The more I think about it, I bet this is a Johnny Ive design, right down to the useless case.
I like the design of the headphones, not the sports bra.
I’d like to know also if the material they’re made of allows your ears to breathe and not overheat on a warm day like most other over ear devices.
From what I’ve seen from reviews the case makes sense by being so very soft and “collapsable”, so you’re not left with like a hard box when it’s not in use.
Where I am, the Max cost 629€. Almost three times as much as my Freebuds Studio (249€) and I can guarantee they are not anywhere near three times 'better'.
Thanks for the alternative product suggestion. However they are ear buds, and not a single ear bud product has been able so sit in my ear for more than 60 seconds without falling out. But the Freebuds Studio do have noise cancellation and charge quickly. You don't deny that the AirPods Max is better than any earbuds, you are just saying the Max is too expensive, but you don't have an equivalent product to compare it with. There are no truly equivalent products, of course, because no other products have Siri support.
Also, I have always said I'd pay extra any day to buy a product that wasn't made by a company with close financial ties to a dictatorship. For me, human rights matters. Huawei has been convicted of trade theft and has done business with Iran against UN sanctions. Are you okay with that? One reason Huawei is successful is that the Chinese Communist Party gives them hundreds of millions of dollars every year as a gift. What do you think Huawei has to provide back to the CCP in return? But you probably don't care.
And yes, I know Apple manufactures many of its products in China. But the products are designed in the USA by Apple which is a difference. And indeed I would consider abandoning Apple if I could find computers made in other countries, with operating systems I trust, but I can't.
You clearly didn't click the link. The product details were on the linked page. You didn't need to Google for those.
They aren't 'buds' in spite of the funky naming.
The aesthetic design is from a Huawei division in France.
It's just an example of a competing product which you asked for. It has Bluetooth 5.2, dual Bluetooth antennas for greater coverage, great noise cancellation, a plethora of mics and sensors, adaptive active (user selectable) noise cancellation, in-house audio chipset for audio and support for Huawei's HD audio codecs. AFAIK it does not summon Siri. Low latency and, IIRC, Huawei was the first to introduce 'true' wireless audio to both left and right receivers simultaneously. It has a dedicated on/off button and a compact hard case. They fold down (like the Max) but do not collapse into the smallest shape possible.
Today (but I think just today) they can be ordered direct from Huawei for 200€. Christmas offer.
That put the Max at well over three times the price of the FB Studio.
For me there are two downsides. Apparently no wired support and that awareness mode lets in ambient sounds (even enhancing voices in the process) but there is no option that allow the user to reduce the volume of what is playing so more often than not what I'm listening to drowns out the outside world even when, technically, it is being let through.
Perhaps a sign that I listen to music at too high a volume.
like the name “iPad”... Forum member JRC predicted that name FIRST! (Search old/current forums!)
Andrew... this is the best review I've seen here. It showed me long duration shots of the item, and used mostly well spoken English, (maybe a tinge/hint of North/Canada?) and well articulated. I've sent this link of videos to many friends just now.
Seriously WELL DONE! I don't post many comments over the TWENTY TWO Years that I've been the longest forum member!
All the negativity expressed over a product that is already sold out. Knee jerk negative comments always abound when ANY Apple product is released. There’s always something cheaper, better according to the trolls that live under the AI bridge. Yet Apple continues to grow and prosper, and the only excuse offered is that people are stupid for buying Apple products. Like death and taxes the negative mantra of anything Apple is imbedded in the tech blog universe. And anyone who dares to write a positive review of an Apple product is immediately cancelled as a paid shill.
Could someone measure the pressure that it puts on the sides of one's head? (At least for an average adult male, other measurements are also welcome.) I won't buy one without knowing the pressure it exerts. I wonder if they will be available in stores to test, but with COVID that probably won't be an option for me here for 6 months.
I think you owe yourself a trip to the Apple Store and try it out ... you would be the best judge on the matter
Apple AirPods Max is Expensive. Its costs around 60k in India
I've never seen so much controversy around the price of an Apple product since the $349 HomePod. Many other brands have been making $500+ headphones for a lot longer than Apple and I don't recall anyone taking issue with that. And some of those models from competing brands are less feature-rich than the APM. But for some reason all hell breaks loose when Apple makes a $549 pair of headphones.
The criticism is valid, but not in the form that it took…
Apple has taken/created a very weird "niche" market with their products; the products are both luxuriously priced, and mainstream targeting average people. It's pretty much a market that shouldn't be able to exist; and without context makes as much sense as doing a startup selling luxury jewellery specifically to people that can't afford food.
