OPINION: This may sound weird, delirious even considering the success of the original, but I don’t think we need new AirPods Max over-ear headphones. At least not yet.
With Apple’s upcoming event revealing the next iteration of its iPhone series, the Internet – as usual – is awash with rumours in terms of what other products we could expect to see from the company.
There might be a follow-up to the AirPods Pro true wireless since it’s been a few years since we saw an update, and it’s more likely they’ll be an announcement for the AirPods 4, but I’m in a similar headspace with those earbuds as I don’t get the impression they’ll bring about substantial changes to the established formula, and that’s pretty much why I expect Apple to hold off on a new AirPods Max 2.
Apple isn’t a company to be rushed into making a decision. It’s been years since the Apple TV (an actual TV) was first rumoured but we’ve seen nothing since. Rumours about an Apple soundbar come and go with nothing concrete mentioned. There’s even been a rumour about some sort of Echo Show version of the HomePod but who knows if that’s happening, though I’m prepared to look a fool on that front.
There are a couple of reasons why I don’t expect an AirPods Max 2 to pop up. For one, Apple’s recent products seemed to have lacked a real hook for purchasing them. The current iPhones have refined the template but they haven’t offered anything particularly new.
The latest Apple TV 4K box was essentially a minor tweak, and the same seemed to be true for the recent Apple Watches. Innovation seems a little lacking in the Apple product department.
The second reason is that, there’s simply no major issue pestering current AirPods Max owners into feeling an upgrade is needed.
Apple headphones work well within the Apple ecosystem, an ecosystem that’s packed full of features, but there hasn’t been anything substantial on the audio front for some time now.
If I were an owner of an iPhone and AirPods Max, I would like the headphones to be able to play wireless lossless audio, but for reasons only known to Apple, that’s unlikely to come to fruition.
Who really wants an iterative update?
A new AirPods Max would largely be more of the same and that’s not a compelling reason to bring out a new model. After a slow start the Max over-ears have become a juggernaut – they’re arguably the reason why so many other audio brands are eyeing £449 because Apple has sold many headphones at that price point. There’s rarely a day I don’t see the AirPods Max on someone’s head. They’re ubiquitous and have quietly become one of Apple’s bigger success stories.
That’s not to say there aren’t improvements to be made – we have given them four-stars for a reason – but for Apple customers, they do everything you could want. Would you really want to pay £549 / $549 for slightly better noise-cancellation and slightly better audio? Unfortunately for Apple, the headphones hit the bullseye at the first time of asking.
There was the rumour of an AirPods Max that could have parts swapped out but then Apple nipped that in the bud. With the customisation that the Dyson OnTrac affords and modular headphones such as the Fairphone Fairbuds XL and AIAIAI TMA-2 Studio, perhaps that could be on the table again, but I don’t see Apple pulling a rabbit out of the hat and surprising us at the next event. Sometimes it’s better to keep things ticking along instead of forcing something new that’s not really wanted.
