After years of speculation, rumor cycles, and the occasional hopeful leak, the second generation of Apple’s flagship headphone has finally arrived for pre-order—and I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty disappointed.
The original AirPods Max was a rare unrefined, slapdash release for Apple, such that its issues became apparent very quickly to people in the market. For that reason, when we didn't get an upgraded version at the usual cyclical interval of 2-3 years, that kind of made sense. When we didn't get any meaningful upgrades to AirPods Max in 2022-24, everyone simultaneously went "Makes sense, that one needs a lot of work."
It really did feel like they were waiting 5-6 years from the original release so that they could really wow us with their new over-ear headphone...
...but the AirPods Max 2 manages to miss nearly every opportunity for meaningful improvement that I can think of regarding issues the original AirPods Max had.
And I say this as someone who is firmly in the Apple ecosystem, and is fully convinced of Apple's capability to make the best wireless headphone of all time as soon as they decide to do it. They have incredibly gifted engineers, deep-as-hell pockets, and a company story that is entwined deeply with music. That they have not nailed an over-ear headphone yet has nothing to do with their ability, and everything to do with a lack of will and intention.
So now that pre-orders are finally open, I guess the questions are:
- "What, if anything did they actually improve?"
- "What opportunities to improve did it really miss?"
- "Should I buy it anyway?"
Let's talk about it.
What They've Changed
Active Noise Cancelling
No qualms here, this is something that should get better with every release from a company as big as Apple. Not only that, but Apple has a good track record of their claims actually aligning quite well with their pre-release marketing in this regard.
So I think people can actually expect the ANC on the AirPods Max 2 to actually cancel around ~1-2dB more noise than the original (because 2x would be an extra 3dB of cancellation, and they advertise a 1.5x improvement).
Apple Says Sound is Improved... But is it?
Obviously the main feature that's being advertised with the AirPods Max 2 is the improvements to Active Noise Cancelling, but the other main "improvement" I'm seeing note about is improvements to sound quality.
But I'd honestly be less skeptical if they didn't even mention sound quality at all. Last time they said they were "improving sound quality," they took their best product (AirPods Pro 2) and added unnecessary bass and treble, and then made it impossible for end-users to remove it.
So when it comes to the "improved" sound quality that is supposedly coming with the AirPods Max 2, I am cautiously pessimistic. The original AirPods Max is already way too V-shaped for me, and unless they substantially curtail the treble response specifically (or give users the ability to change the sound), I see no reason to entertain owning the AirPods Max 2.
Other Features (and new colors)
Finally, they've updated the AirPods Max 2 to have feature parity with the current AirPods Pro 3, adding the Live Translation that was announced on release of the AirPods Pro 3, but seemingly just keeping the same Adaptive Audio and Conversation Awareness that the AirPods Pro lineup have had for a while now.
Lastly, they've added a few new colors to the choices here. I'll let readers decide how they feel about the offerings here.
What They Didn't Change (But Should've)
The Headband
The mesh “hammock” design from the original AirPods Max is reasonable in theory, but in practice it has had plenty of time to prove that its incredibly prone to stretching, staining, and accumulating wear in ways that can make long-term ownership feel like the end-user is living on borrowed time, until the headband becomes completely unusable.
Once this mesh loses its tension, this headphone becomes a rather heavy package held up only by two completely-unpadded metal rods, which is a comfort nightmare. This system should've been one of the first things they changed about this design, and that they didn't signals to me that Apple wasn't really prioritizing this design being improved at all in the six years since its original release.
Furthermore, we've seen no confirmation that they've resolved to fix the issues with the headband-to-cup hinge mechanism's tendency to lose its clamp power and cause the headphone to lose its ability to articulate inward towards the bottom of the ear, leading to a seal break becoming a near-certainty and resulting in less powerful bass.
In short? When it comes to the ergonomics of this headphone, there were myriad opportunities to improve over the predecessor. That Apple opted to seemingly improve nothing with regard to the build/comfort is really mind-boggling to me.
The Folding Mechanism (Or Rather, the Lack Thereof)
For a company all about clean minimalism and portability, it’s baffling that the AirPods Max 2 still refuse to fold in any meaningful way. They remain large, cantankerous, and awkward to transport, both because the hinges don’t collapse the headphone into anything compact, and because the case is... well, you already know.
The Case
Apple had a golden opportunity to quietly retire the “bra case” and ship a proper protective enclosure for their headphones. Instead, we get essentially the same limp, half-hearted cover that offers the same level of protection as putting a rubber glove on my headphones.
Every competing headphone in this price class ships with a real case—zippers, padding, structural integrity. Apple ships something that looks like a joke at worst, or a prototype sleeve nobody meant to approve at best.
Earpads and Chassis
The earpads still magnetically attach—which is good—but the underlying chassis design that allows moisture and condensation to accumulate remains, as far as I can tell, unchanged. Owners of the original model know exactly what this means: unpredictable fogging, potential sensor confusion, and long-term durability concerns.
Earpads and baffle probably should have seen a more complete redesign, materials should have been reconsidered, and the balance between internal sealing and venting probably should have been revisisted. As far as we know now, none of this has happened yet, but perhaps when people actually get to take the AirPods Max 2 apart we'll be able to see how it may hold up in the future.
What Happened to Iterating With Purpose?
Apple is a firm that usually comes out of the gate with a reasonably well-refined product, and then makes gentle, intentional refinements over time to turn what was already a solid product into arguably the best version of whatever thing they've released.
The original AirPods Max was not that "reasonably refined product" that would've benefitted from small upgrades over a longer period of time. The original was wonky as hell in basically every aspect, such that when Apple declined to come out with a successor, most people agreed this made sense, saying things like "Yeah, they're likely rebuilding it from the ground up... which is what they should do."
But I can't help but feel like AirPods Max 2 completely ignored all of the issues people had with the original, and instead just took the opportunity to make some sales based on a shiny new SKU rather than offer any meaningful improvement. Frankly, AirPods Max 2 reeks of a product that was updated only in the absolute essentials for successful marketing (ANC), while leaving all of the meaningful problems untouched, because that was the easiest path forward for Apple.
And hell, its not like people were asking for miracle breakthroughs. They were asking for:
-
A durable, comfortable headband
-
A real case
-
A folding mechanism
-
A better tuning baseline
But we got got none of the first three, and the final point is still up in the air.
So I hope people see this for what it is—which is Apple deciding to call their AirPods Max 1.5 "AirPods Max 2" (because that's what's needed to market the product)—and vote with their wallets to let Apple know that this is simply not enough improvement to make this headphone worth purchasing.
Should You Buy It?
After years of waiting, the AirPods Max 2 arrive as one of the most anticlimactic headphone releases in recent memory. This could have been the moment Apple corrected course—quietly fixing the design missteps while pushing the product into true flagship territory.
Not only that, but those who've been around for a while know Apple has incredibly deep pockets and incredibly skilled engineers. They could make what is legitimately the best headphone in the world if they wanted to.
But it seems they don't want to.
Instead, we've received essentially the same woefully compromised headphone design as we did in 2020, but with marginal ANC improvements. What would've been my most hyped up headphone release of 2026 is instead one that I'm barely even able to muster any excitement or optimism for.
While yes, you can pre-order the AirPods Max 2 as of today at Apple.com... I highly recommend abstaining.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://headphones.com/blogs/features/apple-airpods-max-2-is-available-for-pre-order-but-you-shouldnt-buy-it