Poll: AirPods Max

[Throrik]

Yep, I've had to pair mine to two devices, but one of those four that I use is a work laptop on a different Apple ID - I've found them flawless.

 

[spikey57]

Something's very wrong, you shouldn't need to pair with all three devices individually, the headphones should automatically be linked to them all after you've done it on one.

Is that an option somewhere? I can't remember.

The fact that it wouldn't stay connected to any of the devices, even if I just set my personal phone up may have meant that it was just a bad set, I may try again in a couple of months, and see how things go, but right now I don't even want to consider them as an option which is a shame.

I checked all the settings to see if there was anything I was missing, but everything was set as default.

When they were connected, I would go to the sound options to change spacial audio options, and they would disconnect when I was in the control center options.

Wouldn't get found. When I put them in the case and took them out of the case again, the set up wizard would start again as if they had never been connected.

I even went to the point of performing a soft reset of my network settings just in case, and still had the same issues.

I need this for work, and don't have time to waste or worry about if it's going to connect or not.

I thought being an apple to apple device and eco system it would have been straight forward but it turned out to be one of the most painful experiences with tech i've had in recent memory.

Like I said, I may try them again in the future, but right now I just don't have the patience.

 

[ChrisD.]

Wall of text.

They were faulty as has already been pointed out.

I use mine mainly for work and they are flawless. The battery lasts ages, the voice quality is miles better than my old QC35 II's and when I occasionally do use them for music or film they sound excellent.

 

[spikey57]

They were faulty as has already been pointed out.

I use mine mainly for work and they are flawless. The battery lasts ages, the voice quality is miles better than my old QC35 II's and when I occasionally do use them for music or film they sound excellent.

And as I pointed out, the experience was bad enough for me to return them within 3 hours of opening them.

I will most likely try again in the future, but for now I will just endure the issues with my QC35's until I have time to go to the Apple Store again to purchase a 2nd pair.

When I bought them, I was hoping for a quick and seamless experience to switch over to them, and I got anything but that which I found disappointing. I understand that you will get the odd bad pair given the scale of Apple's brand popularity and no company is immune to this, it's just the timing, and experience formed the perfect storm of discontent.

 

[ChrisD.]

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.

 

[Throrik]

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.

 

[shiver]

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.

 

[ChrisD.]

They really are awesome. I had to keep removing them to make sure that the sound was in fact coming from the headset.

 

[Feek]

I used them last night with my Apple TV as everyone had gone to bed.

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.

 

[ChrisD.]

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.

 

[Kohaashi]

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.

 

[HACO]

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.

 

[Reuben klang]

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.

 

[shiver]

I tend to charge mine on my desk where there’s a couple of lightning cables for keyboards / trackpads etc so not a big deal

 

[Kohaashi]

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.

 

[Reuben klang]

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.

 

[HACO]

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.

 

[roman59]

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

 

[Throrik]

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.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

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.