alt.hn

3/16/2026 at 1:22:03 PM

AirPods Max 2

 https://www.apple.com/airpods-max/

by ssijak

3/16/2026 at 6:33:45 PM

Wild. I have been eagerly awaiting this refresh, but this doesn't address either of the main issues with the original AirPods Max:

1. Still just as heavy. The AirPods Max sound quite good, but they are very heavy, to the point of being fairly uncomfortable after listening for any longer amount of time. This release as the exact same weight as the originals (13.6 oz).

2. Still no off button/position. They stay partially on unless you put them in the awkward and useless "case", which means they're constantly out of power when you want to use them. There's even an obvious fix: the ear cups swivel flat, they could just make this the "power off" position. Solved. But they didn't, so presumably these still have the same problem. There's also no mention of magnetic charging via stand, which would be another way to help alleviate this problem.

If these were even a few ounces lighter and powered off properly, I would buy them for sure. Given this announcement, I guess I will look for something else to replace the old AirPods Max.

by StefanKarpinski

3/16/2026 at 7:28:22 PM

As someone who has never seen these or paid attention to them I was thinking "how heavy could they possibly be?" Then I saw 13.6 oz and I was blown away. That's actually really heavy for headphones!

by larrik

3/16/2026 at 6:51:48 PM

Are you sure your AirPods Max have the latest firmware? This issue was addressed in an update right after the first version came out and people reported the issue you're describing:

If you set your AirPods Max down and leave them stationary for 5 minutes, they go into a low power mode to preserve battery charge. After 72 stationary hours out of the Smart Case, your AirPods Max go into a lower power mode that turns off Bluetooth and Find My to preserve battery charge further

[Archive link, as the latest Support doc doesn't have this wording any longer]

[0]https://web.archive.org/web/20210315052229/https://support.a...

by 46493168

3/16/2026 at 7:04:43 PM

I got excited there for a second — free fix for the most annoying problem with my headphones! But no, my AirPods Max have the latest firmware and still have this issue. Any time I leave them for more than a day, the battery is drained.

by StefanKarpinski

3/16/2026 at 8:04:35 PM

Try hard reset (long press (~15s) both buttons).

I know I have had this issue and did not have it after reset. Though I do have another annoying, and seemingly unique issue: sometimes, when adjusting the position of the headphone, they do a “click” (and a loud one), and just shut down.

The farthest from the last reset, the more often it happens. I have no idea why.

by frizlab

3/16/2026 at 6:59:02 PM

What does “down” and “stationary” mean? I put my Sony to random paces, mainly just throwing it into my backpack. Would that be considered as down and stationary? Would it be turned off if I’m on the move? In a car? On a bus?

by ruszki

3/16/2026 at 7:06:06 PM

I mean, I regularly leave them on a shelf in my apartment and they apparently do not consider that "down" or "stationary" enough to not just drain the battery completely. Truly a bafflingly bad design from the company that is (was) known for great hardware design.

by StefanKarpinski

3/16/2026 at 6:57:59 PM

It's still extremely odd that they don't just... turn off.. ever? Even the case marketing copy notes this:

> When stored in the soft, slim Smart Case, AirPods Max enter an ultra‑low‑power state.

by femiagbabiaka

3/16/2026 at 7:05:24 PM

Perhaps for Find My/UWB support?

by xxpor

3/16/2026 at 7:59:56 PM

Funny enough, the original and the new AirPods Max don't have UWB. That won't help me find my headphones in my house.

If for Find My, why stay in "low power" mode for days before moving to "ultralow power" mode? Is silly.

by iAMkenough

3/16/2026 at 7:51:14 PM

Absolutely! I have both the AirPods Max and the Bose QC Ultra and even though my whole ecosystem is Apple, the QC Ultra is a lot more comfortable reliable on day to day usage. Comfort is due to weight, and reliability is the batter is predictably on the QC Ultra, but on the Max I never know if the battery went all down because I can't turn it off.

by htk

3/16/2026 at 7:44:47 PM

Thats 386,2 gram for the rest of the world.

by foxwell_1959

3/16/2026 at 7:14:36 PM

I’ve been using my AirPod Max for hours for the past 2 years and never noticed they were “heavy”. I’m wondering now as I’ve never researched on headphones (I just buy simplicity from Apple, I’m not an audio sophisticated costumer) that was never brought out to me, so I haven’t even noticed.

by santiagobasulto

3/16/2026 at 6:46:37 PM

I’ve been using AirPods Max since they first launched, and over the years I’ve tried several times to switch to Bose.

