AirPods Max - Niche by Design

[marty1980]

Personally, I look at the AirPods Max at $550 and my immediate reaction is “F* That!!!!” I pad $120 for my standard AirPods and felt that was a little high. I scoffed at the $250 sticker price of the AirPods Pro and will never pay that much for them. So $550 is just an explosion of disgust.

However, it’s clear there is a market for these headphones. Apple isn’t the only company with headphones in this “premium” price range. There is a demographic of people who don’t care about the cost, the features of the product make up for it. But that’s not the general population of Apple customers. It’s similar to the market of people who pay $30,000 for a Mac Pro.

Makes me think about why they would introduce such a product without also introducing a more affordable version closer to the cost of AirPods Pro. Because not doing so just makes the Max feel like a greedy cash grab from Apple. The general public will look at these as overpriced, even if the tech justifies it (which I believe is questionable).

One thought is that the pandemic is going to limit their ability to produce a mass market version of these. And so they introduce the top tier as a way to limit the number of potential buyers at launch and are better able to meet demand.

If Apple really thinks this is a mass market product. Then I think they’ve lost their damn minds. First they kill the 3.5mm jack on iPhones and replace the in-the-box headphones with Lightning headphones that are fine, but can’t even be used with MacBooks or iPad Pro. Then they completely remove headphones and seem to market AirPods as an affordable choice ($30 for EarPods compared to $150 for AirPods...hmmm). Now they pop these expensive ass headphones and it’s like... wtf are they thinking?

Maybe Apple really has that many audiophile customers. Or maybe they are doing this because they know the audience who is willing to pay is small, but the profit margins are high and so it all works out for them.

To me - The average person who wants descents headphones at poor man’s prices - I look at the and find my hands giving Apple the bird. And As much as Apple hardcore fans want to explain away the reasoning, this is going to look bad on them.

Considering who will see this on this forum, I’m prepared for weighted disagreements.

 

[SnacksGU]

Took 4 years to develop. They better sell a lot of these.

 

[blairh]

Personally, I look at the AirPods Max at $550 and my immediate reaction is “F* That!!!!” I pad $120 for my standard AirPods and felt that was a little high. I scoffed at the $250 sticker price of the AirPods Pro and will never pay that much for them. So $550 is just an explosion of disgust.

However, it’s clear there is a market for these headphones. Apple isn’t the only company with headphones in this “premium” price range. There is a demographic of people who don’t care about the cost, the features of the product make up for it. But that’s not the general population of Apple customers. It’s similar to the market of people who pay $30,000 for a Mac Pro.

Makes me think about why they would introduce such a product without also introducing a more affordable version closer to the cost of AirPods Pro. Because not doing so just makes the Max feel like a greedy cash grab from Apple. The general public will look at these as overpriced, even if the tech justifies it (which I believe is questionable).

One thought is that the pandemic is going to limit their ability to produce a mass market version of these. And so they introduce the top tier as a way to limit the number of potential buyers at launch and are better able to meet demand.

If Apple really thinks this is a mass market product. Then I think they’ve lost their damn minds. First they kill the 3.5mm jack on iPhones and replace the in-the-box headphones with Lightning headphones that are fine, but can’t even be used with MacBooks or iPad Pro. Then they completely remove headphones and seem to market AirPods as an affordable choice ($30 for EarPods compared to $150 for AirPods...hmmm). Now they pop these expensive ass headphones and it’s like... wtf are they thinking?

Maybe Apple really has that many audiophile customers. Or maybe they are doing this because they know the audience who is willing to pay is small, but the profit margins are high and so it all works out for them.

To me - The average person who wants descents headphones at poor man’s prices - I look at the and find my hands giving Apple the bird. And As much as Apple hardcore fans want to explain away the reasoning, this is going to look bad on them.

Considering who will see this on this forum, I’m prepared for weighted disagreements.

These are niche headphones. No question. The price is twice as much as the class-leading Sony XM4's. They are heavy and come with a ridiculous case that isn't going to cut it as a travel case. I don't care how good they potential sound, they are so expensive that most will not pay the extra premium for the SQ. Assuming they offer next level sound to begin with.

I do believe Apple will offer a cheaper version of these next year that will compete with the Sony/Bose of the world.

 

[MistrSynistr]

Who are these for? They are too heavy to be a viable workout headphone. They are wireless so audiophiles won't want them.

is this a FLEX? Like, walking around your neighborhood in your $550 headphones and silly mask?

 

[Lunfai]

It’s pretty clear that these headphones are marketed at the higher end set of headphones and the reason why they didn’t release the sports variant at the same time is to ensure people who want these headphones have to pay the current price and not the $275-350 of the sport variant that will ship later next year with the updated AirPods v3.

They won’t release the cheaper product at the same time because it just doesn’t make sense and they know people will buy the higher end ones if they really wanted them.

 

[lordhamster]

Who are these for? They are too heavy to be a viable workout headphone. They are wireless so audiophiles won't want them.

is this a FLEX? Like, walking around your neighborhood in your $550 headphones and silly mask?