Apple should have been outcompeted ages ago.
The outcry about OE headphones priced like these is simply because the target market would have to be absolutely crazy to waste this much money on headphones; it's a price range that they've never ever have even considered before. It makes as much sense as going straight from a cheap rust bucket to a Ferrari for grocery shopping and getting your kids to school.
People should have just seen these headphones, shaken their heads and muttered a few things about "rich people"; and then have moved on with their lives.
But… it's Apple.
It's Apple, and it's a product priced at a range that's been normalised by iPhones; and it's a product that comparatively speaking shows a great deal of status at a fairly low cost, while providing a continuing (new) functionality.
People should have been outraged at Apple for being disrespectful to their target market by creating products that are clearly priced so that the target market actually can't afford them.
Yet, because it's Apple the criticism has taken this weird form of people fundamentally accepting the situation; and are simply upset with the novelty of headphones existing in this price range.
And… since it's Apple… give it a couple of months for the mainstream to have tried these, and Apple have somehow just f*cking managed to normalise that everyone should spend up to a months rent on a pair of OE headphones.
(I can't decide if I should be impressed, or head out into the streets protesting the destructive evils of capitalism.)
"Outraged at Apple for being disrespectful to their target market"? Clearly you don't understand Apple and Apple's success.
How many people would have said they want a $800 "phone" or a $70K Telsa? Now that those products exist many, many people who would have said "hell no!" hypothetically are very happy with their purchases.
If you aren't convinced, don't buy one. Save your outrage for more worthy causes.
Apple has taken/created a very weird "niche" market with their products; the products are both luxuriously priced, and mainstream targeting average people. It's pretty much a market that shouldn't be able to exist; and without context makes as much sense as doing a startup selling luxury jewellery specifically to people that can't afford food.
Apple should have been outcompeted ages ago.
The outcry about OE headphones priced like these is simply because the target market would have to be absolutely crazy to waste this much money on headphones; it's a price range that they've never ever have even considered before. It makes as much sense as going straight from a cheap rust bucket to a Ferrari for grocery shopping and getting your kids to school.
People should have just seen these headphones, shaken their heads and muttered a few things about "rich people"; and then have moved on with their lives.
But… it's Apple.
It's Apple, and it's a product priced at a range that's been normalised by iPhones; and it's a product that comparatively speaking shows a great deal of status at a fairly low cost, while providing a continuing (new) functionality.
People should have been outraged at Apple for being disrespectful to their target market by creating products that are clearly priced so that the target market actually can't afford them.
Yet, because it's Apple the criticism has taken this weird form of people fundamentally accepting the situation; and are simply upset with the novelty of headphones existing in this price range.
And… since it's Apple… give it a couple of months for the mainstream to have tried these, and Apple have somehow just f*cking managed to normalise that everyone should spend up to a months rent on a pair of OE headphones.
(I can't decide if I should be impressed, or head out into the streets protesting the destructive evils of capitalism.)
Populists around the world are applauding your proletariat zeal ... others are just yawning.
If they're not worth it to you, don't buy them ... you're obviously not their target market, and no one's pointing a gun at your head forcing you to buy them. That's how capitalism works.
They're not for everyone ... they're there as an exercise in what Apple can do in the consumer headphone market.
Great sound quality, really nice build quality, very strange case ... and pretty damn expensive.
I waffled over the price ... and now I'll be waffling until mid-March. Obviously there's demand, in whatever market segment Apple targeted. That's also what capitalism is all about.
Your sour grapes tirade isn't impressing anyone - and no, I'm not rich.
I'd like to try these with my Apple TV and Mac ... I don't really do much audio with my iPhone except in the car.
Where I am, the Max cost 629€. Almost three times as much as my Freebuds Studio (249€) and I can guarantee they are not anywhere near three times 'better'.
Thanks for the alternative product suggestion. However they are ear buds, and not a single ear bud product has been able so sit in my ear for more than 60 seconds without falling out. But the Freebuds Studio do have noise cancellation and charge quickly. You don't deny that the AirPods Max is better than any earbuds, you are just saying the Max is too expensive, but you don't have an equivalent product to compare it with. There are no truly equivalent products, of course, because no other products have Siri support.
Did you even bother clicking the link? The FreeBuds Studio are not ear buds (though they do have a problematic name).
Plenty of non-Apple headphones allow you to invoke Siri.
Do you ever have any idea what you're talking about?
