NEWS: Apple introduces AirPods Max over ear headphone

All I can say is, I hope they sound as good as the best in class with commanding that kind of money!
 
Jeez .... that last picture of the headphones in their case looks like a handbag.

£550 for a pair of headphones is bonkers IMO. Would love to hear the spatial audio on them though. TBH it has to be said, full credit to Apple for making incredible looking hardware ... and software come to that .... but the price of these is crazy.

Seriously, this years summer Back To School promotion will be 'Buy a pair of AirPod Max headphones and get a MacBook Air free'
 
I do not like the look of them. May just be the Photoshop rendering and need to judge in person
 
Jeez .... that last picture of the headphones in their case looks like a handbag.

£550 for a pair of headphones is bonkers IMO. Would love to hear the spatial audio on them though. TBH it has to be said, full credit to Apple for making incredible looking hardware ... and software come to that .... but the price of these is crazy.

Seriously, this years summer Back To School promotion will be 'Buy a pair of AirPod Max headphones and get a MacBook Air free'

TBF it's really not a lot at all in the headphone world, although i am sure these are not aimed at what you would call a headfi guy.


I am intrigued to hear these although i wont be expecting anything amazing sq wise.

If they sound like a £500 headphone with the convenience factor of apples airpods, they could be on to a massive winner imo.
 
Its very cheeky they do not include the cable as well - but want you to pony up another 35 quid !
 
Its very cheeky they do not include the cable as well - but want you to pony up another 35 quid !
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:confused:
 
You should be able to demo these in an Apple Store and get a decent idea of what they are capable of. I could never try the HomePod because it’s so noisy in store.
 
I’m definitely in for some of these in the new year (when I have some cash again :/ )
I love my AirPod Pros which sound great considering the limitations of in ears, so hopefully Apple have done as good a job on the Max. (Hate the carrying case though)
 
While I have no meaningful idea, you’d think the market for £550 headphones must be objectively very small.

If not that many people will buy them, what are Apple going for here? A prestige/brand affirming product? Or perhaps they expect to prove there is a suprisingly large market for £550 headphones done the Apple way?

I suppose it will be interesting to see but certainly count me out. I think they look as ugly as sin.
 
"a slim Smart Case allows the AirPods Max to enter an ultralow power state that preserves charge" o_O

Does that mean they can't just be switched off?
 
I've bulked at the price countless times since yesterday but I still can't help but want a pair.
 
I'm a big apple supporter and have many apple products but I find that Apple have not got this right, in the USA these headphones cost $549 in the UK they cost £549 with todays exchange rate at about 0.75 that means if you paid for them in the US they would cost around £420, why are apple charging the UK consumer over £100 more for the same product, they should be ashamed of themselves especially as there are some hefty competitors out there, even the equivalent Beats which these are based on only cost £299 so why are the UK treated like idiots and expect to pay extra for the same product that's cheaper in other countries....Shame on them.
 
I'm a big apple supporter and have many apple products but I find that Apple have not got this right, in the USA these headphones cost $549 in the UK they cost £549 with todays exchange rate at about 0.75 that means if you paid for them in the US they would cost around £420, why are apple charging the UK consumer over £100 more for the same product, they should be ashamed of themselves especially as there are some hefty competitors out there, even the equivalent Beats which these are based on only cost £299 so why are the UK treated like idiots and expect to pay extra for the same product that's cheaper in other countries....Shame on them.
Our price includes VAT, their price does not include their state sales taxes as far as I’m aware.
 
TBF it's really not a lot at all in the headphone world, although i am sure these are not aimed at what you would call a headfi guy.

I have £800 and £1500 earphones. I'm not expecting these to sound any better than £200 ones and would never buy with them being Apple, but will obviously try to get a listen as a Head-fi guy.
 
People will be quick to bash them because it’s Apple but we all know that they will probably end up being awesome.

Ultimately you’re paying for the synergy between all the other Apple devices. Spatial Audio already sounds great and that’s with a pair of AirPods Pro so you’d expect it to sound even better with the Max.
 
