AirPods Max: My Honest Opinion After 6 Months 

I work in a loud warehouse for 12 hours a day with heavy machinery. These headphones work wonders, and the battery lasts all day.

The biggest plus for me is the microphone quality, people constantly complained they could not hear me with my previous headphones. These are crystal clear.

Great review. I've had mine for about 4 months and I'm very pleased with the build and quality. I think you make a good point with the battery, I have been a bit surprised at how fast it gets used up when I use them daily but it's really not a great hinderance. I think these are great if you deep in the Apple ecosystem and mostly use them in a stationary position, ideally sitting. If neither of those sound like your situation, you should definitely consider other options.

Please make a lava lamp review

Who else noticed WaveForm playing on the TV in the back 😀

Whenever I see a new Apple device, I still feel like I should wait for the next generation, but their first gen stuff are getting better

Just got these headphones and love them. Not only great for listening to music. They are great for watching movies through the Apple TV with immersive sound while the rest of my family can sleep peacefully noise free. Also for listening and talking on the phone hands free. Can also drive with them while in transparency mode so you can still hear traffic sounds. They should have come with a better case for the price like the UAG case. That being said my justification for the price is having a portable surround sound system while being able to watch movies on the iphone, iPad Pro, Apple TV, and MacBook.

I basically agree with everything, I only find mine kind of uncomfortable while using them with glasses because my head is rather small and they clamp unevenly at the smaller extensions, but when I’m on contacts they are flawless. Post lossless/spatial audio update, they leave a lot of questions to be answered, the fact you can’t get high bitrate wirelessly but can’t get spatial audio while wired is just dumb, they really should have digital audio input while wired and call it a day. I already had airpods Pro so as deep as i am in apple hell, picking the max made more sense than the xm4s, but yeah, for everyone else? Get the Pros and so xm4s…

You pretty much summed up how I’ve been feeling about them! I love my pair, probably the best pair of headphones I’ve ever owned, but that’s coming from someone who’s already deeply in the apple ecosystem. For a regular customer, I wouldn’t recommend these for that price

One of the dumbest things Apple ever did was to not include a power off entirely option. WTF Apple?

I was expecting a review just like that! thanks!

The fact they were $900CA is insane. And the fact it was $120CA in taxes was even worse. I just ordered a set and even with AppleCare I still only paid $608USD

An honest and well argumented review. The lack of on/off switch is deffinitely a deal breaker for me.

Keep in mind the 'not being able to shut down completely' *will have a long term impact on the battery health and effect it's lifespan*

What an awesome long term review. Great job!!

You are on my list of RU-vidrs whose video I like first and then watch. Content is always so great. Another amazing video,

They can play near lossless over lightning. They support 24 bit/48kHz with their 3.5mm to lightning adapter but because the ADC conversion isn’t completely identical to the original it’s not technically true lossless. But it’s nearly identical and indistinguishable from lossless according to Apple

Re: Battery Life ... just do what I do and charge them every time you hang them on that nifty headphone stand you showed them on. That's what I do; they literally have never touched the inside of the "Smart Case." And since Apple has the battery management as part of the firmware, you can just leave them charging and have them ready when you need them. I wear mine all day during work, some of the time on weekends, and they're outstanding.

One thing I have found with these and the AirPod pro is the ability to use the adaptive eq function. As a musician with a bad hearing issue, I’ve tried Sony and Bose and others but the equalisers on their apps don’t get close to the adjustment I need to hear the higher frequencies. With the Apple headphones I have found I can hear things I’ve been missing out on in the music I listen to. Yep, you can use headphones with your hearing aids in but everything sounds “electronic” and anc is pretty useless as the hearing aids pick up everything the noise cancelling is trying to silence. Long story short, yep, they are damned expensive ($900 AUD give or take), but I have found them to be worth it for my situation. I agree, lack of a shut down option is frustrating.

