Apple AirPods Max

[Ready]

Apple announced their all new over the ear AirPods Max headphones today for $549. When I first saw the announcement I thought that was crazy. Who is going to spend $549 for headphones, especially when they are not even available in the stores to try out?

But from this morning until now the lead time went from 1 week to 12-14 weeks. So either they have a very limited capacity to manufacture these or there are a lot of people willing to spend $549 on a set of headphones that they have never even tried on.

Can anyone make sense of this?

 

[camfused]

Nope. My thoughts were similar. Unless they are mid-numbingly perfect sounding, I can't see even Apple fanboys buying them.

Having said that, people pay $200 or more for AirPods Pro (I payed $90 for mine ). They sound good, but wow. You can get a pretty good sounding Chinese knock-off for $50.

And of course, you can configure an Apple Mac server for $50K...

 

[Montecfo]

Does seem crazy. But some people seem to view such things as affordable status symbols.

 

[Katsmeow]

I am willing to spend a lot of money for good headphones for my computer. I prefer over the ear noise cancelling. Finding good over the ear headphones with noise cancelling is not that easy. In the past I have bought Bose (about $350 as I recall) and now have Sony (I think it was $250 or so...don't recall). I used the Bose headphones for several years. I've had the Sony about two years and they still work fine. I wear my headphones usually several hours a day so comfort is important to me. I like the noise cancelling so much I wear them often when I am sitting at my desk even if I am not listening to anything.

But....$549? No. I do have the AirPods Pro and do think they are worth it. I use them on a daily basis. Well -- not right now. I can't find them. I think the cat used the case as a hockey puck and I need to search under the furniture.

The automatic switching is nice. But I don't have an Apple computer, only phone and iPad. I don't really want or need something that large for those uses.

FWIW, as someone very sensitive to comfort for headphones, those don't look comfortable. The ear cushions look too firm and the band looks uncomfortable. Maybe $350 would be a more reasonable price for these.

 

[braumeister]

Finding good over the ear headphones with noise cancelling is not that easy. In the past I have bought Bose (about $350 as I recall) and now have Sony (I think it was $250 or so...don't recall).

I'm another one who has used both and I agree the Sony headphones are far superior to Bose. WH-1000M4 is the current model and I see they are on sale now at Amazon for $278. I have the previous (M3) model. I also love my AirPods Pro. Used them on a cross country flight this summer and thought they were nearly as good, at a fraction of the weight and bulk.

 

[Katsmeow]

I'm another one who has used both and I agree the Sony headphones are far superior to Bose. WH-1000M4 is the current model and I see they are on sale now at Amazon for $278. I have the previous (M3) model. I also love my AirPods Pro. Used them on a cross country flight this summer and thought they were nearly as good, at a fraction of the weight and bulk.

We're twins! That is the exact model of the Sony that I have. They are nowhere close to needing to be replaced and I really enjoy them. That said, for when I am out and about or reading (or watching a video on my iPad) in bed the AirPods Pro are the way to go.

 

[neihn]

I paid good money for head phone. Currently have a sennheiser hd600, which I use everyday while working in my office.
I never like noise canceling headphone since it destroys my music , may be apple will change it.

 

[audreyh1]

I paid good money for head phone. Currently have a sennheiser hd600, which I use everyday while working in my office.
I never like noise canceling headphone since it destroys my music , may be apple will change it.

Our Sennheiser headphones have become part of my electric piano now.

 

[Rustic23]

A couple of weeks before Apple made their announcement, WYZE announced their 'over the ear, noise canceling headphones'. $50! I can tell you which one I am going for.

 

[mpeirce]

While I fully understand skepticism on $550 headphones from Apple, I'll just point out that they've basically sold out on them already. Initially you could get them for delivery before Christmas, but now they are backordered 12-14 weeks. So there's definitely demand.

And they do have some of the fancy features that people like in AirPods. Things like spatial audio that uses the accelerometers and gyroscopes to track your head movements and track the sound field based on that. There are a total of nine built in microphones for the noise cancelling feature and Siri. Toggling transparence mode with a button press is nice too.

I have the PowerBeats Pros (similar feature set) and my favorite feature is how they automatically switch the connection between various Apple devices. I can be listening to music sourced on the iPhone and browsing on iPad. I see a video and click on it and iPhone music pauses while I listen to the audio from the video on th iPad. When it's done, it switches back to the iPhone. Very slick.

So for people deep in the Apple ecosystem there is value. And they are obviously not intended for frugal folks.

 

[G8tr]

I like Apple products because they're well designed and mostly intuitive. When it comes to headphones, there are plenty of better alternatives (though better is in the eye of the beholder). I own some Bose QC25s with ANC and they sound amazing. However, I also own a pair of wired Senheiser earbuds without ANC that I picked up 10 years ago for $30 that sound almost as good.

 

[Aerides]

I have an older model sony pair (wh-h900n). They are great for noise and sound. I use them for gaming, for streaming when I'm working at my desk, and for drowning out DH's mechanical keyboard.

I must have paid under $150 on sale at costco maybe a year or so ago.

but don't underestimate the fan boys, the apple max will sell out I think.

 

[Ready]

I purchased the AirPods Pro earbuds when they were on sale for Black Friday. I’ve been impressed with their noise cancellation ability for an earbud type design. They really block almost all of the noise when I’m walking down a busy street with a lot of traffic.

They were on sale for Black Friday for $169, which seems like a reasonable price. At the full retail of $249 I think they are overpriced though.