People will be quick to bash them because it’s Apple but we all know that they will probably end up being awesome.

Ultimately you’re paying for the synergy between all the other Apple devices. Spatial Audio already sounds great and that’s with a pair of AirPods Pro so you’d expect it to sound even better with the Max.
People mostly bash Apple because we know they aren't value for money for what you get. I agree the synergy between their devices is good & software easy to use and reliable for non-techies.

I appreciate image/style/status appeal sell to some over technical performance.
 
People mostly bash Apple because we know they aren't value for money for what you get. I agree the synergy between their devices is good & software easy to use and reliable for non-techies.

I appreciate image/style/status appeal sell to some over technical performance.

I'd disagree about the value for money bit. I used to have to upgrade my wifes Windows laptop every 1-2 years back in the day and spend many a night trying to fix it! (Thanks Vista!)
Swapped her to Apple about 15 years ago and their products just work.

Yes initially they are expensive but after nearly 9 years of using Macbook Pro, her battery has just died so updated her to an M1 Mac. That is definite value for money - oh and someone wants her old MacBook for £150 as it still works perfectly plugged in.

As for these Max headphones, I've got 4-5 "high-end" headphones already with a couple costing double and although I'm heavily into the Apple eco-system (and headphones), these will have to outperform those but I will give them a try in the new year when stock is readily available.
 
I'd disagree about the value for money bit. I used to have to upgrade my wifes Windows laptop every 1-2 years back in the day and spend many a night trying to fix it! (Thanks Vista!)
Swapped her to Apple about 15 years ago and their products just work.

Yes initially they are expensive but after nearly 9 years of using Macbook Pro, her battery has just died so updated her to an M1 Mac. That is definite value for money - oh and someone wants her old MacBook for £150 as it still works perfectly plugged in.

As for these Max headphones, I've got 4-5 "high-end" headphones already with a couple costing double and although I'm heavily into the Apple eco-system (and headphones), these will have to outperform those but I will give them a try in the new year when stock is readily available.

Absolutely!
We still have perfectly usable apple products that are almost 10 years old, my mother in law still uses my old 2011 Mac mini on a daily basis, my son has my old 1st generation iPad Air from 2013, my brother has my old MacBook Air from 2012.
Same for old iPhones, which all either get passed down to someone else in the family or sold on for more than their android equivalents would be worth after a year or two.
 
I'd disagree about the value for money bit. I used to have to upgrade my wifes Windows laptop every 1-2 years back in the day and spend many a night trying to fix it! (Thanks Vista!)
Swapped her to Apple about 15 years ago and their products just work.

Yes initially they are expensive but after nearly 9 years of using Macbook Pro, her battery has just died so updated her to an M1 Mac. That is definite value for money - oh and someone wants her old MacBook for £150 as it still works perfectly plugged in.

As for these Max headphones, I've got 4-5 "high-end" headphones already with a couple costing double and although I'm heavily into the Apple eco-system (and headphones), these will have to outperform those but I will give them a try in the new year when stock is readily available.

Things have moved on with Windows, but mostly referring to phones to be honest. My wife can't be dragged away from her iPhone. Often people like to stick with what they know whatever the price.

I manage our Corporate phone contract at work and ~ 6 years ago it was a 40/60 split between Apple/Android. Now we only have two users still sticking with Apple.

Anyway, as you say, will give them a listen but all these dedicated wireless headphones sound poor compared to plugging a decent pair of ear/headphones into Fiio BTR5 (using balanced cable) and using LDAC BT. Though Audeze Mobius BT sounded best for me, better than the Sony, Sen or B&W.

If you must have active noise cancelling then you have to accept the lower sound quality IMO.

PS My boss recently handed me 4 old PC's this month to get rid of and oldest was 18 years! Still powered up & worked (he never throws anything away). Weight & size of a briefcase! We still use many over 10+ yo ones for industrial logging use as still need 32bit Windows for the old software, and they are stuck out in dirty factory conditions.

PSS Had around 3 iPhones I had to throw after 3 years as batteries swelled so much they pushed the screens out! :eek:
 
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