Fair point. But I did google "Freebuds Studio" before I wrote that and the first images that came back were images of buds. As you indicated, the name also contributed to my mistake. I was wrong, but as you indicated, my mistake was partially understandable.
Does this model allow you to say "Hey Siri"? You didn't explain if this model allows you to invoke Siri. Do you know? Or are you presuming?
You are always calling me crazy. You called me a wife beater today on another thread. Is that really helpful? Do you go to sleep every night thinking about me?
I didn’t call you a wife beater, I used a well known example of a disingenuous and leading question to mock you for doing the same. It clearly didn’t have an impact because you’re doing an identical thing here. You really are an incredibly dislikeable little toad.
You googled badly. All of the initial results I see are of the correct product.
I’ll repeat, lots of headphones can invoke Siri. I don’t know of any non-Apple headphones that use an active microphone to listen out for “Hey Siri”, but that’s not a function I assign any value anyway, so you’ll need to do your own research.
All the negativity expressed over a product that is already sold out. Knee jerk negative comments always abound when ANY Apple product is released. There’s always something cheaper, better according to the trolls that live under the AI bridge. Yet Apple continues to grow and prosper, and the only excuse offered is that people are stupid for buying Apple products. Like death and taxes the negative mantra of anything Apple is imbedded in the tech blog universe. And anyone who dares to write a positive review of an Apple product is immediately cancelled as a paid shill.
This thread is nearly 30 comments deep and none of that BS has been present. Until you brought it here. I'm begging man, contribute something of substance instead of ↑↑↑.
I’ll just assume that the two people so very upset about my longer post went to a capitalistic school system, and couldn’t afford to pay extra for the reading comprehension class.
Any comment on the weight of these things? It's listed as 16.5 oz., compared to 9 oz. for the Sony WH1000 (which I have and like a lot, although its BT can get occasionally glitchy).
Any comment on the weight of these things? It's listed as 16.5 oz., compared to 9 oz. for the Sony WH1000 (which I have and like a lot, although its BT can get occasionally glitchy).
384g (give or take a gram) is what I've seen in several videos where they have been placed on digital scales.
The more I think about it, I bet this is a Johnny Ive design, right down to the useless case.
I like the design of the headphones, not the sports bra.
I’d like to know also if the material they’re made of allows your ears to breathe and not overheat on a warm day like most other over ear devices.
From what I’ve seen from reviews the case makes sense by being so very soft and “collapsable”, so you’re not left with like a hard box when it’s not in use.
It actually seems to be a very functional design.
The primary function of a case is to protect. This design fails function.
Apple AirPods Max is Expensive. Its costs around 60k in India
I've never seen so much controversy around the price of an Apple product since the $349 HomePod. Many other brands have been making $500+ headphones for a lot longer than Apple and I don't recall anyone taking issue with that. And some of those models from competing brands are less feature-rich than the APM. But for some reason all hell breaks loose when Apple makes a $549 pair of headphones.
The criticism is valid, but not in the form that it took…
Apple has taken/created a very weird "niche" market with their products; the products are both luxuriously priced, and mainstream targeting average people. It's pretty much a market that shouldn't be able to exist; and without context makes as much sense as doing a startup selling luxury jewellery specifically to people that can't afford food.
Apple should have been outcompeted ages ago.
The outcry about OE headphones priced like these is simply because the target market would have to be absolutely crazy to waste this much money on headphones; it's a price range that they've never ever have even considered before. It makes as much sense as going straight from a cheap rust bucket to a Ferrari for grocery shopping and getting your kids to school.
People should have just seen these headphones, shaken their heads and muttered a few things about "rich people"; and then have moved on with their lives.
But… it's Apple.
It's Apple, and it's a product priced at a range that's been normalised by iPhones; and it's a product that comparatively speaking shows a great deal of status at a fairly low cost, while providing a continuing (new) functionality.
People should have been outraged at Apple for being disrespectful to their target market by creating products that are clearly priced so that the target market actually can't afford them.
Yet, because it's Apple the criticism has taken this weird form of people fundamentally accepting the situation; and are simply upset with the novelty of headphones existing in this price range.
And… since it's Apple… give it a couple of months for the mainstream to have tried these, and Apple have somehow just f*cking managed to normalise that everyone should spend up to a months rent on a pair of OE headphones.
(I can't decide if I should be impressed, or head out into the streets protesting the destructive evils of capitalism.)
This is spot on - Apple has a way of coming out with products that are significantly more expensive but that people end up wanting and buying. Apple Thumbs it’s nose at consumers by doing things like charging $1,400 for a phone and then not including a charger, or charging $550 for a set of headphones that doesn’t include a cable or a decent case.
