AirPods Pro Max with USB-C: New firmware finally here
Apple had technical difficulties rolling out its long-awaited new firmware for the premium over-ears. The time had finally come on Thursday night.
User with AirPods Max: Now it also works on the wire.
(Image: Apple)
7E99 becomes 7E101: With an internal update, Apple has now managed to publish the new firmware for the AirPods Max with USB-C connection, which has been awaited for days and includes lossless support. It was supposed to have been released on Monday along with iOS 18.4 and the like, but for unknown technical reasons, nothing came of it. In the night from Wednesday to Thursday, the rollout – did not take place with the initially announced version 7E99, but with 7E101. What exactly the problem was – there are speculations that there was a bug in iOS 18.4 itself – has not yet been communicated by Apple.
New features for the AirPods Max with USB-C
In September 2024, after almost four years, Apple presented a new version of the over-ears, which cost the manufacturer at least 579 euros. — In addition to new colors – the only new feature is a USB-C connection instead of a Lightning connection. This initially led to the loss of features: These included the aforementioned lossless playback via cable, as well as the option to also use analog 3.5 mm jack connections using an adapter. Both were surprisingly added to – together with latency-free transmission via USB-C cable – in March. But then the new firmware was a long time coming.
Videos by heise
Now users – including a member of the Mac & i editorial team – are reporting that the firmware is finally working. A new iOS splash screen shows that your device has made it: This shows that lossless audio with USB-C is now available. Alternatively, you can also check in the Bluetooth settings whether firmware 7E101 is on the device. Apple promises lossless audio with 24 bit and 48 kHz with the new firmware version. This preserves the “integrity of the original recordings”; Apple Music, among others, provides corresponding offers. The update also enables “ultra-low latency audio” on the AirPods Max with a wired connection. This is important for people who edit videos on a Mac or iPad, for example.
AirPods firmware installation is always voodoo
The usual problem of getting new firmware on AirPods – not only Max, but also Pro and standard models – was clearly evident in this case: there is still no way to force updates. Instead, Apple only tells you to connect the respective device to an iPhone, Mac, or iPad running the latest operating system and connect the AirPods to power. The firmware should then be installed after half an hour, although this is not always the case.
If a issue like the one with firmware 7E99 occurs, users are left without a solution. Mac & i will now take a closer look at the new AirPods Max features and publish a practical article analyzing them on heise+ in the following days.
Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt
Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externer Preisvergleich (heise Preisvergleich) geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (heise Preisvergleich) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
(bsc)
