AirPods Max unboxings, first impressions are here

Ijustine Airpods Max (Image credit: iJustine)

What you need to know

The first creators have shared their unboxings and impressions of the AirPods Max, and the signs are good.

The first creators have started sharing their impressions of the AirPods Max and their unboxings, check them out!

iJustine

Wow, super impressed with the new AirPods Max!

MKBHD

UrAvgConsumer

The Verge

I've been playing with Apple's new $549 AirPods Max over-ear headphones since yesterday afternoon, and so far they sound very nice and fit very comfortably.

CNET

CNN

Apple's AirPods Max are impressive, but we're not sold on the price … yet

Apple announced its new AirPods Max on Tuesday, and they'll be available from December 15. From the press release:

Apple today announced AirPods Max, innovative wireless headphones that bring the magic of AirPods to an over-ear design with high-fidelity sound. AirPods Max combine a custom acoustic design, H1 chips, and advanced software to power computational audio for a breakthrough listening experience with Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency mode, and spatial audio. AirPods Max come in five gorgeous colors, including space gray, silver, sky blue, green, and pink, and are available to order starting today, with availability beginning Tuesday, December 15.

We're updating this piece right now, stay tuned

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design.

Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple.

3 Comments

"Early indications are GOOD"? They better be freakin' amazing. I haven't had the opportunity to watch any of the reviews. I have questions wonder if have been answered.
1) Can you use these wired. Understand the only cable that comes with it is USB C to lightning, with the lightning end going into the headphones. Can the USB C end plug into a Mac/iPadPro and provide the sound path? I see no headphone jack on the headphones. Could you use the Lightning to headphone cable between an audio source (with headphone jack) and the lightning port of the AirPod Max. ( realize that is backwards from that cable's normal use).
2) If either of those cable options work, can they work if the battery is dead. (I really don't expect this considering all the computational audio, but headphones like BOSE can do this)
1) There's a lightning to 3.5mm cable you can use. Not in the box, however. That's another $35 if you buy from Apple. 2) There is no passive audio, they need to be charged to use them.
Eh, more rich YouTubers, most with the same shaved on the side/gelled up on top haircut, with a teaser photo of mouth agape and a shocked look on their face, showing off something they received in advance and at no cost to them, which I am totally sure has NO effect on their opinion (tongue firmly implanted in cheek). There are hundreds of them on YouTube, to the point of being ad nauseum and I'm over it. Most end up hating whatever it is they are "reviewing" based on a teensy tiny little nitpick.