AirPods Max are being discontinued, so are new Apple headphones coming this year?

It was inevitable that despite the high price of $549, the Apple AirPods Max headphones will finally start to miss out on the company’s latest additions. Headphones are essentially computers now and have evolved into their own platform, just like with any iPhone or Mac, Apple’s creative and innovative tricks require more powerful silicon and updated hardware.

We first saw the swan song of the two-and-a-half-year-old AirPods Max earlier this month at WWDC when Apple announced several upcoming innovations that, almost always, will work on the second-generation AirPods Pro – and no other models. The theme is called “Adaptive Audio,” a new type of audio that intelligently combines noise cancellation and visibility based on your living environment. “You can stay where you are while the distracting noise is reduced,” Apple’s Ron Huang said in an explanation. Adaptive Audio often interferes with the outside world, but you can clearly hear other sounds – bicycle bells, car horns, etc. – that are important for personal safety.

Adaptive Audio builds on the Adaptive Transparency mode introduced by the second AirPods Pro. For these headphones, Apple’s passthrough system can quickly smooth out ear-piercing sounds like sirens and construction work. The company said that this hardware improvement was made possible by its H2 chip, which (so far) is found in the latest AirPods Pro. AirPods Max have an H1 chip in each ear cup, but it seems that it is not enough for Adaptive Audio to happen.

Adaptive Audio promises exceptional performance, and I’m looking forward to trying it out. But some of Apple’s new audio products — again, all of the new AirPods Pro — seem inspired by what we’ve seen in the in-ear competition.

Personal Volume is one of the crazy things announced at WWDC. Over time, AirPods Pro will learn your preferences in different environments and try to increase the volume when you want it. This is a concept that Google pursued with the previous Pixel Buds, but the company abandoned Adaptive Sound with the Pixel Buds Pro. Apple is well aware of hearing health, so I bet Personalized Volume will only play your music so far.

And there’s Speakerphone, which I argued that Sony pioneered before other headphones adopted the same concept. That said, Apple’s implementation seems a little more technical than just lowering the volume and adjusting the exposure once you start talking. Conversational Awareness lowers the music, sure, but Apple says it can “raise the volume in front of the user, while reducing background noise.” There is an interest in isolating sound frequencies that none of the other methods I have tried so far.

But again, the bad news for AirPods Max owners is that nothing new is coming to Apple’s flagship earphones. They are not completely ignored; you’ll be able to control yourself more quickly on phones with a digital crown, and Apple has said that the device’s sometimes unexpected changes are more reliable after the software update. But the most useful flavors are not forthcoming. Even small things like the short opening voice “Siri” – no longer needed “Hey” – are second nature to AirPods Pro. Wow.

Luckily, I’ve been seeing AirPods Max everywhere in the near future. There are two people wearing them at the coffee shop where I am writing this. I’m sure a lot of this comes from the frequent discounts at retailers, because it’s easy to find sales right now. However, even with discounts, they are more expensive than many of their competitors.

In any case, most of the time, they are used outdoors on city streets. Adaptive Audio can be beneficial for these devices. And why wouldn’t I want to talk about it when I wear it to the office? You won’t see a lot of complaints during the summer beta, but once this is released to everyone in September, I’d bet that more AirPods Max owners will be disappointed with what they’re missing out on. – if they are aware of the new information.

Will Apple really keep the latest model for another year (or more) and leave them with less features compared to the AirPods Pro? Even now, after hearing the announcements of WWDC, I can feel the urge to go into the Apple Store and spend $549 on headphones that are about to hit the wall for new products.

Rumors of the next AirPods Max have been few and far between. Commodity analyst Ming-Chi Kuo doesn’t expect anything until the second half of 2024 or later. I feel… too late. I believe that we will see a new model of the company’s noise-cancelling headphones in the fall together with the iPhone 15 series. The switch from the iPhone to USB-C opens the door to a refreshing “simple” AirPods Max: Apple can replace the Lightning port, upgrade the silicon to a more advanced device H2, I’m calling it a day. I would never do that. AirPods Pro might get a USB-C charging port, and that will likely be the case until a third party comes along.

But I’m sure we’ll see something more than AirPods Max. There is no denying that for all their careful purposes, Apple headphones are burdensome and can get tired after a while. Unfortunately, these days there are people who are worried about keeping their heads down. If the company can shave off some of those features, it could lead to more comfort. And then there is the unfortunate “case” that provides little real protection for the cans. This can be used in a more difficult way at some point. And as a dedicated audiophile, I still dream of the day when we get Apple Lossless wireless support. Don’t hold my breath for that last one, though. Longer battery life would be nice, as companies like Sennheiser have lost the AirPods Max’s playtime.

It’s clear that Apple is calculated and deliberate when it comes to the new AirPods. A second look at AirPods Pro very much similar to the original – which may disappoint anyone hoping to see new colors or a new design – but they will offer greater improvements in sound, noise cancellation, visibility, and reliability. He never suffered from the problems that plagued the first two. Noise cancellation issues aside, I haven’t seen any kind of news about the AirPods Max since the headphones were released.

Apple is working from a solid (albeit very expensive) foundation. But as with every iPhone that’s come and gone over the years, we’re starting to see that the company’s headphones can hold the latest additions for a long time. The open question is how long Apple will wait before bringing the AirPods Max back.