AirPods Max: Not popular enough for a new model?
Apple has overhauled its high-end over-ears once – very easily with USB-C including USB audio. But a completely new version is not in sight. Why?
AirPods Max in use: Much loved, but not as popular as AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2.
(Image: Apple)
Anyone hoping that Apple will soon launch new over-ear headphones on the market to replace the AirPods Max models, which have not been updated for a long time, is likely to be disappointed. Bloomberg author Mark Gurman assumes this in his newsletter on Sunday. According to him, Apple does not feel obliged to develop a new model due to the sales figures.
Freshly colored and USB-C – will it stay that way?
The over-ears are "too popular to stop selling them, but not popular enough for [Apple] to invest a lot of time and money in creating a new version". The devices, which still cost 579 euros at Apple itself, can be seen surprisingly often in large cities. "Depending on where you live, they seem to be quite popular," says Gurman. Even in expensive fitness centers, you might count 20 to 30 people wearing the devices – even though Apple has not approved them for sports.
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Nevertheless, Gurman, who usually has good contacts inside the iPhone company, has heard nothing about anything happening again. Apple only launched the USB-C version on the market last year –, but this was mainly due to EU requirements that devices must now have USB-C. However, Apple had at least given the headphones a new function – USB audio including lossless support. There were also some new colors.
In-ear works better than over-ear
According to Gurman, however, the AirPods Max remain in a "commercially strange corner". It would make more sense for the company's audio team to focus on the much more popular in-ear AirPods – as well as speakers and microphones in other products. The Bloomberg reporter also believes that AirPods, like the standard and Pro models, may be released annually in the future.
For AirPods Max fans, this means that they will have to keep waiting. "In the end, it took half a decade before there was a real upgrade for the original model." For an Apple product, this is a "remarkably long time". Apple's next plans are probably AirPods Pro 3 – presumably with heart rate sensor – and AirPods 5. No new Max models are expected before 2026 or even 2027.
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