Back in the fall of 2024, Apple transitioned its original AirPods Max headphones from Lightning to USB-C connectivity. Many people, including me, were surprised that Apple didn’t offer a more significant upgrade, such as swapping the H1 chip for the newer, more powerful H2 chip and improving the headphones’ overall performance and feature set. At that time, the Max were almost 4 years old and AirPods Pro 2 were already using the H2. So it seemed like a logical move. But Apple had other plans.
Which brings us to the AirPods Max 2. Announced out of the blue shortly after Apple released its budget-friendly MacBook Neo ($599) to great fanfare, they’re essentially the Max upgrade I was hoping for 18 months ago. Priced at $549, the same as the original, they look identical to their predecessor but now include a new “dynamic range” amplifier and the aforementioned H2 chip, which adds a host of
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