Apple’s noise-canceling is as soon as once more glorious, with HVAC and keyboard noises disappearing immediately. I’m not shocked, on condition that senior author Adrienne So claims her toddlers routinely scare the crap out of her when she’s utilizing the AirPods Professional. By no means concern although, conversationalists: With a fast push of the button on the highest of the headphones, sound from the room is piped into your ears, which makes fast chats a breeze.
It’s actually the sound high quality itself that takes the AirPods Max to the extent above their competitors. Put merely, these are the best-sounding wi-fi headphones I’ve ever heard, and by a big margin.
I actually say this as definitively as I can. Once they first arrived, I put the AirPods Max towards the Sony WH-1000XM4, Bose Noise Cancelling 700, Mont Blanc MB01, Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Carbon, and Shure Aonic 50.
The primary distinction between these headphones and all of the others is how open they sound. From rumbling lows to vivid and clear highs, all the pieces finds a spot. Bands look like taking part in in larger rooms in your thoughts’s eye, and every instrument turns into extra distinct than ever within the fog of busy mixes.
I like listening to detailed pop from newer artists like Billie Eilish, as a result of her brother Finneas’ artistic manufacturing methods come into full focus. Every little shimmer and growl appears extra distinct than ever. Hip hop is equally enthralling as a result of the bass is punchy and outlined however by no means boomy or car-stereo flabby. 808 kicks and detuned voices by no means mix, and brighter parts of every track trip completely atop them.
When listening to hard-panned feels like Elliott Smith’s guitars, they really feel like they’re manner on the edges of my musical imaginative and prescient, giving a number of room in the course of the sound. The overwhelming sense of musical readability is insane for noise-canceling headphones. Some rivals can sustain with Apple’s work higher than others, however typically it is as if you’re pulling a layer of wool off of different flagship noise-canceling headphones if you change to the AirPods Max.
Good for Motion pictures
One other glorious characteristic that units the AirPods Max aside is Spatial Audio that is really usable. When you’re watching on a appropriate app (I watched HBO Max on an iPad), the AirPods Max will simulate object-based {surround} sound like Dolby Atmos, in order that audio results appear to materialize out of imaginary “audio system” positioned throughout you in a 3D area.
Flip your head and the audio stays locked to the unique orientation. It makes sounds a bit extra sibilant (or “brighter”), however the characteristic does actually immerse you within the viewing expertise. It is as if you’re in a real dwelling theater with surround-sound audio system throughout you.
Apple says the AirPods Max USB-C mannequin may even be the one headphones that permit “musicians to each create and blend in Customized Spatial Audio with head monitoring” with the most recent characteristic upgrades, making Spatial Audio all of the extra helpful.
To Purchase or To not Purchase
The AirPods Max, like every $550 accent, are clearly not for everybody. However regardless of their exorbitant price ticket (and some small quirks), the construct high quality, ease of use, and astonishing constancy they provide make them worthy of the price.
Not like different Apple merchandise, these are objectively the most effective of their class. Someplace within the ether, Steve Jobs might be jamming out with delight.
Characteristic Upgrades
Among the finest and most appreciated traits of Apple’s high headphones has been the introduction of latest options that assist preserve them not solely related, however aggressive with modern rivals. After releasing a USB-C mannequin in 2024, Apple added some intriguing new options in March 2025, together with 24-bit/48-kHz lossless audio assist when plugged into an Apple system up to date with iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS Sequoia 15.4 for AirPods Max with USB-C.
Does that matter? It could depend upon whom you ask. Numerous audio professionals keep that most individuals can not hear the distinction between a compressed audio observe and a high-resolution observe, particularly with in the present day’s high-quality compressed tracks on streaming providers like Spotify or Apple Music. And in reality, that is what our testing revealed with the AirPods Max. In blind A/B testing between Spotify’s greatest compressed tracks and lossless tracks on Apple Music or Tidal, our outcomes have been basically inconclusive. In different phrases, we could not all the time hear the distinction.
What did make a noticeable distinction was listening to music plugged in versus streaming over Bluetooth. That is excellent news for customers of the Lightning AirPods Max, which didn’t get the lossless audio replace. As such, should you’ve been enthusiastic about upgrading for the brand new lossless audio assist, you might or might not discover a distinction—and should you do, it’s going to in all probability be minor.
Musicians, producers, and hobbyists might have one more reason to contemplate upgrading to the AirPods Max USB-C, as Apple additionally introduced “ultra-low latency” that ought to make working inside Apple’s music recording apps like Logic Professional a extra seamless expertise. This characteristic can even profit players and livestreamers because of decrease lag time that Apple claims is on par with “native built-in audio system.” —Ryan Waniata