Just in time for the ̷m̷o̷s̷t̷ ̷p̷r̷o̷f̷i̷t̷a̷b̷l̷e̷ ̷q̷u̷a̷r̷t̷e̷r̷ holidays!

After months of rumors about Apple headphones called “AirPods Studio,” the fruit company finally unveiled them today under the name “AirPods Max.” At $549, the AirPod headphones are now available for preorder.

What do they offer for $549?

• High fidelity sound

• Active Noise Cancellation

• H1 chip

• Transparency mode

• Adaptive EQ

• Spatial Audio

• 20 hours battery life

Apple has stuck to their brand with these headphones - premium design and feature set for an undoubtedly premium price. With high fidelity sound from 40-mm dynamic drivers, the sound stage is expected to be powerful, and, with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) you should be able to hear music clearly.

Apple says you can get 20 hours of listening out of the headphones with ANC and Spatial Audio enabled. This is adequate, but not impressive. Competitors like the sub- $300 Sony WH-1000XM4 can play for 30 hours with ANC turned on. We aren’t sure how much longer AirPods battery would last if both of these features were disabled, but, this will soon be revealed in real world tests!

Selling points past great sound and ANC, include Adaptive EQ, Spatial Audio and the H1 chip. Here’s a brief rundown of what that means for your listening experience.

Adaptive EQ: The headphones adjust to enhance your listening in real time.

Spatial Audio: The headphones track head movement to deliver the most immersive sound possible.

H1 Chip: The processor that improves the listening experience by tying everything together.

While the headphones seem impressive, it’s difficult to judge their value until we can actually hear them. However, we’ll go ahead and say at $549, and, with the listed features - its likely the headphones are at least as good (sound wise) as their Sony and Bose counterparts.

Billion dollar branding…

The AirPods name alone gives these headphones insane credibility before they hit the market. Grabbing more than half of the global totally wireless earbud market in 2019, AirPods took the world by storm. AirPods became more of a fashion statement, a symbol of wealth than anything else. We can expect the same from the AirPods Max. The sleek, premium design, high price tag, and genius Apple marketing will create an incredibly desirable product for the wireless headphone market.

New colors & preorders

The AirPods Max will come in silver, space gray, sky blue, pink, and green. This is the first time an Airpod-branded product has had multiple color options!

Available for preorder now, the AirPod headphones will ship on December 15th.

It’s difficult to say how much of a trend Apples latest product will be. The AirPod earbuds were relatively accessible at $160 and $250 (if you wanted to spend a bit more cash). But, at $549 the Max has a high price tag for headphones. Only time will tell if Apples slick marketing will turn into significant sales.

Hudson Labno

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