I'm sure it has good build quality, and leading class ANC and certainly good enough sound quality for me, but there are other things I do not like so paying double the price of either the Sony/Bose make it not worth it.

the inability to fully shut them off is alone enough of a deal breaker for me to not want to get them even with the best-in-class anc and build quality. sad to see apple continuing to push their idea of their products onto customers instead of letting the customer decide for themselves.

finally i have seen someone comment on the dolby atmos on apple music. the vocals have always been so weird and dodgy with it on so i was never able to turn it on. glad someone thinks as i did

The best use of Dolby Atmos is on classical music tracks. One drawback I notice when playing on Dolby Atmos: there’s a noticeable gap between tracks, very annoying for classical music genre where’s musical flow is a necessity. Turning off spatial audio remedies the situation.

Great follow up review, question unrelated to the AirPods Max - where’s the desk from? Love it, looking to furnish a new office soon!

Hey, really really appreciate your honest opinion in terms of the recommendations. They make so much more financial sense

The battery life thing and the lack of lossless make me a little upset. I'm hoping that an updated pair can support lossless and you can actually turn them off. I may wait on grabbing a pair of these boys. Thanks for the honest review!

It’s all about spatial audio

So glad you mentioned the vocals. I listened to AirPods Max for the first time last week and felt they were pushed back as well.

The fact that you can't turn these off to save battery is the reason I haven't purchased them yet. I say yet because if the ever do "allow" us to power them off I'll be at Best Buy that day.

I'm not a hardcore Apple person, but I did buy these headphones because I wanted a really nice pair and I was getting tired of my beats being uncomfortable. I feel like Apple really messed up the design of these headphones by putting the noise canceling button right where you usually put your hands when you adjust your headphones or put them on. I'm always accidentally toggling noise canceling on or off. It should be a switch that you slide back and forth not a button. Also the volume knob is kind of awkward to turn because you got to reach your hand behind your head to twist it. They do sound amazing though. Worth $500? Hell no. Also, having to put them in the case to turn them off? Give me a break.

White gets so dirty I’ve found, they are heavy but well designed and stylish. Sound is great but spacial audio I only really noticed in the beginning. The battery seemed bad in the beginning but strangely I don’t find this anymore.

Thank you for your very honest review

I love that stand! Where’d you get it? They could do on the Max what they do with the Apple Watch: push and hold the 2 buttons to turn them manually off. That seems like it could def be a firmware/software update

Lovely setup back there 🔥

I recently got the AirPods max a month ago and all I can say coming from my xm4 over ears that they both sound good. But the AirPods max are a good product even with its quirks. I got use to the case as well and its nice that I never have to push a button to turn them on. The xm4 will be outside headphones because there headphones are actually black unlike apples.

I just won these at a xmas party. The noise cancelation is amazing.

the underwear case always made me laugh, Apple always did something so questionable in their product, and you can't turn the damn thing off ? damn

Thank you for the honest opinion. I’ve decided to place an order for a pair of the AirPod Pro Max. It’s time to make a switch from Beats By Dre. The quality of my latest pair of Beats is terrible (crumbling plastic).

Their low power mode debacle reminds me of the original iPad Pro and how you charged the pencil in the lightning cable port. I WAS SOLD on that feature but have since realized how problematic and just plain dumb the idea was. The next generations of iPad fixed that problem so I assume later generations of AirPods max will do the same. The first generation is always a test run.

Apple is about ecosystem and convenience. The reason Apple devices cost more is because people are willing to pay for that last layer of polish that makes them a joy to use. Lack of customization will probably always be their biggest fault, but most people don't care when everything 'just works', even if sometimes it doesn't lol

In 6 months, I never used the case. They charge so fast

Silver looks the best, it looks rich, sleek, sophisticated, classy, ect. I love mine and I also own Sony m4 but prefer apple

Considering you can get the Bose 700 for nearly $400 cheaper. I'm just not sold on them! Edit: So great you mentioned the inflated price. $900 AUD for a pair of Apple headphones is bordering on nuts.

Thanks for sharing bro! This video has been very helpful to determine my decision around purchasing this Apple Airpod Max. I’ll wait till they go on sale! 😎

Love your benq monitor!

