Poll: AirPods Max

Will you buy/have you bought AirPods Max?

  • Yes

    Votes: 25 11.5%
  • No

    Votes: 193 88.5%

  • Total voters
    218
Soldato
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I used them last night with my Apple TV as everyone had gone to bed. The sound is fantastic, I presume that's the spacial audio doing its thing. I couldn't tell that the sound was coming from the headphones, it sounded like it was coming from the TV.

I used an old pair of HyperX headphones the other day, and it sounded weird and I couldn't figure out why at first, but it was missing spatial audio, I didn't realise how good they were with it until it was gone.
 
Associate
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I used them last night with my Apple TV as everyone had gone to bed. The sound is fantastic, I presume that's the spacial audio doing its thing. I couldn't tell that the sound was coming from the headphones, it sounded like it was coming from the TV.
I need to remember to use them for this again, it was ace when I did. When I'm on the move / commuting I tend to make the Spatial Audio fixed rather than head tracked though.

I've had AirPods Max for over a year now and use them almost every day. No tech issues, no comfort issues, just really nice audio and great for work calls. The relatively few times I have commuted into the city with them, the ANC has always seemed remarkable and cancelled the central line noise effectively.
 
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Man of Honour
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20 Sep 2006
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33,887
This is something I've not even tried! All my media is in a Plex server, will that work for me? I play it either via Plex or Infuse.
Yes, the connection is done via AirPlay so any sound from the ATV will come via the headphones. I can highly recommend it, the sound is fantastic. I was watching it last night using Infuse. I did get the odd audio sync issue, but restarting the particular video I was playing fixed it.
 
Soldato
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I’m hoping Apple releases a Version 2 in the near future with USB-C.
Being stuck with Lightning connector is the thing that puts me off most about purchasing these.
They can include a hard case while they’re at it, and an off switch.
 
Soldato
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I’m hoping Apple releases a Version 2 in the near future with USB-C.
Being stuck with Lightning connector is the thing that puts me off most about purchasing these.
They can include a hard case while they’re at it, and an off switch.

Switching to usb-c isn't happening anytime soon. If Apple decides to go away from Lightning it will be Magsafe.
 
Soldato
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I’m hoping Apple releases a Version 2 in the near future with USB-C.
Being stuck with Lightning connector is the thing that puts me off most about purchasing these.
They can include a hard case while they’re at it, and an off switch.

I’m fine with them using lightning as you’ll have your phone with you anyway if you’re travelling. Off switch would in theory be grand but I don’t think it’s essential as the sleep mode means the auto connect.

As for the case I completely agree, wouldn’t surprise me if they release an apple case that’s similar to the countless 3 party ones.
 
Soldato
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If I purchase these then I intend to keep them longer than the 2 years I keep an iPhone. Headphone tech doesn’t advance quite as fast to justify a new pair very couple of years. Some Apple devices have already embraced USB-C.

With the EU pushing for USB-C as standard it won’t be long til Apple switch to USB-C or No Port/use MagSafe - in which case if I were to get the current Ver 1 of these headphones I’d be stuck needing a lightning cable. I just hope Apple kills off the lightning port sooner rather than later and brings USB-C to the AirPods Max.
 
Soldato
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If I purchase these then I intend to keep them longer than the 2 years I keep an iPhone. Headphone tech doesn’t advance quite as fast to justify a new pair very couple of years. Some Apple devices have already embraced USB-C.

With the EU pushing for USB-C as standard it won’t be long til Apple switch to USB-C or No Port/use MagSafe - in which case if I were to get the current Ver 1 of these headphones I’d be stuck needing a lightning cable. I just hope Apple kills off the lightning port sooner rather than later and brings USB-C to the AirPods Max.

There is no chance they're getting rid of the lightening port any time soon. If they did or do have to for data transfer or more likely to be for even faster charging they're going to keep that in house as well. The iphone is the daddy it accounts for almost 50% of apple revenue. That's over $180bn. That's locked in with licence fees for the lightening port. Keeping the Airpod range the same has so many benefits to them.

