No further hardware updates for AirPods Max planned

Apple updated its AirPods Max with USB-C and new color options in September 2024, but is reportedly not planning any further changes to the headphones.

In the recent updates to the product, Apple failed to upgrade the chip inside the AirPods Max to the H2 as it had with the AirPods Pro, meaning the headset is still not compatible with Adaptive Audio.

Bloomberg claims that that the company has "no concrete plans" to update the headphones' hardware again, at least for now. While the product does not appear to be in danger of being cancelled, there are no current plans for future revisions to the product either.

AirPods Max will continue to be made and sold, but Apple allegedly considers the sales of the headset too low to justify allocating resources to make significant hardware updates. This doesn't entirely rule out the possibility of firmware changes, but Apple's interest in the product is seen to be waning.

The AirPods Max were originally released in 2020, and apart from the recent color changes and switch to a USB-C connector, are unchanged from the original release. They feature up to 20 hours of battery life, active noise cancellation, and the "digital crown" control mechanism.

While it has been praised for its sound isolation and general reliability, there have been concerns about the tendency for sweat and other condensation to build up under the earcups after prolonged use. However, the earcups are removable for easy cleaning.

9 Comments

xyzzy01 144 comments · 15 Years

About 2 weeks ago

I was in the market for new headphones to replace my Airpods Max, which had become rather unstable.

If Apple had relessed a new version, I would have bought that on day one, Due to not bothering to even update the chips inside - or even less solving some of the issues - I bought Soby WH-1000XM5 instead. They suck at naming, but their headphones are very, very good.

AppleZulu 2181 comments · 8 Years

What a peculiar headline. It’s not really supported by the article’s content, and the article’s content is dubiously framed in its own right.

At most the article’s content is a speculation that there are no known near-term upgrades planned for the headphone. That doesn’t support the headline’s suggestion that they won’t get any upgrades, ever.

The most significant upgrade they need is wireless lossless audio. That’s probably a fairly heavy lift that would significantly affect data transmission protocols and hardware as well as battery life. Other than that, what upgrades are really needed?

This year’s connector change was about EU compliance and keeping the hardware the same worldwide. Any other changes are probably dependent on a host of other things in the pipeline affecting other, non-peripheral products.

chasm 3603 comments · 10 Years

AppleZulu said:

At most the article’s content is a speculation that there are no known near-term upgrades planned for the headphone. That doesn’t support the headline’s suggestion that they won’t get any upgrades, ever.

The most significant upgrade they need is wireless lossless audio. That’s probably a fairly heavy lift that would significantly affect data transmission protocols and hardware as well as battery life. Other than that, what upgrades are really needed?

The third paragraph of the article names the source of the report and links to it. It's from Mark Gurman's article, and while nobody is ever 100 percent correct, he's the most accurate source of future news around. Not sure how you missed that.

The report also says sales are too low of the Max for Apple to bother doing anything further with it, implying that it is zombieware (not killed off but no further changes coming) at this point. As a reminder, Apple owns Beats, and they have their own line of headphone products. The AirPods Max a) don't need to exist and b) are overpriced for what they offer.

iadlib 117 comments · 14 Years

I HATE when Apple half asses a product with so much potential. H2 chip. A better case. Jesus. Such simple improvements would make this a much better buy. Oh and I don’t know. Price it at $399. Would be a huge holiday buy. But no. Half ass the update and keep the price high because profit margins. This is how good products die.

ShaolinRockstar 9 comments · 8 Years

About 1 week ago

iadlib said:

I HATE when Apple half asses a product with so much potential. H2 chip. A better case. Jesus. Such simple improvements would make this a much better buy. Oh and I don’t know. Price it at $399. Would be a huge holiday buy. But no. Half ass the update and keep the price high because profit margins. This is how good products die.

This exactly. I have been waiting patiently for a proper update with an H2 chip. Is it really too much to ask for them to have feature parity with the AirPods Pro 2 I already own, which cost less than half as much? That is literally all they had to do. I am one of their biggest fans, but this was simply a boneheaded move.