AirPods Max might be the most controversial pair of headphones on the planet. At $549, they are ridiculously expensive and feature controversial design decisions — like a heavy aluminum construction and no power button. On March 24, Apple announced that AirPods Max (USB-C) will gain support for lossless, wired audio and low-latency Bluetooth audio in an update next month.
But is that enough to move the needle for AirPods Max, an expensive and flawed pair of over-ear headphones?
Make no mistake: the AirPods Max should’ve supported wired audio from the very beginning. In fact, the older Lightning version of AirPods Max did support wired audio, albeit with a $35 proprietary cable that’s no longer sold by Apple. However, when the company refreshed the headphones with a USB-C variant, that feature was seemingly dropped.
Now, Apple is bringing wired audio back to the AirPods Max, this time using the USB-C to USB-C cable that comes in the box. It’s also selling a USB-C to 3.5mm cable for the new AirPods Max separately for other audio sources. At face value, this update — when it reaches AirPods Max (USB-C) owners in April — seems like a big upgrade. That is until you realize that almost all of Apple’s competitors already supported wired audio on their over-ears.
Two of my favorite AirPods Max competitors for Android, the Sonos Ace and Dyson OnTrac, shipped with wired audio capabilities from day one. Sonos includes a USB-C to USB-C and a USB-C to 3.5mm cable in the box, while Dyson sells a USB-C to 3.5mm cable separately for $20. The same goes for other excellent over-ear headphones, like the Sony WH-1000XM5 and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra.
Put simply, all the best wireless headphones already support the feature Apple is just adding to the AirPods Max next month — it’s not exactly groundbreaking.
Even Apple’s own Beats headphones have worked with wired inputs for years. The current generation of Beats Studio Pro and Beats Solo 4 both support wired use, not only with a USB-C to USB-C cable but also with an inbuilt 3.5mm jack. That means the Studio Pro and Solo 4, both of which are Apple-made headphones costing a fraction of the price of AirPods Max, are actually more versatile.
The update heading to AirPods Max (USB-C) units in April was long overdue. Despite the headphones costing a fortune, they weren’t truly “lossless” or “high-fidelity” due to their reliance on wireless connection. When AirPods Max get the ability to use a cable, they’ll finally unlock 24-bit, 48 kHz lossless audio.
Aside from the sound quality boost, there are a few practical benefits to using a cable. For instance, most airlines still rely on the 3.5mm jack for inflight entertainment. Unless you want to be using the cheap, tinny earbuds flight attendants pass around instead of your $549 headphones, you’ll want them to support wired audio.
That’s why I’m glad Apple finally got onboard — every pair of over-ear headphones should have a wired audio option.
AirPods Max still aren’t a great buy
Here’s the thing: AirPods Max are still an incomplete product, even with the latest set of upgrades. When Apple upgraded the AirPods Max, it added USB-C and new colors and not much else. To that end, the $130 AirPods 4 are using newer chips and audio technology than the $549 AirPods Max. The same goes for the $249 AirPods Pro 2 and Powerbeats Pro 2.
With the incoming update, Apple is touting that AirPods Max (USB-C) will support ultra-low latency audio over a wireless connection with Apple devices. But as it turns out, AirPods Max won’t support wireless lossless audio with Apple Vision Pro. Of course, there aren’t that many Vision Pro owners out there, but with that being said, the AirPods Pro 2 and Powerbeats Pro 2 both support this feature thanks to their newer H2 chip.
It underscores that this feature drop for AirPods Max doesn’t change the fact that they are lacking not only compared to competitors but also to Apple’s own products. AirPods Max (USB-C) should’ve supported wired audio from the beginning. Even when it does, plenty of alternatives—like the QuietComfort Ultra, Sonos Ace, and Sony WH-1000XM5—will still be a better option at roughly half the price.