Five years is a long time to wait for a refresh, and Apple has finally given the AirPods Max a proper update. The AirPods Max 2, launched on March 16, ditches the Lightning port for USB-C and gets Apple’s H2 chip, the same one powering the AirPods Pro 2.
The headline improvement is noise cancellation. Apple says the H2 chip and reworked audio processing do a noticeably better job of blocking out the sound in airplane cabins and city traffic. Transparency mode has also been tweaked to sound less processed and more like you’ve simply taken the headphones off.
Audio quality gets a bump too, courtesy of a redesigned amplifier. The USB-C switch also unlocks wired lossless audio at 24-bit, 48 kHz, something audiophiles will appreciate, and there’s now a low-latency mode for gaming.
A handful of AirPods Pro features have also crossed over – adaptive audio that reads the room and switches between noise cancellation and transparency on its own, conversation awareness that automatically dips the volume when you start talking and better voice isolation on calls.
Apple is making a pitch to creators too, with improved microphones and a camera remote function for hands-free recording.
The design, for better or worse, is unchanged. Same headband, same cups, same Smart Case. If you were hoping for something that doesn’t immediately scream “2020,” you’ll have to look elsewhere. Five colour options — midnight, starlight, orange, purple, and blue — are as far as the refresh goes aesthetically.
Here’s the uncomfortable part. In India, the AirPods Max 2 are priced at Rs 67,900, up from Rs 59,900 for the original. That Rs 8,000 hike stings, but what really gives you pause is that Apple’s MacBook Neo starts at just Rs 69,990, meaning you’re spending nearly laptop money on a pair of headphones.
To be fair, these were never meant for everyone. If you’re deep in the Apple ecosystem and want the best over-ear experience it offers, the AirPods Max 2 makes sense. For everyone else, Rs 67,900 is a tough sell when perfectly capable alternatives exist at half the price.
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