Apple has begun pre-sales for the new,$550 AirPods Max over-the-ear wireless headphones on Tuesday. The hearables, wrongly rumored to become called the AirPods Studio, were announced with no of the official fanfare or event that always accompanies major product announcements from the tech giant. However, they are the company’s first noise-canceling headphones in the future using the Apple brand name and not under the Beats branding.
Maximum Apple AirPods
The AirPods Max essentially combines the Apple components from its existing AirPods with the more powerful hardware of over-ear headphones. They have high-fidelity audio, adaptive EQ, spatial audio, and most notably, active noise cancellation. The earcups actually adjust to a wearer’s head, and the headphones can rapidly switch from noise-canceling to transparency mode, which lets wearers hear some outside noise and back. The noise cancellation relies on three microphones on each earcup to detect noise outside, with another within the cup to hear the sounds the wearer hears to regulate how the headphones fit and move in real-time.
“AirPods are the most widely used headphones on the planet, beloved for his or her effortless setup, incredible quality of sound, and iconic design. With AirPods Max, we are bringing that magical AirPods experience to some stunning over-ear design with high-fidelity audio,” Apple senior v . p . of worldwide marketing Greg Joswiak said inside a statement. “The custom acoustic design, coupled with powerful H1 chips, and advanced software enable AirPods Max to use computational audio to wirelessly provide the ultimate personal listening experience.”
That software includes easy connections to Siri through the microphones within the earcups when linked to an apple iphone or other Apple smart device, including the Apple TV and Apple Watch. Combined with the usual Siri control of the hearables and connected devices, wearers can switch among the devices based on what they're doing. For instance, Apple says a wearer might be hearing music on the Mac computer then have a ask their iPhone, and also the headphones will transition. The AirPods Max also enables audio sharing where one audio stream could be paid attention to simultaneously by two sets of AirPods. According to Apple, the brand new headphones can last for 20 hours and are charged with a Lightning connector.
Fashionable Listening
The whole design of the AirPods Max is an Apple design. They are clearly designed to evoke the aesthetic of long-time chief designer Jony Ives, despite the fact that he's no more at the company. The graceful curves and color choices are similar to the iPhone’s try looking in many different ways. They appear like high-end statements of fashion people will wear to demonstrate. There’s a short introductory film for that headphones like the ones typically shown at Apple events to thrill people with the appearance and feel of the device a lot more than its technical specifications.
The AirPods Max headphones are arguably competitors with Montblanc International’s $600 MB 01 Smart Headphones. The sheepskin and silicone wireless headphones offer active noise cancellation and built-in Google Assistant access and arguably approach exactly the same market as the AirPods Max, just in the other way. The AirPods Max encapsulates what Chris Messina, the inventor of the hashtag, pointed out in a article in 2023 about the then-new AirPods.
“What Apple has done is produce something which isn't a technology product, but is, rather, a way object-a piece of jewelry, an entertainment product, a standing symbol, a genie inside a bottle-that drips with sex appeal,” he wrote. “So, don't confuse AirPods with just another Wireless headset; that isn't what they're replacing. AirPods offer a new relationship because they're alluring, sensuous, and sultry.”
Messina taken care of immediately the AirPods Max by declaring he required to update his post. He suggested that Apple has expanded from jewelry into luxury wearables design.
Apple AirPods Max suggests that Apple has expanded from the jewelry maker into a luxury wearables designer.
/via @bretkinsella #ConvComm #VoiceComputing https://t.co/gkxNQGtJiN
– Chris Messina (@chrismessina) December 8, 2023
Then again, Apple might be missing a step without Ives at the helm. The AirPods Max comes with what Apple calls a Smart Case that puts the headphones into power-saving mode. Joanna Stern immediately dubbed it an AirPurse, and there’s no question that that’s what it really appears like.
And the the AirPurse, the smart case that holds your $550 AirPods Max. (Case is real and included. Name isn't.) pic.twitter.com/SPccsyXdCv
– Joanna Stern (@JoannaStern) December 8, 2023
Apple Ears
AirPurse or otherwise, the AirPods Max could expand Apple’s already dominant position within the hearables market that Voicebot present in our recent Hearables Voice Assistant Consumer Adoption Report 2023.
In the U.S., AirPods and AirPods Pro take into account 30.6% from the market, a plurality far ahead of any other manufacturer. The preference for Apple is even more apparent if you include the 10.8% share of the market of Beats. The AirPods have consistently high user ratings and fewer customer requests for improvements when compared to company’s rivals. Apple’s share of the market has actually grown by a couple of percentage points from 2023, even while the pool of customers has risen 23%. The question now is if Apple can perform exactly the same with high-end hearables. The marketing from the AirPods Max certainly reflects Apple’s ambitions in that way. Along with the aforementioned movie, iPhone users can play with an augmented reality tool to virtually set the headphones on a real-world surface, as seen on the right with Voicebot’s model for size comparison. It’s a fun but possibly unnecessary and expensive combination of tech and fashion, similar to the AirPods Max.