Sure it makes sense for them to change it so the odd person will buy but overall the loss to sell a few more ''high end'' headphones that are marked towards the general public and not AF is pointless. The ipad pro is a different case all together which is why they've put the USB-C port on it as it's opens up the whole replace a laptop debate.
 
Soldato
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There is no chance they're getting rid of the lightening port any time soon. If they did or do have to for data transfer or more likely to be for even faster charging they're going to keep that in house as well. The iphone is the daddy it accounts for almost 50% of apple revenue. That's over $180bn. That's locked in with licence fees for the lightening port. Keeping the Airpod range the same has so many benefits to them.

Sure it makes sense for them to change it so the odd person will buy but overall the loss to sell a few more ''high end'' headphones that are marked towards the general public and not AF is pointless. The ipad pro is a different case all together which is why they've put the USB-C port on it as it's opens up the whole replace a laptop debate.

Pretty much this. Lightning port is a business decision, to keep accessories exclusive to Apple's ecosystem, so that replacing an iPhone with an Android phone becomes more expensive and inconvenient than just buying another iPhone.

So iPhone and iPhone accessories will remain Lightning until Apple decides to get rid of Lightning entirely in favour of something new, like MagSafe-type connector, and definitely not USB-C.
 
Associate
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12 Sep 2009
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Picked up a pair of these from Amazon a week ago for £400, really impressed by the sound quality.

I have used them every evening since I got them to watch stuff on my Apple Tv, Dolby Atmos via Netflix sounds so good, spatial audio via Apple Music isnt bad either, I can hear stuff on the songs that I did not even know existed.

Just wished you could actually switch them off instead of putting them to sleep in that case ;)

Cheers all
 
Soldato
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Pretty much this. Lightning port is a business decision, to keep accessories exclusive to Apple's ecosystem, so that replacing an iPhone with an Android phone becomes more expensive and inconvenient than just buying another iPhone.

So iPhone and iPhone accessories will remain Lightning until Apple decides to get rid of Lightning entirely in favour of something new, like MagSafe-type connector, and definitely not USB-C.

Unless they're forced to do so by the EU, I'm going to guess that Apple won't want to lose out on selling devices in the EU or whatever punishment they get because of a port. Whether it will be voted in or not, is another matter, but it's a proposed piece of legislation which will be voted on in 2022 I believe. Whether this will force Apples hand in other accessories, such as the APM is another thing, as I believe it's just for Mobile Phones at the moment.
 
Soldato
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Even if it did become law in 2022, I can't see see it being implemented before 2024/2025 given the lead times for most of these devices.

The iPhone 14 will already be final design at this point and the iPhone 15 will be well underway too.

Who thinks Apple will still have lightning past 2025? Not me.
 
Soldato
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Unless they're forced to do so by the EU, I'm going to guess that Apple won't want to lose out on selling devices in the EU or whatever punishment they get because of a port. Whether it will be voted in or not, is another matter, but it's a proposed piece of legislation which will be voted on in 2022 I believe. Whether this will force Apples hand in other accessories, such as the APM is another thing, as I believe it's just for Mobile Phones at the moment.

The proposal is broad and includes headphones, but it is currently at proposal stage and isn't on any agenda for 2022, it may still get a vote in 2022 but quite unlikely given that it's only been revised once. These things usually get revised multiple times. Assuming it passes (which isn't a sure thing), it will definitely get contested in courts and the legal process would still take at least a couple of years. Assuming it goes through all of that and still comes with its fundamentals intact, the proposal itself has a long transition period (minimum of 2 years, and up to 5 years in certain conditions), and then there are grace periods that could last years as well.

As in, don't expect this to make any difference before 2025 at the earliest, more likely 2027 or 2028.
 
Soldato
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That's true, they couldn't implement a law/process quickly, as we've seen with the current day and age. I do think the lightning cable is Apple being stubborn, however. Just put USB-C on everything please :)
 
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