Available in midnight, starlight, orange, purple and blue, Apple's new flagship over-ear AirPods Max 2 headphones were greeted with mixed reactions on social-media platforms when they were announced out of the blue on March 16. Some pundits were excited to see them finally getting a meaningful upgrade after several years. Others lamented that they cost $549 when Apple's new Macbook Neo -- a full-fledged laptop -- could be had for as little as $500 with Apple's education-pricing discounts.

The AirPods Max's high price was a source of contention when the original model launched in 2020, but that didn't stop people from buying them and helped set a new benchmark for pricing for premium noise-canceling headphones (top models from Bose, Sony and Bowers & Wilkins have all received price hikes in recent years). The list price for the AirPods Max 2 hasn't changed from the original, and neither has the design. But the new headphones now feature a new "dynamic range" amplifier and are powered by Apple's H2 chip rather than the H1, which brings the Max up to date with other AirPods models, including the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3 and AirPods 4.

Read more: Best Headphones of 2026

Those are the biggest differences between the Max 2 and the Max 1, which was updated with USB-C connectivity in September 2024 and USB-C audio in 2025 (with a firmware update). But the more powerful H2 chip does bring a host of new features and some performance upgrades that are more meaningful than they look at first glance. Read my full review. 

What are the AirPods Max 2 feature upgrades?

The Max 2 now has most of the same features as Apple's latest earbuds, including the following:

• Adaptive Audio: Based on the noise levels in your environment, the Max 2 automatically adjusts the levels of ANC and transparency to optimize the audio experience.
• Conversation Awareness: When you start speaking to someone, the volume of whatever you're listening to is reduced, and the headphones enter transparency mode so you can have a conversation without taking the headphones off.
• Studio-quality audio recording: Allows you to record content with higher-quality audio and a more natural vocal texture (as noted previously, Apple pitches this feature toward content creators).
• Camera Remote: You can capture content at a distance by pressing the Digital Crown to take a photo and start or stop video recording while using the Camera app or compatible third-party camera apps on iPhone or iPad.
• Live Translation: Allows for near real-time translations of what people are saying in another language.
• Loud Sound Reduction: ANC automatically kicks in to prevent exposure to loud environmental noise while preserving the sound signature of what you're listening to.
• Personalized Volume: Your listening experience is automatically fine-tuned based on your preferences over time.
• Siri interactions: You can respond to Siri announcements by simply nodding your head yes or shaking your head no.
• Low latency over Bluetooth: Playing iOS, MacOS and iPadOS games in Game Mode reduces audio latency when using the Max 2 wirelessly. The AirPods Max (USB-C) offered low latency for gaming but only with a wired USB-C connection. 
• Bluetooth 5.3: While the AirPods Max 2 don't have Bluetooth 6.0, their Bluetooth 5.3 is an upgrade over the Max's Bluetooth 5.0. 
• Voice Isolation: Filters out background noise while isolating your voice so people can hear you better on voice and video calls.

What are the AirPods Max 2 performance upgrades?

• Better active noise canceling (ANC): Apple says the Max 2 offers 1.5x more effective noise canceling, and I did notice the improvement when I tested the Max 2's noise-canceling performance in a few different environments. It's hard to quantify just how much better it is, but I was impressed and felt it measured up to what you get with Sony's and Bose's flagship noise-canceling headphones. Interestingly, that jump isn't as big as the jumps in noise-canceling performance that the AirPods Pro made when moving from the original AirPods Pro to the AirPods Pro 2 (2x better) to the AirPods Pro 3 (also 2x better or 4x better than the AirPods Pro's noise canceling). 
• Cleaner sound: The Max 2 have a new "high-dynamic range amplifier for even cleaner audio," according to Apple. I did notice the difference in my testing, though I felt the bass performance showed the most improvement, with only smaller gains in the treble and midrange. Still, the new amp and more powerful H2 chip allow for a bit cleaner, more natural sound that's nearly distortion free. The Max 2 sound a little more precise overall and has slightly better separation between instruments so you can hear them a little more distinctly. That extra bit of precision helps with spatial audio, whether you're listening to music or watching movies.
• Improved spatial audio: Apple says that spatial audio content sounds "better than ever, with improved localization of instruments, more accurate and consistent bass response and more natural-sounding mids and highs."
• Even more natural transparency mode: Apple's transparency mode has long been the gold standard and the Max 2's transparency mode sounds even slightly more natural. By that I mean that when you're in transparency mode, even though you have the headphones on, you pretty much experience the outside world as if your ears were uncovered. 
• Better voice-calling performance: Apple didn't upgrade the Max 2's microphones, but the H2 chip supports Apple's Voice Isolation feature. This is a little confusing because you can activate Voice Isolation on your iPhone, but iPhone Voice Isolation uses your phone's microphones to filter out background noise and isolate your voice. Meanwhile, Voice Isolation on the Max 2 and Apple earbuds such as the AirPods Pro 3 leverage the H2 chip and the headphones' (or earbuds') microphones to filter out ambient sound while honing in on your voice using computational audio. This form of Voice Isolation is considered superior and voice-calling performance does seem slightly improved from my tests.

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What's the same between the AirPods Max and Max 2

• Design: The Max 2 have the same design and dimensions as the Max. They both weigh 13.6 ounces (or 386.2 grams).
• Case: They come with the same protective smart case that not everybody loves, due to its purse-like aesthetic. 
• Color options: They're available in the same five color options (blue, purple, midnight, starlight, orange).
• Battery life: They're rated at up to 20 hours with noise canceling for both models.
• USB-C audio: They both support 24-bit/48kHz lossless audio when connected with the included USB-C cable.
• No cord for inflight entertainment systems: Apple still doesn't include a cord with a 3.5mm analog audio connector so you can plug the headphones into the headphone jack on an inflight entertainment system (or any headphone jack on any device). You have to purchase a USB-C to 3.5mm cable as an optional accessory for $39. You'd think that such a cable would be included with headphones that cost $549.

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Watch this: Apple Surprises With AirPods Max 2 (and Why Does MacBook Neo Cost Less?)

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How much of an upgrade is the AirPods Max 2 compared to the AirPods Max?

You can criticize Apple for not doing an even more substantial AirPods Max 2 upgrade inside and out, with an updated design and perhaps new drivers. And some folks, like me, were hoping that the next AirPods Max would be the first AirPods to include its upcoming H3 chip, rumored to be in development.

All that said, it was getting a bit ridiculous that Apple's pricey flagship over-ear headphones didn't at least have the H2 chip, which first appeared in the AirPods Pro 2 in 2022. The addition of the H2 is certainly welcome and has made the headphones, which already sounded excellent and had very good noise-canceling, as much as 20% better when you factor in the performance and feature upgrades.

As the original AirPods Max (USB-C) are being phased out, you can find certain colors on sale for less than $430. However, if you're sold on getting the AirPods Max, the Max 2 are likely worth getting for the improvements. If you can't afford the $549 price, sites like Amazon are offering small discounts that initially shave $20 off the Max 2's price. I suspect that in the not-so-distant future, their price will dip to around $500, which is what the original model generally sold for on Amazon, sometimes dropping to $479 or even slightly less during holiday sales.