I’ve been waiting more than a year for the AirPods Max 2, the long-overdue update to Apple’s debut over-ear headphones originally released in December 2020. In the time between then and now, I wore the originals for years on end, and Apple has only updated the AirPods Max’s charging port, changed colors and issued some new features via software updates. Now, though, the company has finally upgraded the metallic noise-canceling cans with the H2 chip, which delivers new smart features and aims to upgrade their noise cancellation and sound quality.
To find out if this pair of $549 noise-canceling headphones (that look exactly like Apple’s previous pair) are worth the upgrade, I packed them, their predecessor and two top competitors for a weekend in the city that rarely shuts up. While I was surprised by some of the results, I learned that not everyone needs to upgrade.
Here’s what you need to know before buying Apple’s AirPods Max 2.
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Apple AirPods Max 2