However, the Bose headphones just haven’t worked as smoothly for me from a software and integration standpoint. I tend to run into more glitches and small issues compared to the AirPods Max. I’m not sure whether that’s primarily a Bose issue or something related to Apple’s ecosystem, but my guess is that other high-end headphones probably face similar integration challenges when paired with an iPhone.

On the bright side, Max is very reliable.

by infocollector

3/16/2026 at 7:35:31 PM

I leave my AirPods Max sitting on my desk for weeks at a time outside of the case and the battery never drains. I just put mine on today after sitting on my desk for a week and they still had 99% charge.

by doug_durham

3/16/2026 at 7:37:06 PM

Strange. Are they first gen or later? I did get the absolute first gen of these, so maybe it's a problem they couldn't fix in firmware? Or I just have a defective pair?

by StefanKarpinski

3/16/2026 at 7:15:43 PM

I feel that fit and comfort is an incredibly personal thing, but the weight was always fine for me - their design spreads it out pretty well.

The killer feature for me is the deep ear cups. All the Sony headphones touch my Dumbo-sized ears and get crazy warm, the APMs don’t.

by QuiEgo

3/16/2026 at 7:29:47 PM

Apple clearly optimized for the "always ready" experience, but it does feel awkward that the intended workflow involves putting them in the case

by interludead

3/16/2026 at 7:09:54 PM

I held off buying the first version for exactly these two reasons. Will also "hold off" on buying these.

by drcongo

3/16/2026 at 6:17:07 PM

I don't understand how a pair of headphones can be $549 meanwhile the Macbook Neo is $599

The pricing on these always seemed a bit crazy to me, like the value is way off compared to other Apple products

by ex-aws-dude

3/16/2026 at 7:24:41 PM

Peripheral tech must have absurdly lucrative margins. I see it in my niche interests too. Cycling or golf gps are like hundreds of dollars. They are the same products they were 15 years ago: cheap lcd screen with a cheap gps radio and some severely underpowered cpu with noticable input lag. Designed to fall apart in a few years. Still same prices they always were, maybe they get away adding another $50 a year to the price on occasion. It is like they hit their price point and margin number and are perfectly happy making probably >60% markup on us who have no option otherwise. Yes we could potentially order prototypes trivially for cents a unit from same places in china the first party manufacturers go to, but minimum order is probably 1000 units.

That is literally the sole moat of these companies: minimum orders from china and the fact we can't spend the ad money they can to move that volume quickly. Not tech or offering a good deal. Just being there already with money and doing the inevitable. Being the more productive drug dealer quicker to move the kilo to the captured audience and bankrolled to get the next several and scale.

by asdff

3/16/2026 at 6:29:08 PM

Isn't this pricing pretty in line with other high end ANC headphones?

e.g. Bowers & Wilkins PX8 ($699), Focal Bathys ($849), Sony WH-1000XM6 ($399), Kef Mu7 ($399), Bose QC Ultra ($449)

by porphyra

3/16/2026 at 7:50:56 PM

Or Sennheiser momentum 4, 150 bucks and sound at least as good if not better, have absolutely huge battery compared to tiny apple one, more comfortable and generally work much better with non-apple ecosystem (also apparently they support multi-device pairing but I haven't used that one).

Don't pay the novelty price shortly after release, these go down quite a bit after introduction, ie last year Sony are basically the same device.

by kakacik

3/16/2026 at 6:25:02 PM

Different target markets. Audiophiles and wealth exhibitionists are much more willing to pay the large amount

by momoschili

3/16/2026 at 8:03:46 PM

Doubt audiophiles are really the target for the AirPods Max.

by Paria_Stark

3/16/2026 at 6:28:37 PM

As said, different markets. If you look from the same perspective, the last iPhone I ordered is 3x the price of a last generation MacBook Air.

$549 is pretty reasonable if the headphone has the sound detail it's advertising. Given how AirPods Gen 3 sounds, I'm sure that thing sounds pretty amazing.

by bayindirh

3/16/2026 at 6:30:19 PM

Sennheiser HD 800 S is $1700 and has been around for years. Or the Meze Elite Tungsten at $4,000 - if Apple can get 80/90% of the way there at $549, they'd be a steal for the right customer.

by bombcar

3/16/2026 at 6:56:50 PM

The quality x price curve is not linear. Expensive materials and engineering often produce only incremental quality improvements, if any. Sometimes the improvements are only cosmetic. So Apple's headphones would need to be a lot closer to the best of the best than 80-90% in order to justify their price.

by Shebanator

3/16/2026 at 7:38:29 PM

The feature that applies a hearing test as an equalizer setting make the APM sound pretty damn good, so much so it ended my 20 year long headphone-collecting hobby.

