Apple's AirPods Max headphones offer around 20 hours of listening time or talk time on a single charge when you have Active Noise Cancellation and spatial audio turned on. If you pop ‌‌AirPods Max‌ in their Smart Case for five minutes, you can get enough charge for around 1.5 hours of listening time.

AirPods Max Smart Case Battery Life Feature
During use, you'll hear a tone when your ‌‌AirPods Max‌ battery charge is 10%, and a second tone just before they run out. But you don't have to wait for these tones to know how much charge they have remaining. Here are several ways that you can keep a closer eye on the battery life of your ‌AirPods Max‌.

How to Check AirPods Max Charge Status

The status light on the right ear cup shows the charge status of your ‌AirPods Max‌. If you press the noise control button when your ‌AirPods Max‌ are connected to power, the status light will turn green if the charge has more than 95 percent remaining, or amber if the charge has less than or equal to 95 percent remaining.

airpods max digital crown
If you press the noise control button when your ‌AirPods Max‌ aren't connected to power, the status light will turn green if the charge has more than 15 percent remaining, or amber if the charge has less than or equal to 15 percent remaining.

How to Check AirPods Max Charge Status on iPhone or iPad

When you take ‌AirPods Max‌ out of the Smart Case, their charge status‌‌ should appear on your iPhone's or iPad's screen. You can also check the charge status of your ‌‌AirPods Max‌‌ using the Batteries widget in your ‌‌iPhone‌‌ or ‌iPad‌'s Today View, accessed by swiping right on the Lock screen or on your Home screen's first screen of apps.

AirPods-max
If you don't have it installed already, you can add the Batteries widget manually. To do so, enter the Today view, scroll to the bottom of the column of widgets and press the Edit button. Then simply tap the green plus button in the list next to Batteries and tap Done in the upper right of the screen.

siri
If you're a fan of Siri and you're wearing your ‌AirPods‌ Max, you can always ask the virtual assistant "How is the battery life of my ‌AirPods‌ Max?" and you should get an answer.

How to Check AirPods Max Charge Status on Apple Watch

You can check the battery level of your ‌AirPods‌ Max from your wrist, whether they're paired with your ‌‌iPhone‌‌ or directly with your Apple Watch.

airpods max charge status apple watch
To do so, bring up the Control Center on your Apple Watch: Swipe up on a watch face, or when in an app, press the bottom edge of the screen then drag up the Control Center. Then tap the Apple Watch battery icon, indicated by a percentage. The battery level of ‌AirPods Max‌ will be displayed as a ring below the Apple Watch battery percentage.

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

Popular Stories

ios 18 4 carplay

Apple Upgrades CarPlay in Two Ways

Wednesday March 12, 2025 6:05 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update for the iPhone includes a smaller but meaningful improvement for Apple's in-car iPhone mirroring system CarPlay. Specifically, CarPlay now shows a third row of icons, up from two rows previously. However, this change is only visible in vehicles with a larger center display. For example, a MacRumors Forums member noticed the change in a Toyota Tundra with a...
Apple More Personal Siri Ad

John Gruber Says 'Something is Rotten' at Apple

Wednesday March 12, 2025 7:39 pm PDT by
Daring Fireball's John Gruber today shared some strongly-worded comments about Apple's delayed personalized Siri features. Gruber is a well-known Apple pundit who has been writing about the company for more than two decades. In a blog post titled "Something Is Rotten in the State of Cupertino," Gruber said Apple's credibility has been "damaged" by the delay:Keynote by keynote, product by...
Apple Maps vs Google Maps Feature

iOS 18.4 Adds a Highly-Requested Setting to iPhones — But Not in U.S.

Wednesday March 12, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
iPhones are finally getting a much-requested setting, but availability is limited. The upcoming iOS 18.4 update introduces an option to set a default navigation app, other than Apple Maps, but unfortunately this new setting is limited to users in the EU. There, you can now set an app like Google Maps or Waze as your default navigation app on the iPhone by opening the Settings app and tapping ...
airpods pro 2 gradient

AirPods Pro 3 Launch Now Just Months Away: Here's What We Know

Tuesday March 11, 2025 3:26 am PDT by
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for. Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as excellent for...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Will Bring Biggest Design Overhaul Since iOS 7

Monday March 10, 2025 12:17 pm PDT by
Apple is planning for a major design overhaul of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac interfaces with the introduction of iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and macOS 16 later this year, reports Bloomberg. The update will "fundamentally change" the look of Apple's operating system, introducing a more consistent cross-platform experience. Apple plans to update the style of icons, menus, apps, windows, and system...
iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro Machined Parts Leak Reflects Camera Redesign Rumors

Thursday March 13, 2025 3:07 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to feature a significant design overhaul, and a new image apparently taken on an assembly line for the unreleased devices appears to confirm the biggest rumored change. Render of an iPhone 17 Pro model shared by Jon Prosser The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to adopt a horizontal camera bar reminiscent of Google's Pixel...
Sad Siri Feature

Kuo: Apple Knows Apple Intelligence is 'Underwhelming' and Won't Drive iPhone Upgrades

Thursday March 13, 2025 9:32 am PDT by
The Apple Intelligence features that Apple introduced with iOS 18 are not pushing people to upgrade their iPhones, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reiterated today. Apple's recent Siri failures are also going to have an impact on 2025 iPhone shipments, which the market is beginning to realize. As early as last July, Kuo said expectations that Apple Intelligence could drive iPhone upgrades were...
iOS 18

12 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.4

Monday March 10, 2025 9:28 am PDT by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.4 in early April, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a neat new capability to iPhone 15 Pro devices, new emoji, and more. While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.4 still introduces enhancements that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've listed 12 new...
macOS 16 visionOS Inspired

Major macOS 16 Redesign to Bring Biggest Changes Since Big Sur

Wednesday March 12, 2025 2:28 am PDT by
Apple is planning a radical redesign of macOS with version 16, and it could be the most significant visual refresh since macOS Big Sur was introduced in 2020, according to Bloomberg. MacRumors concept render The upcoming Mac operating system will reportedly be part of Apple's sweeping effort to create a more consistent interface across all of its platforms, including iPhone, iPad, and Apple...