Depends on your neighborhood.

Anyone walking around with an apple watch on is almost certainly carrying $1,200+ worth of tech on them. Couple that with the $60-100k cars they are driving around in and the headphones are really a drop in the bucket.

That said, for me these will be a hard sell. Unless they are super-sensational in a mind-blowing fashion... I won't think I'll upgrade from my old Bose set. I'm no audiophile, just a traveler.

 

[satchmo]

This will sell big with musicians and influencers and 'celebrities'.
Think Pharell,Drake, Kardashians and whoever the latest YouTube sensation is.
Posers and fashionistas who want to be seen with them where money is no object.
It's not unlike when the Apple Watch first came out.

 

[anshuvorty]

This will sell big with musicians and influencers and 'celebrities'.
Think Pharell,Drake, Kardashians and whoever the latest YouTube sensation is.
Posers and fashionistas who want to be seen with them where money is no object.
It's not unlike when the Apple Watch first came out.

Remember how sports athletes used to wear Beats headphones? Now, replace that with AirPods and soon, with the AirPods Max.

 

[InuNacho]

I'm thinking of upgrading my 15 year old pair of Grado SR60 to a Grado RS2e. Don't see the battery in the Max lasting 15 years.
Also think it's pretty lame that if I wanted to use the Max with my Sega Genesis, Nintendo Switch, HiFi, or A7S (I don't use Grados on an A7S), I'd have to spend another $35 AND have to worry about charging it while its connected by a cable. Needless to say I'm not Apple's target market even though I'd gladly spend that much on a pair of headphones.

Speaking of which I can't wait to see the "listen by 3.5 and charge dongle".

 

[deuxani]

These are niche headphones. No question. The price is twice as much as the class-leading Sony XM4's. They are heavy and come with a ridiculous case that isn't going to cut it as a travel case. I don't care how good they potential sound, they are so expensive that most will not pay the extra premium for the SQ. Assuming they offer next level sound to begin with.

I do believe Apple will offer a cheaper version of these next year that will compete with the Sony/Bose of the world.

You don't know if de AirPods Max are in the same class as the Sony XM4's There is a class higher than the XM4's between the €500-1000 range and there are classes even above that. Lets first wait and see/hear if these compete with the Sony XM4's, Bose 700's, etc or if they compete with the ones in the higher class.

And even if these would be in the same league as the XM4's sound quality wise, maybe they are in a completely different league build quality wise. I have the XM3's and the build quality is not great. It's all plastic and sometimes the plastic creaks when you move your head. It's the reason why I wouldn't buy another XM model or Bose as long as it's plastic. I'd rather go for the Bowers & Wilkins PX7

 

[agrawalp86]

I'm thinking of upgrading my 15 year old pair of Grado SR60 to a Grado RS2e. Don't see the battery in the Max lasting 15 years.
Also think it's pretty lame that if I wanted to use the Max with my Sega Genesis, Nintendo Switch, HiFi, or A7S (I don't use Grados on an A7S), I'd have to spend another $35 AND have to worry about charging it while its connected by a cable. Needless to say I'm not Apple's target market even though I'd gladly spend that much on a pair of headphones.

Speaking of which I can't wait to see the "listen by 3.5 and charge dongle".

Add to that the fact that there is no power button. If you forget to carry the case, which I only take out when traveling, there is no way to power them off or put them on low power mode.

 

[CWallace]

As others have noted, there are "premium" wireless headphones from vendors like Bowers & Wilkins, Sennheiser and others that equal or even exceed the MSRP of the AirPods Max. And AirPods Max can be used in a wired configuration via the Lightning to 3.5mm cable so they can be compared to wired "audiophile-grade" headphones and those can reach into the four figures.

Yes, Apple is reaching high and perhaps their reach will exceed their grasp when it comes to pure audio quality. And yes, many will say that at this price point audio quality is all that matters (or should matter). But Apple often looks beyond the "obvious" and includes features that the general public didn't know they wanted or needed until it was made available to them by Apple.

So for many, these will be underperforming compared to similar or even cheaper options. But for others, they will "fit the bill" in terms of audio quality and the other features could be something that convinces them to purchase the Apple model.

I bought Beats Solo3 even though I knew they were not the best-sounding option in their price range based on just about any review one could point to. But a significant number of those reviews noted that even though they were not the "best", they were certainly not "bad" or "poor". They just weren't "best". I found them to be close enough for the music I listened to the Sony and the Bose and the fact that they auto-connect to my iPhone, my iPad, my Macs and my AppleTV without me needing to fiddle with them was the reason I went with them. The convenience of connecting to multiple devices seamlessly was more important than that last few degrees of audio reproduction quality that I noticed across them.

Others mileage may vary.

Also, I think we will see these get cheaper over time just as the HomePod (Max) did. We could see them $150-200 off MSRP via third-party sales just as the HomePod can now be found for $199 and even less on occasion.