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they can easily change the code to have them enter low power mode outside of the case after 5-10 minutes, or give us the option in settings to adjust the time but of course...
 
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I would of have bought these headphones if they did not require the case for the low power mode and had a power button. I’ll wait for version 2.0 and hopefully then this will be fixed along with the addition of ultra wide band chip that isn’t in these either.
I call BS - you would never have bought these. I don't believe an extra 2% power draw over 10 hours is a dealbreaker for someone considering a 600 dollar headset. You're just trolling.

Typical anti-apple-hivemind. whines and screams like they are being dragged to jail over non-issues!

The case is useless and should never have been released, but you can't tell me the fact that you have to put your headset into a charger every 4 days instead of every 4 and a quarter days is an issue? OMG
 
You should definitely be put in charge of all product design decisions at Apple. They haven’t be able to make much money with their existing designs, none of which are very popular or sell very well.
There is always room for improvement regardless of how well anything sells, and a power button is just so blatantly obvious that it's just baffling to leave out on something this expensive. Putting it into a floppy "case" just to reduce its energy drain (not power it off completely) is both a poor design and more inconvenient than a button press, too.
 
I used it on one phone call and nobody complained. Though I was annoyed that I couldn’t hear myself talk because of the noise cancellation - I had to hit the button to toggle it into transparency. Would be nice if it took care of that for you, since the phone knows you are on a call and hearing yourself talk would be helpful.
Thanks! I’m probably not in the market for these, but this moves me one very tiny step closer to them.
 
Do people turn their iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch off? If I had these I’d charge them at night while I’m sleeping. But it appears there’s not much battery drain when not in use so this might be typical Apple a big deal gets made out of something that turns out to be nothing.
 
So noise cancellation works when using the mic in a call? I feel like my Bose QC35II / XM3s both turned on transparency mode automatically when using the mic...interesting.
In my one experience on a call, yes, noise cancellation stayed on when on a call. I haven’t performed extensive experimentation to see if that is always the case or if it was something weird in my setup.
 
I would of have bought these headphones if they did not require the case for the low power mode and had a power button. I’ll wait for version 2.0 and hopefully then this will be fixed along with the addition of ultra wide band chip that isn’t in these either.
What do you plan to do with the ultra wide band chip? 🤔
 
Having a power button wouldn’t force you to use the power button, of course. Just like you don’t have to use the case.
I suppose that depends on how the auto-off/auto-sleep feature works. If it fully powers down the device, then I'd be forced to use the button.
 
Maybe they could push a firmware update that allows you to power them off by holding down on the noise cancellation button for 3 seconds. And if that is already assigned to something (I don't have a pair so IDK), then make it so you can hold down the crown button and the noise cancel button at the same time to turn it off. This shouldn't be some monumental engineering challenge unless it's a hardware switch only, wired in such a way that it can only be triggered with a magnet. That would be dumb.

This thing feels a bit half baked. Maybe I'll pick up a second or third generation on sale. If the sales are as good percentage-wise as the AirPods and AirPods Pro, then the price should eventually become somewhat reasonable around $400 during a Black Friday type sale. With some software and hardware updates and a price near $400, I would definitely consider picking one up in a few years. For now my AirPods Pro are fine. I honestly thought these things would end up being priced at $399. Maybe they'll keep this first gen model around after the next update and price it lower.
 
I guess, this is one of the ideas behind it. But it would be nice to have an additional opportunity to just turn them off. A simple addition to the firmware would do that. Wait for V1.1...

Sony has that "long press" to power off, Apple can do that as well.
Not a bad idea. What if they make long pressing the Digital Crown to power off?
 
I suspect a large part of the reason they went with no power button is that Apple wants these up and running and connected the split second you put them on, rather than putting them on your head and then having them be dead to the world until you turn them on and wait a second or three for them to connect.
 
I used it on one phone call and nobody complained. Though I was annoyed that I couldn’t hear myself talk because of the noise cancellation - I had to hit the button to toggle it into transparency. Would be nice if it took care of that for you, since the phone knows you are on a call and hearing yourself talk would be helpful.
There's a setting for that in Accessibility.
 
Do people turn their iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch off? If I had these I’d charge them at night while I’m sleeping. But it appears there’s not much battery drain when not in use so this might be typical Apple a big deal gets made out of something that turns out to be nothing.
So true!!!!
 
I would of have bought these headphones if they did not require the case for the low power mode and had a power button. I’ll wait for version 2.0 and hopefully then this will be fixed along with the addition of ultra wide band chip that isn’t in these either.
It doesn't need a version 2 to be addressed if Apple wants to do anything about it. A firmware update can enable the secondary button to put it to sleep on a long press (a function not currently mapped to anything). Don't count on Apple making a version 2 for probably 3-5 years. They may introduce a new charging mechanism in the time being as a separate accessory, or an option at purchase. They may even introduce new colours for the ear cups, or new materials.
 
