Apple will soon be hosting its California Streaming event that we suspect will announce a slew of new tech including the iPhone 13, a new iPad (2021), and the AppleWatch 7. While the odds are less likely than winning big at Vegas, we could also see an upgrade to yet another 2020 product, with the Apple AirPods Max 2.
The Apple AirPods Max headphones are Apple’s most premium wireless headphones and offer listeners a superb audio experience – at an eye-watering price. We have no real reason to suspect the Apple AirPods Max 2 will be at the event, but we’ll feel really smug if our one in a billion prediction comes true.
Because we know so little about the Apple AirPods Max 2 right now, we’ll instead run through the features we hope they’ll incorporate and give our price and release date predictions. Scroll down and check those out while we wait for leaks, rumors, and any official updates.
AirPods Max 2 release date prediction
We don’t yet have a release date for the AirPods Max 2, and most likely we won’t get a new iteration for at least another year. There’s the slimmest of slim chances they could be shown off at Apple’s upcoming California Streaming event, but we won’t be holding our breath.
The main reason we expect that the AirPods Max 2 to be so long from release is that the only rumor we have heard so far is that they aren’t currently in development (via SlashGear). This would likely mean we’d be looking at a release date of at least 2022 if we’re lucky.
Unfortunately, new AirPods iterations don’t seem to follow any kind of release pattern either so we can’t rely on any pattern to give us a better clue.
AirPods Max 2 price prediction
We don’t know how expensive Apple’s AirPods Max 2 headphones would be, but given the originals launched at $549 / £549 / AU$899 we expect the follow-up device to be on the pricier end too.
With deals, you can now find Apple’s AirPods Max for around $100-off, but even then you’re still looking at an exceptionally premium price above most of the best wireless headphones out there.
We’ll have to wait and see what strategy Apple adopts, but we hope they aim the AirPods Max 2 headphones at a slightly more budget audience.
AirPods Max 2 what we’d like to see
A price cut
While a huge price reduction seems unlikely, the AirPods Max are unnecessarily expensive and a follow-up device needs to be much cheaper. The launch price of the original AirPods Max was $549 / £549 / AU$899 around $200 / £200 / AU$350 more than the launch price of the Sony WH-1000XM4 wireless headphones – the best headphones we’ve ever reviewed.
While we feel Apple is likely to launch an AirPods Max 2 at around the same price, we hope it takes a look at the competition and tries a more competitive pricing strategy.
A 3.5mm audio port
One large design issue we had with the AirPods Max was their lack of a 3.5mm audio port; if want to use them with a mic or enjoy a wired connection you’ll need to shell out on a USB-C to 3.5mm audio port adaptor. This should be a fairly simple issue to resolve on the AirPods Max 2 by just adding one, but after Apple removed the 3.5mm audio port on its iPhones there’s no telling if it’ll make a comeback in its headphones.
Improved support on Android
If you weren’t already tied into the Apple ecosystem, the first AirPods Max sucked. They lacked most of their premium features and made their $549 / £549 / AU$899 pricetag seem even more ludicrous. While this is likely a pipe dream on our part we’d like to see Apple design the AirPods Max 2 to interface better with Android hardware so that we don’t feel so locked in to just one mobile system.
A better case
If Apple is going to keep its premium price though, we need to see some premium upgrades especially to the case that’s packaged with the AirPods Max 2. The original case is flimsy and would be better suited as a sleep mask than something designed to protect a $550 piece of kit.
While there were some cool design ideas – such as an opening that meant you could charge the headphones in the case – the smart case left the headband completely exposed and easily let in dirt and debris. If Apple wants us to shell out around $500+ again on the AirPods Max 2 it needs to deliver the full premium experience we expect.
Hi-res audio
Earlier this year Apple announced that high-resolution audio support was coming to Apple Music meaning that subscribers could get lossless audio at no extra cost – but Apple’s most-dedicated supporters can’t take advantage of it.
Apple Music’s hi-Res lossless feature doesn’t work on the AirPods Max or AirPods Pro headphones because they use the AAC codec, but not the Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) required for hi-res audio.
If Apple releases new AirPods Max 2 headphones the device needs to include the ALAC required to get the best possible sound quality out of Apple Music.
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