Hi Mark, great video. I had the AirPod Max but returned them. Great sound, ANC and transparency! I had two complaints…. 1.) they were somewhat heavy to be point of being noticeable on my head. This however was not a deal breaker for me. But the one thing I couldn’t endure was that I found the AirPod Max uncomfortably warm to wear after 5 - 10 minutes, and for this amount of money this was a definite deal breaker. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an AirPod Max review that actually mentioned this concern.

Compared to the competition, only Apple headphones can seemless pair with all your apple devices. It's why I love my Beats Studio 3. They definiately aren't the best sounding headphones for the money, but they definitely do work the best with Apple's ecosystem for the price, in the over ear headphone segment.

Lossless Apple Music on anything is actually disappointing in my opinion, but I'm no audiophile. I know you have no regrets and can't recommend them to anyone else, but the real question is, do they live up to the price tag?

I had these and decided to send them back. They sound slightly better to my ears than the Sony xm4 but for the price not good enough. Plus any audiophile type listening you're doing with something else anyway. So the Sony wins for being good enough for the price.

Yeah, I'm sticking with my XM4's Apple needs to release air pods sport, plastic over the ear headphones that are lighter and meant for working out with, and they have to be cheaper, 350 or even 299 if they really want to sell.

While I’m an Apple fanboy, I’m deeply into the ecosystem owning the iPhone 13 Pro Max, the Apple Watch series 7, the iPad Pro, MacBook Pro and the ol iPod nano, I must admit that my Sony XM4 is superior over the Airpods. XM4 is still unbeatable amongst the current competitions.

I Really appreciate that you review 3 months in. 👍. I’m very tired of the unboxing videos.

Due to the use of steel rather than titanium, these headphones are heavy and uncomfortable to wear for some people. The cheap looking netted headband that looks worse over time provides no cushioning. For the hefty price, Apple could have provided a cushioned headband. Recommend padding the headband with bubble wrap if discomfort is an issue. The looks, sound, noise cancelling, battery life, etc. of these pods are great. There are as good or slightly better sounding headphones for less. However, it depends on how you plan to use them. Apple is great for switching between modalities and to use with your other Apple devices. Would appreciate more ability to adjust within Spatial sound and to more easily switch between Stereo and Spatial. The magnetic case is cool but flimsy leaving the fragile head band exposed. So, I bought a case with enough room to store the headphones along with their case. The best headphones for listening quality are the corded studio ones that connect to speakers through Jack ports. The most discerning audiophiles, studio technicians, and musicians often prefer headphones and speakers made in Germany and Italy.

Great video! I would love to a hear a similar lavalier microphone test as before, but concentrating on how voices sound through the transparency modes on your various headphones. I have a pair of older WH-1000XM2's that do a decent job with announcements and such, but don't sound natural at all. I am much more impressed with my AirPods Pro but I am curious to hear just how good the AirPods Max actually are!

Lmao many reviewers have tested it and they showed it only lost about 2% or 3% all day long. Very bad argument. It doesn't have a power button because it doesn't need one. It literally doesn't matter if you turn them off or not.

I’ll wait for 2 Generation AirPods Max

Mark, great review……..I am seriously thinking about getting one of these. But more important, where did you buy that gray (and blue) t-shirt with the 2 buttons?

I loved the way they sounded but returned them because of battery drain. Not being able to turn them off was a deal breaker.

I love the honesty, keep it up

thanks for the honest review! saved me quite a bit of money :)

- Crazily expensive - Crazily heavy - no 3.5 port, no on/off switch - no good codex, aptx / LDAC - no fast forward / next track on the can Who the hell would recommend this?

The power button will prob be on the AirPods Max second gen but at a markup…Apple “upgrades”, lol.

Excellent articulation and review. Thanks

I can't help but laugh when you said EDM 4:03

Thank you for making my mind up I’ll wait while the next ones come out

I've tried them, compared them with both my $250 AKG K550's and my Sennheiser HD565 Ovation headphones. They seem better balanced than the AKG's, which are closed cans. But they get trashed by the Ovations.. It would be a nice option at half the price.

This headphone update with the new update to Apple Music was needed! Thanks for this video!