What a disaster. They'll eventually be good for gen 2/3 but this was a total holiday force.
I gotta be honest... these are the best headphones I've ever used. And the fact that they are sold out everywhere indicates that this was indeed not a disaster.

I agree there is room for improvement - a better case would have been nice. But a disaster? I don't think so.
 
This is great news IMO. I don’t find this to be a problem at all and actually makes the AirPod Max a better product.

I often left my B&O H7s on for days at a time. I would only notice if I happen to be near them and they auto connected which was annoying.

So far my experience with the AirPod Max has been very pleasant.

Still understandably a luxury purchase but all in all a good product.
 


Apple did not include a power button on the AirPods Max, so there's no definitive way to turn them off, but Apple says that putting the headphones inside the included Smart Case puts them into an ultra low power mode.

airpods-max-in-green.jpg

That's left a lot of questions about what happens to the AirPods Max when they're not inside the case yet not being actively used, so we've done some testing to attempt to figure out what's going on.

YouTuber Marques Brownlee (aka MKBHD) has said that the AirPods Max enter into a sleep mode after about two hours when just removed from the head and set down somewhere, and it does appear that the AirPods Max are staying actively connected to an iPhone for hours at a time.

At 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time yesterday morning, we connected the AirPods Max to an iPhone, played a song, and then took them off and set them down on a desk. At this time, the battery was at 63 percent.

At 10:00 a.m., the AirPods Max were still connected, and the same goes for 11:00 a.m. During this period, the AirPods Max dropped to about 62 percent right around 10:00, and then stayed at that level until 11:26 before dropping to 60 percent battery life.

At 12:00 p.m., three hours later, the AirPods Max remained connected to the iPhone over Bluetooth and did not disconnect or go to sleep. During this time, the iPhone was in use for various activities and also in a rest mode where it wasn't in active use. The AirPods Max were left alone and not touched.

airpods-max-in-case.jpg

Over a four hour period, the AirPods Max didn't disconnect and the battery life drained a total of three percent.

With a second set of AirPods Max and a different iPhone that was set aside and not used, we left them connected for more than two and a half hours and saw the same two percent drop in battery life. YouTuber Andru Edwards did a similar test and saw three percent battery drain over the course of 10 hours with the AirPods Max sitting out on a desk.

After monitoring the AirPods Max for a four hour period, we put them in the case at 1:00 p.m. When placed in the case, the AirPods Max immediately disconnected from the iPhone and it was no longer listed as connected in Bluetooth nor were battery levels listed.

We left the AirPods Max in the case to test battery drain while in Apple's advertised "ultra low power mode." From 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time to 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, the AirPods Max drained approximately one percent while in the case. The battery was at 60 percent when they went in the case at 1:00, and 59 percent when they came out of the case at 5:00.

An hour of music playback on the ‌AirPods Max‌ with Active Noise Cancellation engaged appears to drain somewhere around four to five percent battery. Andru Edwards saw 3 percent battery drain in 10 hours and leaving a set of AirPods Max out all night we saw a total of 8 percent battery drain, so the amount of listening time you're losing will vary.

So while the AirPods Max do need the case to go into a low power mode that's the equivalent of a sleep mode, leaving them out and connected to your devices isn't the biggest hit on battery if you don't want the hassle of putting them into the case and taking them out. If you want maximum battery life, though, you need to put them in the case.

We still don't have a definitive answer on when the AirPods Max "sleep" when out of the case because they never appeared to disconnect from the iPhone in our testing without the case, but we do now have a better idea of what happens when they're used without a case.

Article Link: AirPods Max Battery Drains Only Slightly Faster Outside of Case

Although odd, this design aligns with other Apple Products. AirPods remain on and connected until you place them in their case. I don’t want a power button, but long pressing the click dial to enter sleep mode would be useful. Turning BT headphones off would likely require a repairing each time you turn them back on.
 
I gotta be honest... these are the best headphones I've ever used. And the fact that they are sold out everywhere indicates that this was indeed not a disaster.

I agree there is room for improvement - a better case would have been nice. But a disaster? I don't think so.
I’m waiting for mines to be delivered, so far every one who bought it is saying it’s pretty good, and of course it’s not for everyone neither!
I think simplymac have space grey on stock, so technically not sold out yet!
 
Wait a minute. So you’re telling me if I had these I’d have to go into the settings and disconnect them every time I’m done using them and then connect them thru the same menu when I do want to use them? Rather than just turning them off and on?

Now that’s a bit dumb...
 
Overall unfavorable “first look” technical review from an audiophile site using a combination of subjective and objective measurements. TLDR: Would be OK for a $200-300 set of cans.

In particular they feel the ANC is not so good.

 
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