious than that at the moment. Its AirPods Pro 3, which, likewise, took a significant break between numbered generations, improved on the fundamentals (sound quality and ANC), but added boundary-pushing features like heart rate monitoring and live translations to the mix. Will Apple’s AirPods Max 2 feel a similar urge to up the ante? My guess is yes, especially with a price like that.

AirPods may not see significant updates until 2026 (aligning with my earlier prediction that IR camera-equipped AirPods would enter mass production in 2026). A lighter version of the AirPods Max is expected to enter mass production in 2027.

AirPods可能要到2026年才會有顯著更新…

— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) May 18, 2025

AirPods Max 2 are still very much the stuff of speculation, but some of the most trusted voices in the Apple rumor mill (Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and supply chain analyst Ming Chi-Kuo) have both eyed 2027 as the eventual release date, marking a whole 7 years between potential generations. That’s a long time to wait for new AirPods Max, but if there’s one thing the AirPods Pro 3 have shown us, it’s that we don’t always need yearly iterations to feel satisfied. Plus, that gives you a couple of years to save up. If there’s one thing the AirPods Max proves, it’s that an Apple-branded status symbol doesn’t come cheap.

See AirPods Max at Amazon