Any comment on the weight of these things? It's listed as 16.5 oz., compared to 9 oz. for the Sony WH1000 (which I have and like a lot, although its BT can get occasionally glitchy).
384g (give or take a gram) is what I've seen in several videos where they have been placed on digital scales.
OK, thanks. But that is still 13.5 oz (admittedly, not 16.5), 50% heavier the the Sony.
Even that 9 oz headphone starts to feel a tad heavy on my head, after a while.
About the price ... when I was younger and more cash strapped I would always buy a pickup truck as my daily driver because they were cheap simple basic transportation targeted at regular working folks. The lack of amenities and tight passenger space coupled to a straight six and three on the tree reminded you every day that there was a price to pay in comfort and convenience for frugality. Fast forward to today and you can easily spend way more than 75k on a gussied up pickup truck and even more if you want features like an in-vehicle office workspace with WiFi and a seat that gives you a back massage. It’s crazy, but that’s what’s driving the high end of the pickup market these days.
The AirPods Max aren’t your dad’s 1980 C10 Chevy pickup. Like it our not, the Max is an audio computer. The description above about Rebooting your headphones should have triggered a seismic change in how you look at modern headphones. Apple will very likely deliver firmware updates for the Max at some point. For those of us who’ve been very happy with our traditional analog electromagnetic headphones that Alexander Graham Bell would feel comfortable working on, the AirPods Max are the first major incarnation of a whole new species of headphone.
The bottom line is that you don’t have to buy Apple’s new headphones. Don’t like ‘em, no problem. Some people will eagerly take the plunge just for the experience. At some point in your life you’ll realize that experiences are as or more important than things, and Apple is definitely making sure that its products deliver compelling experiences.
Apple seems to leave a lot of money on the table. Third party accessory makers would be eager to see AirPods Max succeed so they can sell those cases, ear cup replacements, the 3.5mm connectors etc. brilliant marketing in creating an ecosystem out of thin air.
It would have been helpful if the "sound quality" comment in the article mentioned the music sampling rate or something solid. As it stands, it really says ZERO about sound quality.
I look forward to reading audiophile reviews that go into depth about sound quality.
Comments
It actually seems to be a very functional design.
They aren't 'buds' in spite of the funky naming.
The aesthetic design is from a Huawei division in France.
It's just an example of a competing product which you asked for. It has Bluetooth 5.2, dual Bluetooth antennas for greater coverage, great noise cancellation, a plethora of mics and sensors, adaptive active (user selectable) noise cancellation, in-house audio chipset for audio and support for Huawei's HD audio codecs. AFAIK it does not summon Siri. Low latency and, IIRC, Huawei was the first to introduce 'true' wireless audio to both left and right receivers simultaneously. It has a dedicated on/off button and a compact hard case. They fold down (like the Max) but do not collapse into the smallest shape possible.
Today (but I think just today) they can be ordered direct from Huawei for 200€. Christmas offer.
That put the Max at well over three times the price of the FB Studio.
For me there are two downsides. Apparently no wired support and that awareness mode lets in ambient sounds (even enhancing voices in the process) but there is no option that allow the user to reduce the volume of what is playing so more often than not what I'm listening to drowns out the outside world even when, technically, it is being let through.
Perhaps a sign that I listen to music at too high a volume.
I think you owe yourself a trip to the Apple Store and try it out ... you would be the best judge on the matter
How many people would have said they want a $800 "phone" or a $70K Telsa? Now that those products exist many, many people who would have said "hell no!" hypothetically are very happy with their purchases.
If you aren't convinced, don't buy one. Save your outrage for more worthy causes.
If they're not worth it to you, don't buy them ... you're obviously not their target market, and no one's pointing a gun at your head forcing you to buy them. That's how capitalism works.
They're not for everyone ... they're there as an exercise in what Apple can do in the consumer headphone market.
Great sound quality, really nice build quality, very strange case ... and pretty damn expensive.
I waffled over the price ... and now I'll be waffling until mid-March. Obviously there's demand, in whatever market segment Apple targeted. That's also what capitalism is all about.
Your sour grapes tirade isn't impressing anyone - and no, I'm not rich.
I'd like to try these with my Apple TV and Mac ... I don't really do much audio with my iPhone except in the car.
Even that 9 oz headphone starts to feel a tad heavy on my head, after a while.
As it stands, it really says ZERO about sound quality.
I look forward to reading audiophile reviews that go into depth about sound quality.