Most of the $500-$1000 headphones on the market have planar magnetic drivers, rather than the AirPods' dynamic drivers. I doubt they're trying to compete with those, but we'll see.
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AirPods Max Development Took 4 Years, According to Former Apple Engineer
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I guess you all missed the notice that you are participating in Apples Beta Test of the Max headphones.
I think they're competing with brands like B&O, B&W and Masters and Dynamic, more design-focused luxury headphones brands. I doubt they'll compare audibly with some of the higher end headphones, but they've done some amazing things with the HomePods.
As nobody on earth (outside of Apple) has heard these yet, can you clarify 'comparable headphones'.
There is not even one single review written for these new headphones, and you already know that they have to be copared to the onses you mentioned? There are many headphones available in the price range of the ArPods Max, and even more expensive headphones do exist.
If the sound quality of the AirPods Max is on par with other expensive headphones, I don't see a reason why Apple should match prices of Sony, Bose or B&O.
Because it's easy to objectively compare performance and power dissipation specs of a CPU; important attributes to potential computer purchasing customers.
And not so easy objectively comparing audio quality and comfort of headphones between various brands/models; important attributes to people who purchase headphones.
So it took them roughly 8 years to design the monitor stand for the xdr.
More like they looked at them very carefully and said 'let's make something different and not reproduce what exists.' Until folks can actually test the AirPods Max it is silly to put them down on price. What I do know is I have owned numerous iterations of the $300 Sony's and Bose offerings, and they all felt cheap and ultimately failed on me within a year. From what I can see, Apple has engineered out the failure points, so if these last two years for me, all other things being equal, then they will be worth the price. I am confident all other things will NOT be equal and the computational sound field work Apple has been doing recently on the AirPods Pro and HomePods will pay off here as well. So yeah. We will see who the fools are next week.
Amen to that! As an Apple shareholder though I am happy a lot of people are buying these.
No thanks. Maybe if they came in bright pink and had a huge Beats logo on them I might consider them. 
Very happy with my Sony XM4s. Seamlessly pair to my MBP and iPhone at the same time allowing me to take calls as I work without switching devices. The most comfortable headphones I have ever worn. 30 hour battery life. Nice app that works and lets me customize them to my desire.
Oh, and I save a couple hundred bucks over these "premium" Apple headphones.
Very happy with my Sony XM4s. Seamlessly pair to my MBP and iPhone at the same time allowing me to take calls as I work without switching devices. The most comfortable headphones I have ever worn. 30 hour battery life. Nice app that works and lets me customize them to my desire.
Oh, and I save a couple hundred bucks over these "premium" Apple headphones.
If they're anything like me using PowerPoint, it's 10 minutes to create the slide text content, then 5 years lining up the shapes and getting the animations to work in the right order.
Some NDAs can include language that don't allow you to disclose the fact you signed the NDA. So either he remembered that, apple legal reminded him of that, or he just didn't want the attention. It's also possible that disclosing the timeline of the project was covered under the NDA and his tweet revealed it.
People complain about the price but real fail is that weight.
I really get the impression this was a ship it or shelve it issue and the team that was working on these did not have the integrity to admit they blew it. Even the case looks like a last minute addition. Over priced and very over weight.
I really get the impression this was a ship it or shelve it issue and the team that was working on these did not have the integrity to admit they blew it. Even the case looks like a last minute addition. Over priced and very over weight.
Not that impressed. The price is ridiculous. Unless these are audiophile sound, not worth the price.
In all the NDAs I’ve had to handle none had those provisions. Of course that wouldn’t exclude the possibilities. Given how many former product people at Apple have discussed timelines and things years after one could conclude that it isn’t standard procedure for NDAs at Apple. I would also guess that those aspects of an NDA, if they existed, may not be worth their trouble to enforce. Too draconian a stance on trivial information has its own repercussions.
Most likely it is not wanting the attention.
An NDA cannot extend indefinitely (or, more to the point, NDAs that try are typically struck down by the courts, so nobody in their right minds writes one that way anymore). Typically, an NDA ends when the product ships or after a fixed number of years, whichever comes first.
It's hard to imagine how his NDA could still be binding at this point, realistically. That said, without a copy of the NDA, it's hard to say for sure. Also, this assumes that he even has a copy of the NDA, without which most people would tend to just react in horror at a tweet like this getting so much attention, out of fear that it might be a problem even if it really isn't.
If these headphones radically change your neural pathways or something crazy, I’d get them. If they produce sound like any other headphone, I don’t care.
The regular AirPods are wireless earbuds that work well, at least. It’s hard to find good ones. Headphones, on the other hand, are a dime a dozen.
The regular AirPods are wireless earbuds that work well, at least. It’s hard to find good ones. Headphones, on the other hand, are a dime a dozen.
And what if they’re not “audiophile” grade, but still noticeably improved over the <$400 options?
I have a feeling these are going to be the XDR of headphones. Not “professional” grade but with a feature set and quality (never mind the convenience) that isn’t being catered to in this price range.
A bit of a PR stunt... Bose, Sony, et al have been in R&D on their headphones for decades. Apple looking for a pat on the back / justifying price for par actions in the industry.
I've signed NDAs which had this provision so that's why it stuck out to me. However I do agree it was most likely deleted due to not wanting the attention. I never talk about my professional work like this on my social media just to keep things separate and avoid any interpretations of what I might be revealing.
So the apple car will need 40 years and will cost $549,000?