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The place I most want noice cancellation is on a flight and I can see no way to attach these to the in flight entertainment
 
You should try checking out some high end headphones, if you think these are expensive. They are more than the Bose and Sony, but have more features Active EQ, spatial audio, .... Time will tell how they rate sonically. But some audiophile headphones are well over $1000.

Not knowing the specifics, its hard to say if they are too expensive. If you can't or don't want to afford it, there are many other options out there.
Now tell me...isn't it a shame that the main sources for audio these days are dumbed down loudness wars mixes?!?

And from where exactly do you like to receive your 3D Audio source files? I mean - in all honesty - I feel like a rare beast when looking for a proper AVR these days. All you find is Soundbars here and there.

So maybe we should agree on the fact that there barely is a reason to use the power of these headphones anyway given most peoples audio listening choices.
 
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Good to know Apple is fine with wavering on features but remains unwavering on their idiotic pricing.
 
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Maybe in the interest of profit, Apple have rushed to market to capitalise and may introduce a second generation of Max and possibly Pro next year with additional functionality. I am certainly going to wait. Too much money for not enough product.
I am personally going to wait for the Pro Max Plus Air....and after I win the lottery to be able to spend for the sake of spending, to match Apple’s creating for the sake of creating.
 
WTH is wrong with this design team? I get the whole culture deeply rooted in the foundations thing but come on. iMac has looked the same for a decade. Mac mini following same trend. iPhone literally... and also Apple Watch. Now you come out with a product that has the silhouette profile of the Apple Watch, borrowing a Digital Crown. LOL

Take some risk! Apple took risks with every new design until Jobs died. Now it's the same form factor with little change.


airpods-max-digital-crown.jpeg


 
The $350 price something anyone could have guessed. That was reasonable, comprehensible, competitive, price with some Apple tax built in.

The actual price is just the new Apple. Take highest price you could possibly imagine, add $200, and that's what it costs.
The Surface Headphones are $249, and the AirPods Max have more than $100 worth of upgrades over the Microsoft entry into this space. More metal/build quality, more tech, more colors, etc.
 
it was believed that AirPods Max would have touch pads for controls on the sides of the headphones. This appears to have been replaced by the Digital Crown from the Apple Watch in the final product.
And thank god for that. Touch controls on something you can't see and are liable to trigger accidentally when handling the product? An effing UI nightmare.

No, tangible, physical controls are called for in this use case and fortunately Apple got it right. Also very smart of them to pick up the digital crown from the watch.
 
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Not that I would buy them, but the materials alone seem very nice. I also trust their sound team a lot, because I am personally a huge fan of my HomePod and wish they would make a bigger „HomePod Max“ ...

And if the rumors are to be believed, we will see cheaper headphones in the future. Probably made out of plastic. Probably on-ear. Probably water and sweat resistant etc.

But isn't it funny how Beats has now become the "value brand" in Apple's portfolio? $349 for the Beats Studio 3 seems so cheap all of a sudden :D But they are made out of plastic of course. And I personally find the handband really uncomfortable.
 
WTH is wrong with this design team? I get the whole culture deeply rooted in the foundations thing but come on. iMac has looked the same for a decade. Mac mini following same trend. iPhone literally... and also Apple Watch. Now you come out with a product that has the silhouette profile of the Apple Watch, borrowing a Digital Crown. LOL

Take some risk! Apple took risks with every new design until Jobs died. Now it's the same form factor with little change.

Sounds like you're just looking at the very superficial outside aesthetic stuff and totally ignoring the details and the new tech inside. If you want headphones that just "look different" I think you'll find a world of Skullcandy and such out there. Same goes for computers. Apple tends to not do "change for the sake of change" but roll out more radically different things only when warranted (AirPods original/Pro, iPad floating keyboard stand, etc). Yeah, you're right, the iMac looks like it's looked for a long time. Short of turning it into some kind of Surface tablet monstrosity, it's hard to imagine what anyone would expect there. (I mean, except for the bezel fixators, and I'm sure they'll have their day eventually).
 
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For $550 I think I'd wait for all those rumored features to be included but honestly to me they look like some cheap headphones I'd expect to see in Big Lots or Dollar Store...maybe I need to see an actual pair in store. Still won't buy them though
I would need to try before just blindly buying like the $49 Wyze headphones I took a chance on
 
In Europe they cost €629, which is around $760. I wanted to treat myself with something nice because of all the working from home.

But I'm not going to buy these.
 
For a pair of consumer headphones, these are very pricey indeed, quality materials aside. Pretty sure they're not going to be "audiophile" quality (bluetooth pairing is inherently un-audiophile), which is their intended use according to the promo images (cable connectivity aside), but that doesn't mean they won't sound good. Love my AirPods Pro.
 
Apple continues to get more greedy and push the boundaries of pricing because Apple knows these will sell alot. Just because these will sell doesn't make it right, it's disgusting obscene greed. Shareholders will be happy, and that's all that matters, right?
 
Cheaper models will follow after the market for the expensive version begins to saturate.
That could be a while away now, I am thinking HomePod... HomePod Mini situation all over again... this will be a serious flop for Apple.

Too expensive, too late in the year, delivery times now after Christmas already, I think if they would have released a cheaper version first then the more expensive version later the Max line would have done far better...

I have the same feeling towards the Mini, if that would have come first and the HomePod later the HomePod would have done far better
 
All of these people complaining about the price as if it was supposed to compete with entry level $100 headphones. These have some seriously impressive audio tech in them, to compete with the audiophile quality headphones out there. It’s like the Mac Pro. Everyone was gawking at the price tag without looking at what’s possible with that machine. It’s not for consumers. It’s for movie industry studios.
Really? Go on, what's the frequency response then? I don't disagree that these are probably great sounding and have oodles of tech in there but audiophile, no. About as audiophle quality as the iPod HiFi was when that launched (of which I've still got one). Doesn't appear that you can use these things with a cord either (although there is lightning). 20hrs battery is tested with volume at 50%. This is clearly squarely aimed at consumer, designed like the :apple: watch, with the same market in mind.
 
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Oh I'm definitely waiting on a sports variant. Way too few on/over ear sport headphones :(
 
Swappable bands aren’t “missing.” There are swappable cups which were prolly the plan all along. The rumor missed.
 
So basically Gurman got a rumor wrong and is spinning it as missing features.
Exactly. And now people are saying Apple “rushed to market with missing features.” Newsflash. A $2T computer company is not “rushing” to market with missing features. The redesign and retooling and all that would take longer than holding out for the rumored features. This is exactly what Apple had drawn up.
 
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The Digital Crown is an excellent volume control, for the AirPods Pro, at least. It's one of my favorite things about wearing an Apple Watch - the ability to quickly, easily, and precisely adjust the volume of what I'm listening to on the iPhone.

I'd have to try touch controls on these AirPods Max to know for sure, but I think adding a Crown for volume control is a great choice, and the far better one.
 
And thank god for that. Touch controls on something you can't see and are liable to trigger accidentally when handling the product? An effing UI nightmare.

No, tangible, physical controls are called for in this use case and fortunately Apple got it right. Also very smart of them to pick up the digital crown from the watch.
Yes PLEASE! I have the Sony XM4s and while I like the headphones well enough, I LOATHE the touch sensative controls! Adjusting the volume is a joke and I've bumped the center when trying to do the volume and hung up on several occasions. Physical buttons with some type of tactile differentiator ALWAYS PLEASE!
 
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