AirPods Max Development Took 4 Years, According to Former Apple Engineer

Apple began working on its recently unveiled AirPods Max headphones over four years ago, according to tweets by a former Apple engineer.

apple airpods max listening experience
Rumors that Apple was developing high-end over-ear headphones began way back in early 2018, when the first mention of own-brand headphones appeared courtesy of Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

However, the timeline of their development apparently extended much further than that, based on now-deleted tweets by former Apple engineer Dinesh Dave (@appleidinesh).

Weather Line developer Ryan Jones screenshotted images of the tweets and shared them, so there's a record after they were removed. In the tweets, Dave linked to Apple's AirPods Max announcement and claimed that "the last product NDA I signed is finally out!"

Responding to another Twitter user who asked when the NDA was signed, Dave replied: "~4 years."

Apple first launched the AirPods line almost exactly four years ago, in December 2016, after which their popularity grew rapidly. As Jones notes in his tweet, Apple likely saw the "insane demand" for AirPods and decided to explore additional potential products in the now-vast "hearables" category.


Prior to their official announcement on Tuesday, subsequent rumors about the headphones focused not only on design and features, but also protracted delays that Apple was said to be experiencing in production. Rumors predicted various launch dates for the headphones that continually missed their mark, from launching in late 2018 to sometime in the second half of 2019.

‌AirPods Max‌ are now available to pre-order on Apple's website, with a launch date of December 15, although there are already massive wait times for shipping running into March 2021.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that Apple tested at least two versions of the headphones, including a "premium version with leather-like fabrics" – aka ‌AirPods Max‌ – and a "fitness-focused model that uses lighter, breathable materials with small perforations," so we may well see an additional version of the headphones sometime next year.

Related Roundup: AirPods Max
Buyer's Guide: AirPods Max (Buy Now)
Related Forum: AirPods

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...

Top Rated Comments

nvmls Avatar
60 months ago
$137 per year.
Imagine price if it took a decade.
Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)
neuropsychguy Avatar
60 months ago

will be interesting as hell to see the review videos pop up and how Apple justifies twice the price of comparable headphones
That's assuming this competes with the $250 - $350 headphones and not the $500 - $1000 headphones. We don't know where they are supposed to compete (and maybe Apple doesn't know) but it's too soon to know if these are overpriced and destined for a quiet demise like the Power Mac G4 Cube or the Gold Apple Watch Edition or are priced high but fairly given their performance (like the Pro Display XDR).

Note: I'm not going to buy them. I don't spend hundreds of dollars on headphones (I have a set of AirPods Pro but I only paid $90 for them new [not a reproducible deal]). That being said, if Apple wants to sell $550 headphones and people want to buy them, what does that matter to me? I'm not going to judge how people spend their money; I only need to worry about how I spend mine.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Chompineer Avatar
60 months ago
4 years and they didn't once look at the Sony XM3's, Bose 700's/QC's, B&O's, etc, and realize "Man, this price is really stupid, only fools will buy this".
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
swingerofbirch Avatar
60 months ago
4 years to scrub off the Beats logo.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ouimetnick Avatar
60 months ago

Enough fools to push the delivery times into March 2020. Longest I can recall of any Apple product.

Sounds like sound business pricing to me!
Sounds like the rumors of production issues were real and supply is severely constrained.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
drunkdane Avatar
60 months ago
People complaining about the $550, and here I am just wishing it was only $550 for us. In Denmark, it's 4.799 DKK (781 USD). No way I'm paying that, and judging by the "short" 3 week delivery, I guess I'm not alone.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)