Before hearing-tuned EQ became a thing, trying headphones was like trying food. No matter what someone else said it was no guarantee you'd like the sound. Conversely, you might find a cheap pair that sounded spectacular to you. The APM will sound very good to just about anyone, with the hearing test EQ applied.

I think every headphone maker (or better yet, DAC maker) should have this feature. Audiophiles are often old, a hearing test EQ can make them hear music like they're 20 again, and they'll pay for it.

by Kon5ole

3/16/2026 at 6:59:23 PM

Price and quantity go in pairs.

As long as a pair exists on the demand curve, Apple can charge that price.

by j3k3

3/16/2026 at 7:19:45 PM

And _STILL_ the Sony MDR's are still ~$100.

by butlike

3/16/2026 at 7:32:20 PM

It does look strange when you compare it directly to a MacBook, but headphones are a weird category

by interludead

3/16/2026 at 6:19:53 PM

a lot of non apple headphones cost more... and many don't even sound better...

by throwaway290

3/16/2026 at 6:30:09 PM

Well, in the market segment of Bluetooth ANC headphones, there's not that much. Bowers & Wilkins and Focal come to mind, both audiophile luxury brands and similarily overpriced.

On the other hand, the flagship Sony is quite a bit less than AirPods Max.

by steve1977

3/16/2026 at 7:05:45 PM

Doesn’t Sony have the best codec on Bluetooth? It definitely has worse noise cancellation than my AirPod, but afaik it should have better audio quality on paper.

by ruszki

3/16/2026 at 7:05:27 PM

Same could be said about the Vision Pro, much pricier than their mass market alternatives, while being in-line with high end professional gear.

by Computer0

3/16/2026 at 8:02:54 PM

$549 for consumer grade headphones, really?

by drnick1

3/16/2026 at 1:39:07 PM

My AirPods Max 1 left a headband dent in my skull from how poor the quality of the headband was after more than a year of daily use. They also are super heavy and don't travel well at all.

Apple deciding that, on their 2nd refresh of these (after usb-c), they still aren't going to fix those fundamental issues is very frustrating for what feels like a very disproportionately expensive product (even by Apple standards).

I'm now a very happy QC Ultra 2 user. Can't recommend enough.

by alstonite

3/16/2026 at 5:59:43 PM

Yea I ran into the exact same issue. My workaround was buying a silicone band that wrapped around the top of the set to help as a sort of "2nd layer."

It isn't perfect, but it makes them wearable.

Pretty incredible oversight by a company that focuses so much on "design."

The bands sell pretty well on Amazon from what I can see so this isn't an isolated issue.

by SunshineTheCat

3/16/2026 at 6:02:41 PM

Interesting. Echoes the failure of the original Vision Pro knit headband, Version 2 of which is much better — but it took 2 years to appear!

by bookofjoe

3/16/2026 at 7:37:25 PM

I've traveled extensively with my AirPods Max. I just toss them in my backpack with whatever else is there and move on. They travel a lot better than my Bose ones did with the bulky case. I much prefer Apple's approach here.

by doug_durham

3/16/2026 at 1:46:09 PM

A literal dent in your skull?

by gottagocode

3/16/2026 at 1:52:11 PM

It’s not in the skull, it’s in the soft tissue on top of it. I’ve had the same dent after wearing them for a while, it comes out after a while.

by the-golden-one

3/16/2026 at 1:56:27 PM

Phew, that's a relief. Guess that's a reasonable compromise for a $550 product for which there are no other quality competitors.

by secalex

3/16/2026 at 2:53:21 PM

It literally gives me a headache after more than an hour of wearing it. This never happens with may AKG that has a very utilitarian and simple headband—a flat piece of plastic. It’s not pretty but I can wear AKG for a whole day and enjoy every minute of it while I’m phisically sick after an hour of AirPods Pro.

by pointlessone

3/16/2026 at 6:00:08 PM

You're joking, right? There are many high quality competitors in that price range. I'm holding a pair (Sennheiser HDB 630). They are significantly lighter weight, better comfort and sound quality.

by mrcwinn

3/16/2026 at 6:12:03 PM

They are indeed being sarcastic/joking.

by strongpigeon

3/16/2026 at 6:36:43 PM

My hd660s2 leave an indent in my skull. I don’t find them uncomfortable though.

by davkan

3/16/2026 at 6:00:23 PM

You sure that's not from something else?

by jmkni

3/16/2026 at 6:09:38 PM

Another poster here - I can confirm, have the same thing. I don’t worry too much about it though, I assume it will fade if I ever switch to other headphones.

by kolinko

3/16/2026 at 2:28:23 PM

I thought this was parody at first- are you guys seriously ok with this?

by RankingMember

3/16/2026 at 5:53:22 PM

We want evidence.

by hyperhello