London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Here's everything we know about Apple's stylish new headphones, the $549 AirPods Max

Here's everything we know about Apple's stylish new headphones, the $549 AirPods Max

In a surprise reveal on Tuesday morning, Apple debuted the $549 AirPods Max: premium, over-ear, wireless headphon

Apple unveiled the AirPods Max on Tuesday: its first-ever set of over-the-ear headphones, and the highest-end model in the popular AirPods line.

Apple's swanky new headphones have a sleek, stylish design, high-quality internals, and an equally high price tag at $549.

With a scheduled launch just days away, here's everything we know about Apple's newest device:

1. The look.

A look from the side, left, and from above, right.


AirPods Max are a major design departure from Apple's earbud-style wireless AirPods.

Most obviously, they're over-the-ear headphones rather than earbud-style headphones. But even among comparable products from other companies, Apple's new AirPods Max stand out.

Perhaps most notably, from a visuals perspective, is the "breathable knit mesh canopy" that makes up the band. Unlike the solid bands on most over-the-ear headphones, Apple's AirPods Max has a kind of Aeron office chair-style fabric held taut between two thinner posts.

Moving to the earphones themselves, Apple seemingly took design cues directly from its Watch: The "crown," as well as the Tic Tac-shaped button, appear to have been pulled directly from the Apple Watch.

2. The features.


Think of the AirPods Max as the highest-end version of the AirPods line. They offer much of the same functionality, albeit in a larger, better sounding package.

Apple Senior VP of Worldwide Marketing Greg Joswiak said the intention with the new AirPods Max is to evoke "that magical AirPods experience" in an over-the-ear headset.

They feature a lot of the same functionality that AirPods users already enjoy. Apple detailed as much in the announcement on Tuesday morning:

1. AirPods Max pair most easily with Apple devices, which automatically recognize their presence when logged in through iCloud. This includes "iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV," Apple said.

2. Like how AirPods know they're in your ear, AirPods Max "automatically detect when they are on a user's head." You can set them to automatically pause if you remove the headphones, or even "when the user simply lifts one ear cup."

3. Beyond using the headphones for listening to audio, they can also be used with Siri and as a means of making/receiving phone calls (when paired with compatible Apple devices).

Beyond those features, Apple says that its new headphones are "the highest quality listening experience possible" in an Apple product.

The AirPods Max last for up to 20 hours of "high-fidelity audio, talk time, or movie playback," the company said. That battery time includes the use of two key features: Active Noise Cancellation and spatial audio.

Of note: Though Apple AirPods Max are intended for use with Apple devices, they are Bluetooth headphones capable of connecting via Bluetooth to non-Apple devices as well.

3. The Specs.

The inside of the AirPods Max, exploded.


The AirPods Max have nine microphones, the vast majority of which are dedicated to noise cancellation. It's got a gaggle of motion sensors, so it knows to pause when you lift an ear cup (among other things), and two physical inputs: a "crown," which operates similarly to the crown on the Apple Watch, and a rounded rectangular button.

The button has one function: turning noise cancellation on and off.

The crown serves several purposes, according to Apple: It can be turned to control volume, pushed in to pause/play or answer the phone, double tapped to skip forward, triple tapped to skip back, and pushed and held for Siri.

At the heart of the headphones is Apple's H1 chip, which the AirPod Max has embedded in each ear cup (one per ear).

4. The colors.


The initial debut of the AirPods Max is a five-color run: space gray, sky blue, green, pink, and silver.

5. The "Smart Case."


Alongside the headphones themselves, Apple includes a charging cable (Lightning to USB-C) and a carrying case. The latter, Apple says, is a "soft, slim Smart Case" that puts the headphones into an "ultralow power state" intended to preserve your battery as long as possible.

6. The price and release date.


As of Tuesday morning, Apple's online store had pre-orders available for the AirPods Max. The headphones cost $549, and Apple will engrave something on them at no additional cost.

The headphones are scheduled to launch on December 15.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
×