AirPods Max 2: When to Expect Apple's Next Over-Ear Headphones
AirPods Max were first released in December 2020, and the over-ear headphones have received minimal hardware changes since then.
Below, we recap when AirPods Max 2 are rumored to launch.
According to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new AirPods Max will be lighter than the current ones, but he did not mention a specific weight. The current AirPods Max weigh 0.85 pounds, excluding the charging case, according to Apple.
Kuo expects the AirPods Max 2 to enter mass production at some point in 2027, but he did not provide any other details about the headphones.
By the time the AirPods Max 2 launch in 2027, it will have been a seven-year wait for them. It is unclear what other changes they might have, beyond weighing less.
Last year, Apple updated the AirPods Max with a USB-C charging port and new color options, but they are still considered first-generation AirPods Max. The headphones did not receive Apple's H2 chip that debuted in the AirPods Pro 2 in 2022, so they continue to miss out on Adaptive Audio features, and there were no other changes.
AirPods Max still have the outdated H1 chip that Apple introduced in 2019, and yet the headphones continue to cost $549 in the United States.
AirPods Max with USB-C did gain support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio in a firmware update released earlier this year.
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AirPods Max 2 will be available for pre-order on Apple.com and in the Apple Store app starting this Wednesday, March 25 in the U.S. and more than 30 other countries and territories. Apple said the headphones will launch in early April, but it has yet to provide a specific release date. In the U.S., AirPods Max remain priced at $549.
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On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we discuss Apple's surprise announcement of the AirPods Max 2 this week.
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The AirPods Max 2 introduce a range of improvements primarily driven by the addition of Apple's H2 chip, which replaces the H1 chip used in previous models. This new chip underpins most of the upgrades,...
