Early AirPods Max teardown reveals massive drivers, strategically placed logic boards

Repair specialist iFixit on Thursday began its customary teardown of Apple's latest piece of hardware, AirPods Max, to find logic boards and large drivers fighting for space in crammed aluminum ear cups.

As with prior Apple device disassemblies, iFixit kicked the process off with an X-ray of the new headphone model. Conducted by Creative Electron, the resulting image reveals what at first glance appears to be a spacious interior with electronics arranged in each shell's outer periphery. Upon closer inspection, however, allotted space within the svelte aluminum cups is at a premium.

Apple opted to incorporate both battery cells in one ear cup. How engineers counterbalanced the added weight is at this point unknown. The X-ray also shows the drivers' massive dual-ring magnet motor, Apple's "revolutionary" ear cup positioning mechanism, an array of alignment magnets, circuitry and internal screws.

A look inside provides a glimpse at two discrete logic boards, one for each ear cup. The identification process is ongoing, but iFixit found a number of chips common to both boards including an FPGA as well as what appears to be the H1 chip and power management silicon.

Apple introduced the H1 with a second-generation AirPods model in 2019. In AirPods Max, the chip boasts 10 audio cores and is responsible for active noise cancelling, adaptive computational audio and Bluetooth communications, among other duties.

The repair company plans to continue its teardown over the coming days and will assign a "repairability" score when the process is complete.

Apple debuted AirPods Max earlier this month as a luxury over-the-ear headphone that pairs the company's trademark minimalist styling with cutting edge technology. Sensors and microphone arrays packed within the two ear cups inform the two H1 chips for ANC and advanced operations like Spatial Audio.

Priced at $549, AirPods Max is in hot demand for the holidays. Those looking to snag a pair before Christmas might find stock at a nearby Apple Store, though availability is scarce.

16 Comments

chasm 3595 comments · 10 Years

About 3 years ago

It's hard to say whether these are "overpriced," but I'm inclined to say "no" on that ... I've owned $400 headphones that didn't offer half the features this one does, they just offered really good, clear sound without adding "enhancements" to the bass or other such gimmicky crap. The spatial audio feature and some of the other niceties there might be worth the extra, let's say $150 over what I'd pay for headphones that just had great sound.

I am furious, however, that instead of the $700 these should cost in Canada ($550 US converted to C$), they are $779 from Apple Canada. I get that there needs to be some "swing" in the price so they aren't constantly changing the price for foreign markets, but COME ON.

Your HomePod mini is a perfectly reasonable C$129 in Canada. The straight conversion rate as I write this would make them $126 and change. That's entirely reasonable. The full HomePod in Canada is $399 where it would, with today's rate, be $388 and change with conversion. Again, reasonable.

$80 on top of the straight conversion for AirPods Max? That's gouge-y. It may not rise to the level of criminal, prosecutable gouging, but it fosters ill will and hampers sales. And this isn't just happening in Canada -- the UK price for AirPods Max is £549 when it would be £406 and change with straight conversion. That just seems mean.

iloveapplegear 123 comments · 11 Years

About 3 years ago

chasm said:
$80 on top of the straight conversion for AirPods Max? That's gouge-y. It may not rise to the level of criminal, prosecutable gouging, but it fosters ill will and hampers sales. And this isn't just happening in Canada -- the UK price for AirPods Max is £549 when it would be £406 and change with straight conversion. That just seems mean.

What you dont take into account, its never the direct conversion, for example the UK you mention you forget about VAT needs to be added, which is exactly what apple do as prices have to show an inclusive price with vat. so bear that in mind it makes price £508

svanstrom 685 comments · 7 Years

About 3 years ago

iloveapplegear said:

chasm said:
$80 on top of the straight conversion for AirPods Max? That's gouge-y. It may not rise to the level of criminal, prosecutable gouging, but it fosters ill will and hampers sales. And this isn't just happening in Canada -- the UK price for AirPods Max is £549 when it would be £406 and change with straight conversion. That just seems mean.

What you dont take into account, its never the direct conversion, for example the UK you mention you forget about VAT needs to be added, which is exactly what apple do as prices have to show an inclusive price with vat. so bear that in mind it makes price £508

Straight conversion from the Swedish AppleStore: 810 USD.

Remove the local tax and that's 648 USD.

AirPods Max at apple.com is rn: 549 USD.

If buying them from the Hong Kong store (no v.a.t.) they are 593 USD.

So, if you're in Sweden and need to buy enough Apple stuff (assuming it's not within like a corporation/valid business expense) you could get a "free" one week vacation in some other country simply by buying your stuff while there. :D

svanstrom 685 comments · 7 Years

About 3 years ago

mike54 said:

With all that fancy circuitry in there, I guess there is no room for just a simple on/off switch.

I'm hoping for a much cheaper version, that sounds decent, with the same level of ANC, H1 chip, but without the spacial computational audio stuff, no gyro's and I don't even need a sensor in each ear cup to pause sound.

The actual individual parts has a fairly limited impact on the sticker price; and sometimes removing hardware features would actually increase the price, as the costs would go up significantly by separating hardware that's currently made into a single unit. Also, when it comes to sound equipment like this one all parts are working together; so removing a single "unnecessary" feature might make the product absolute rubbish, unless, once again, the whole thing is basically redone from scratch.

As a comparison you can look at the HomePod and the HomePod mini; which absolutely share a certain level of ancestry, but where the mini in no way simply is just a full HomePod with a few parts removed.

And from a business perspective a "much cheaper" (depending on any hyperbole in that usage, ofc) product simply doesn't fit with their current line of products. Unless we start to see a much clearer main/pro-divide (incl. in pricing) among the Apple sound products there's just no fit for a cheaper AP Max; and it makes even less sense in light of Apple still needing to devote full production to fulfilling the AP Max orders.

Even the current naming of their different AirPods would make it a bit awkward with a new cheaper OE option… like… we have the regular, the pro, the max, and… what?? AirPods light? (Which would make the "light" the second heaviest option.)

Unless Apple is willing to royally piss off all the AirPods Max buyers, by revamping the whole line within the first half of 2021, I don't see a cheaper OE option anytime soon.

(Personally I do think that considering the hints of where things are heading the internals of the AirPods Max might actually run at a risk of being a touch outdated for such a major launch of a, to the average buyer, expensive product; and I'm very curious to see what the lifecycle will be like for these, and how the hardware will fit in with their continuing work with AR. Like why the heck is there no UWB chip to help with exact positioning? Shouldn't they at least have slapped a U1 in there to future-proof them; or is there such a disconnect between the internal departments that AP Max users will find them obsolete, within the greater Apple ecosystem, after just a year? )

charlesn 1154 comments · 11 Years

About 3 years ago

mike54 said:

With all that fancy circuitry in there, I guess there is no room for just a simple on/off switch.

I'm hoping for a much cheaper version, that sounds decent, with the same level of ANC, H1 chip, but without the spacial computational audio stuff, no gyro's and I don't even need a sensor in each ear cup to pause sound.

Yes, and I'm hoping for a much cheaper Lamborghini, something that runs decent, with the same wow factor design, but without the huge engine, high-tech transmission, special suspension... I don't need all that. Basically I want a Mustang that's a Lambo, and I suspect your wish and my wish will arrive at the same time.