Apple AirPods Max delivers quality sound but will users pay $899?

Apple AirPods Max offers quality sound but will users pay $899 for it?

Apple's unusually shaped AirPods Max headphones in their case.

There’s an irony in Apple offering top-of-range AirPods Max headphones. In the early 2000s, Apple cut back the bitrate of music stored on CDs to make it possible to store a thousand tracks on that revolutionary device, the iPod. It was a genius move by the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

Instead of CD quality music at 1411 kilobits per second, tracks on iPods could be 128 kbps. It was a compromise. Who cared about the diminished audio quality when you could carry around a thousand tracks?

Times have changed. Apple now wants to be at the forefront of quality audio with this unit. But will the legions of Apple devotees care? What about the old 128 kbps brigade?

As attractive as the AirPods Max are, many may not pay $899 when they can buy the Sony WH-1000XM4 for half the price (now $389), the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 (now $499.95) or Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 3 ($599.95). Two of these manufacturers have dropped their prices making their offerings even more attractive.

Yet Apple is not alone in going north on prices. Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H9 3rd gen costs $840 and the Beoplay H95 at $1399. Focal Utopia headphones can cost thousands. Which consumer audience is Apple trying to reach?

Connecting Apple AirPods Max to an iPhone

There is no question that audio quality is very clear. Bass is firm without being heavy. There’s excellent stereo and 3D sound delivery.

AirPods Max also offers active noise cancellation, “computational audio” to adjust the sound to the surroundings, and adaptive EQ which uses microphones inside the cups to measure what you hear, and adjust the music output to improve sound quality.

However noise cancelling, hands free calling and ambient sound control are common features on decent quality headphones. Most of these advanced features are controlled through a smartphone app.

Bose make it possible to hold phone conversations comfortably on a railway platform with a train thundering past behind you. I’ve experienced it.

Sony’s can switch off the music when you start talking with someone. (I found with Sony to the amusement of readers previously, that when I started singing, the music would stop).

You’d expect very good connectivity with Apple devices and mostly AirPods Max connects to an iPhone, iPad and MacBook seamlessly. It seemed to forget my iPhone connection a few times and I went into Bluetooth settings and reconnected the headphones the old fashioned way.

One feature I did appreciate is being able to connect the headphones to an iPhone, iPad and MacBook Pro simultaneously. I could listen to music on an iPad and if a call came in on an iPhone, the headphones would automatically switch to the phone audio without prompting. I did have to press start on the iPad to resume the music afterwards.

Apple AirPods Max ear cup

Apple brings a few things to the table which might improve headphones generally. The most important is the digital crown, the dial at top right. It happens that the dial is very useful on headphones and Apple has tapped into this.

Until now, you’d need to swipe or touch near ear cups to stop, rewind, or fast forward music, control calls or summon the personal assistant. The fact you press the dial, long press it, or press it twice or thrice gives you more precise control than swipes do. That you twiddle the dial to control the volume is natural. I’m a convert to the case for dials on headphones.

Second, the ear cushions are magnetically attached and can be removed in an instant for cleaning or swapping to a new set.

Third, the lightweight material and open areas on the band near the top means they are comfortable to wear for a lengthy time.

The Achilles Heel is the smart case which takes the form of an envelope like wrap around the headset for storage. Apple says the headphones enter an “ultra-low-power” state when you attach it. The headphones do not switch off altogether.

I prefer a zippable case which not only stores the headphones, but a charging cable, audio plug for wired listening when you’re out of juice and in some cases an adaptor for attaching the headphones to an aircraft audio system. That gives me a complete audio package for when I go away.

Despite the technology packed inside the AirPods Max, which is considerable, Max faces serious competition from cheaper, good quality headphones. The $899 price will turn some users away from considering Apple’s new alternative.