Customers first received the AirPods Max two years ago, but the device now appears to be showing its age, with the second-generation AirPods Pro introducing a number of technological innovations that the AirPods Max lacks, such as Adaptive Transparency, IPX4-rated sweat and water resistance, skin-detect sensors, and the U1 chip for Precision Finding with Find My.
While it appears that the next-generation AirPods Max will include many of the capabilities listed above, there have been surprisingly few speculations concerning the gadget. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported in May 2021 that Apple was not actively working on second-generation AirPods Max, and previous speculation of a colour options refresh for the first-generation appears to have faded.
Gurman’s remark in October that the next edition of AirPods Max will incorporate USB-C and will be available “by 2024” was the most recent reference of a second-generation product. Aside from this single feature, we have no specific rumours from credible sources regarding what the new model might offer – but there is some evidence that could provide some fascinating clues about what to expect.
Gurman stated in 2020 that the AirPods Max, which was expected to be dubbed “AirPods Studio” at the time, had faced various development hurdles, including problems with the headband being too tight, resulting in multiple delays and a cutting back of capabilities. It appears likely that, after several more years of iterating on the aspects of the gadget that did not make it into the first edition, the second-generation AirPods Max could have some of the previously abandoned capabilities.
AirPods Max were expected to offer unprecedented customizability with adjustable headbands and earcups, similar to Apple Watch bands.
In the midst of these delays and development challenges, Bloomberg projected that Apple will abandon the concept of a changeable headband in order to speed up manufacturing. Rumors also suggested that the AirPods Max will be available in two models, one of which would be more cheap and geared toward athletics.
Leaker Jon Prosser consistently indicated that AirPods Max would come in a “sport-like form” for $350 and a “luxury variant” for $599. While Prosser’s $599 price estimate was close to the eventual $549 AirPods Max retail price, the $350 “sport variation” had yet to appear. Apple could potentially release this lower-end version of the AirPods Max in the future.
Since 2019, at least one new AirPods product has been released each year. Apple appears to wait two and a half to three years to upgrade each AirPods gadget, and each year since 2019, a separate AirPods product line has been updated. According to this pattern, AirPods Max should be the next AirPods gadget to be updated, maybe between June and November 2023.
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