Apple AirPods Max 2 boosts ANC, but keep the same design

Apple announced the AirPods Max 2 overnight, the brand’s first new set of over-ear headphones in more than five years.

Look at the headphones, and you’d be hard-pressed to identify any visual differences between them and the original model. That’s because the physical design is the same; Apple’s H2 processor, the same chip used by the AirPods Pro 3, is the main change.

With this updated processor in tow, Apple claims the AirPods Max 2 produce active noise cancellation (ANC) “up to 1.5x more effective than the previous generation”. The new headphones contain the same number of microphones (nine) as the previous model, so the improvements come from tweaked algorithms powered by the H2 chip.

Apple spruiks a “new high dynamic range amplifier” on the inside of the headphones, along with claims of “even cleaner audio”. Spatial Audio is also said to benefit from better instrument localisation, more accurate bass, and mids and highs that sound more natural.

Image: Apple.

Since the original AirPods Max launched, Apple has added more ANC modes to its in-ear AirPods that the over-ear model missed out on. Adaptive Audio is one of them, balancing noise cancellation and Transparency mode to adjust automatically to the sound around you. It comes to AirPods Max 2, along with Conversation Awareness, which lowers media playback volume when you start talking.

Apple also claims the headphones support “studio-quality audio recording” without an external microphone. Other smarts added by way of the H2 processor include isolating the wearer’s voice during calls and translating languages in real-time when paired with a recent iPhone.

Elsewhere, the AirPods Max 2 look the same as Apple’s headphones from 2020. The 20-hour battery life with ANC on remains, as does the 386.2-gram weight and the Smart Case that leaves the headband exposed.

Apple AirPods Max 2 release date and price

Pre-orders for the headphones open on 26 March, priced at $999 in Australia, $100 more than the launch price of the first iteration. Apple quietly increased the price of the first AirPods Max to $999 midway through last year, so the new model technically costs the same as the now-superseded headphones.

Like the first AirPods Max, the new model comes in five colours: Midnight, Starlight, Blue, Purple, and Orange.

Apple hasn’t set a specific release date for the AirPods Pro Max 2 yet. According to the company’s announcement, pre-orders will arrive “beginning early next month”, coinciding with availability in Apple Stores.

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