Apple Releases New '3E756' AirPods Max Firmware
Apple today released new 3E756 firmware designed for the AirPods Max, marking the third firmware update Apple has introduced for its high-end headphones since their December launch.
The new 3E756 firmware replaces the 3C39 firmware that was released to AirPods Max owners in March.
Apple does not provide details on what's included in new firmware updates, so we don't know what bug fixes or improvements the new firmware might offer. There may be improvements to battery life, or updated support for Spatial Audio, a feature that debuted for Apple Music yesterday.
There's no standard way to upgrade firmware on AirPods, AirPods Pro, or AirPods Max, but connecting the AirPods Max to an iPhone or an iPad while connected to a power source may force the update.
You can check the firmware on your AirPods Max by following these steps:
- Connect your AirPods Max to your iOS device.
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap General.
- Tap About.
- Tap AirPods.
- Look at the number next to "Firmware Version."
In the past, updates for the AirPods Pro and AirPods have included performance improvements, bug fixes, and feature tweaks. The prior update, for example, addressed a Smart Case battery drain issue.
If we find notable changes after installing the firmware updates, we'll update this article.
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Top Rated Comments
You can't choose to update or not, there's never any real change log. I'm typically an early updater anyways so it doesn't matter as much for me, but I can't think of a good reason. It's not like they are letting out trade secrets in the update logs
I'm hoping that Apple is at least working on something like AAC-SLS, which is similar to LDAC without being proprietary to Sony (which is why Apple will almost certainly never adopt LDAC directly). AAC-SLS would provide scalable near-lossless quality, which means that much like LDAC it could ramp up to almost 1Mbps at short ranges, while scaling down to the more traditional 256kbps when the signal isn't strong enough to maintain a higher bitrate.
It would provide near-lossless quality for most users as long as you keep your iPhone nearby when listening. Frankly, considering how few people can even tell the difference between 256kbps AAC and CD quality on most tracks, I suspect almost nobody could truly tell the difference between a full AAC-SLS stream and true lossless.
That said, Apple clearly wants to be as precise as possible when describing its Lossless Audio. Consider that it doesn't officially support Lossless Audio on the AirPods Max over a wired connection either. However, that doesn't mean you're getting 256kbps AAC when using the 3.5mm to Lightning cable. Rather, you're getting the exact analog audio stream that comes out of the headphone jack or DAC — it's just that it has to go through another ADC level before it's delivered to the drivers on the APM. That technically changes the stream, potentially adding artifacts, but it doesn't compress the audio or lower the bitrate — it simply converts it back to digital.
What's more of a mystery, mind you, is why the Lightning port on the APM doesn't support a straight digital stream from the iPhone's Lightning port.
Unfortunately, since the AirPods Max don't have any Wi-Fi hardware, that would require an entirely new product. The current AirPods Max will likely never be able to support truly Lossless Audio — at least not over a wireless connection.
In the case of the HomePod and HomePod mini, Apple is updating them to pass ALAC directly over AirPlay 2. Right now, they use the 256kbps AAC codec to save bandwidth, but AirPlay 2 is technically capable of 24-bit/44.1kHz audio. They'll never provide Hi-Res Lossless, of course, but I seriously doubt that anybody would ever be able to hear that even on the original full-sized HomePod, much less a HomePod mini (which is the only speaker that Apple cares about right now anyway). In fact, I'm skeptical that even standard lossless audio is discernible from 256kbps on a HomePod mini, but it will be a nice bonus for those who want to think they can hear a difference ?
1. I don’t mind auto-update but it wouldn’t hurt to have the ability to force the update to happen.
2. I would definitely like notes that tell me what changed, and I’d imagine many people would. When any of my devices update, I would like to know what has changed.