My question is, why does Beats Solo still have micro usb port? Not usb c or lightning? That’s forcing me to consider AirPods Max but ain’t no way I will buy now that I watched this vid. I don’t want dead headphone after listening for few hours, and I certainly do not wanna use that case consistently. I just wanna turn it off and leave it

How many battery recharges can the battery do before it has to be replaced? And how much does Apple charge to replace it?

Agree that AirPods Pro + Sony XM4 is my solution too . Over ear headset must be light.

Wait wait wait…every review I saw said there was no manual EQ for these thanks to the Adaptive EQ feature. Only now did I find someone who pointed out that the EQ settings are there - just like they have always been! I was really concerned about what others described as bass-heavy sound as AirPods 2 are pretty much at my limit for bassy-ness.

Hi. My husband attendeds a lot of meetings from home and sometimes kids are noisy during the meeting. Do you think he can use this headphone which can eliminate the noise even when he is delivering his speech? Thanks in advance

I bought the silver ones too and love them.

I can see your channel reaching a million subscribers in a month's time.

where did you get that stand? fits perfectly with the white AirPods!

Hey Mark, thank you for the review. Side note, what mic do you use? I listened to this on the AirPods Max and your audio sounded insanely good lol.

My only road block for these headphones is the Lightning Cable… if they had Qi Charging I could get onboard… but otherwise that charging situation is not for me… iPhone 12 Pro user and been using MagSafe on my desk. Not found a need for lightning cable yet after 6months…

I have a pair of AirPods Pro for mobile computing with my iPad Pro going to pubs, bars and coffee shops, and I just love Transparency mode, the wireless charging case and the mobile form factor. However, I prefer closed-back headphones for travelling on planes, and I'll be sticking with my Bose QC35 II for that. It doesn't have Transparency, but I'm damned if I'm going to blow over half a grand (nearly £550) on a pair of headphones. Bose don't make crap, but as it is, I paid more for my AirPods than I did for the Bosies. The AirPods Max would cost more than both of them put together. And I can completely turn off the Bosies and use a stereo audio jack if necessary. And even if I don't have the brilliant Transparency mode, I can turn the ANC off with the push of a button. I could get an relatively decently specced iPad Air for that sort of money.

Thanks for your review. I’m late to the party but considering buy it. The on/off impossibility is a red alert for me. Subscribing the channel btw 👍🏾

900$!? Get a girlfriend bro

I’m getting these headphones in like 2 weeks I’m hyped!!!!!

I like your desk in the background

What about the pressure against your glasses and how does wearing glasses affect their noise isolation capability?

My question is how did the white ones stand up to dirt?

Would you recommend these to people who wear glasses? I have never wanted to invest in over-ear headphones because I have glasses and it just isn’t comfortable. I’ve heard good things about these.. but do you think they’re worth it for someone who wears glasses?

Hi Mark great review. Finally going to bite on these after this video. I love your headphone stand. Can you post a link? Thanks

Good and objective insight ! Cheers!

Still hate the headband design, especially with the light colors that discolor BAD.

The fact that these are soo expensive and don’t have a charging case is crazy in my opinion

Great content; you could review chairs; between Chandler, Island Furniture, Atlantic Business Interiors, and Superior Office you’ll find all the top chairs. They would likely lend you the floor demo for 2 days

thank u for begin real just placed a order for the sony one

Great review! How do you kept them so clean white?

Awesome video as always!

They have an aux cable you can buy from apple. Do your reasearch before commenting

Why no one is talking about how the headphones really press hard on your temples and cause serious headaches? The headset is very heavy and really tight, and at least in Reddit there are people complaining about this design issue. Why no one is talking about it in these "long time usage reviews" or have you actually even used the headphones for a long period of time?

Another great video mark thank you

Great vid bud

AirPods Max 2: $499 for 8 hour battery playing time. $649 for 24 hour, and $849 for the world’s best, longest 48 hour playing time!

I love mine, though I had some apple gift cards when I got mine and didn’t pay the full $550. I did get the chance to compare mine to a coworkers xm3’s and found the default audio out of those muddy and lacking in comparison though. Also, fav edm producers??

does it suck with an android or Samsung phone or is Apple not mean towards other phone brands ?