Apple today revealed the AirPods Max 2, marking the first time it has given its over-ear headphones a full refresh. Apple first launched the AirPods Max in 2020, and gave them a minor update to swap out the Lightning port for USB-C in 2024, but they’ve remained largely unchanged until now.
The AirPods Max 2 maintain the same look and feel as the first-generation cans, but swap out the H1 chip for the same H2 chip found in the most recent AirPods Pro. As a result, Apple says the active noise cancellation on offer is 1.5x better than the first-generation AirPods Max.
The H2 chip enables a few AirPods Pro features on AirPods Max 2. These include adaptive audio, conversational awareness, live translation, and loud sound reduction.
Other than H2, the big change is a new “high dynamic range” amplifier, which Apple says facilitates cleaner audio. Like the AirPods Max with USB-C, the AirPods Max 2 support lossless audio when listening over USB-C. Lastly, Apple says the AirPods Max 2 have better audio latency, which will mostly benefit gamers.
AirPods Max 2 pre-orders start on March 26, ahead of an early April release date. The AirPods Max 2 are priced at $999, in line with what Apple was charging for the AirPods Max with USB-C. Colour options are also identical, with the pair coming in a choice of midnight, starlight, orange, purple, or blue.
The announcement of the AirPods Max 2 follows a slew of releases from Apple at the start of the month, including the iPhone 17e and the MacBook Neo.
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Alex Choros
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