AirPods Max With Lightning vs. USB-C Buyer's Guide: All Differences Compared

[subjonas]

Electrons cannot travel back in time.

Apparently there’s a theory that that’s what positrons are—time-reversed electrons. They say it’s probably wrong though 🤷‍♂️

 

[SpitUK]

Will this work with Android?

 

[seek3r]

Those latter two listed as "differences", really MR?

To be fair if someone came to this article cold, not a MR regular, knowing that the lightning version is discontinued might influence their purchasing decisions

 

[seek3r]

Feels like someone forgot to drag the feature to the latest sprint and when they cleaned up the project they noticed.

And then “crap, our cleanup script flagged this issue as stale”

 

[jozeppy26]

Anyone know if this will work with a USB-C to Lightning cable? Or only USB-C to USB-C?

I too am wondering this as I am still rocking an iPhone 14 Pro Max.

 

[dampfnudel]

Hopefully Apple will be releasing the next generation AirPods Max within the next 12 months.

 

[Kylo83]

So why couldn’t the usb c to usb c before working with iPhones and Mac I thought it was because the usb c cable didn’t have a dac in them, was it just a software thing

 

[dstyp]

"With the included USB-C cable, users can enjoy the highest-quality audio across music, movies, and games, while music creators can experience significant enhancements to songwriting, beat making, production, and mixing."

Oddly specific writing. Does we think this means that only the included usb-c cable works or any usb-c cable? Maybe Apple already added something to the cable already at release.

 

[TheDailyApple]

the other hand, the USB-C AirPods Max are now the clear choice for audiophiles, creators, or anyone who wants the best possible wired audio quality

Yeah, still no. Most serious audiophiles aren’t likely to spend $549 on over-ear phones that don’t support full analog audio.

Even if they support lossless over usb-c, you’re still dependent on the built in dac, whereas serious audiophiles are likely to want the option to use higher-end dedicated dacs. And if you’re listening to vinyl, you won’t want digital conversion anywhere in the setup at all.

And even for non-audiophiles, I personally can’t conceive spending more than $300 on headphones that are kaput when the battery dies or the digital components are obsolete. Better to spend on phones like sony wh1000xm4/5 or the b&w px7 s2e. Even after everything else goes kaput you’re still left with a capable pair of analog headphones.

 

[Dr.Lee]

[Deleted]

 

[Dr.Lee]

Yeah, still no. Most serious audiophiles aren’t likely to spend $549 on over-ear phones that don’t support full analog audio.

Even if they support lossless over usb-c, you’re still dependent on the built in dac, whereas serious audiophiles are likely to want the option to use higher-end dedicated dacs. And if you’re listening to vinyl, you won’t want digital conversion anywhere in the setup at all.

And even for non-audiophiles, I personally can’t conceive spending more than $300 on headphones that are kaput when the battery dies or the digital components are obsolete. Better to spend on phones like sony wh1000xm4/5 or the b&w px7 s2e. Even after everything else kaput you’re still left with a capable paper of analog headphones.

Nailed it. Although the DACs on iphones are surprisingly good. You wouldnt know it as they yanked the headphone jack to try and force musicians like me to buy their second rate for audio landfill fodder. A bigger issue would be the impedance of the headphones like my Beyer Dynamic 1770s. I would gladly instapay for an iPhone Studio with a high impedance headphone jack like my MacBook Pro has.

 

[Dr.Lee]

So looking at the specs.... and I am not sure if I want to be wrong or not, but it looks like you have to plug the thing in for lossless audio and low latency? Is this a joke? After all these years of folks making fun of wired headphones, you have to spend 550.00 and use a nasty tangly cable ...to get low latency lossless audio from apple, when we had this already when iPhones had a headphone jack? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Please tell me I am not reading this right. God forbid folks find out that old KOSS headphones from 1978 support audio that exceeds 24/196khz.... This is too rich.

 

[Riot Nrrrd]

@Dr.Lee I think my vintage 1976 Sennheiser HD424’s support audio that exceeds 24/192kHz

 

[chargerinthebox]

No space grey or space black equals no purchase.

in a similar vein, no silver equals no purchase. I hope they refresh the airpods max again this time with the older colours.

 

[svish]

I would get the Lightning one if it is available with a significant discount. But it will still be expensive.

 

[oryan_dunn]

I too am wondering this as I am still rocking an iPhone 14 Pro Max.

I got this cable for my Beats Studio Pro so I could use the USB-C input on them with my iPhone 12 Mini

Meenova USB C DAC OTG Cable 4ft/1.2m for iPhone/iPad/iPod Oxygen-Free

[Compatible List]: Already tested device and support it by the buyers: 1. Fiio BTR5/BTR3/BTR3K/Q3s/Q3/KA3. 2. Shanling UA1Pro/UA2/UP2/UP4/UP5. 3. Hiby FC1/FC3/FC5/W1/FD3. 4. nx4 dsd. 5. E1DA 9038G3/9038S. 6. TRASAM/Q1. 7. qudelix 5k. 8. Nuprime Hi-mDAC. 9. Questyle QP2R. 10. Audirect Beam...

www.meenova.com

It should work with the APM as well as it's a standard Lightning to OTG USB-C cable (will not work to charge a Lightning iPhone with a USB-C charger, it's fundamentally different than a "normal" Lightning to USB-C cable).

Link to my Reddit post about this cable

https://www.reddit.com/r/beatsbydre/comments/1hxj6nz/studio_pro_usbc_to_lightning_iphone_single_cable

 

[Distinction78]

Why wasn't the USB-C version launched with lossless support? It looks like that was a planned feature this whole time, and the software just wasn't quite ready yet. Apple is really struggling with their software lately.

More likely that the USB-C version needed to hit a date for EU compliance. But otherwise I don’t think there’s any reason to believe it was supposed to ship earlier.

 

[AlanBeyond]

Apple is ridiculous not giving the USB-C version H2 chip! I want the volume auto adjustment and adaptive mode 😡

 

[Dr.Lee]

@Dr.Lee I think my vintage 1976 Sennheiser HD424’s support audio that exceeds 24/192kHz

Yes!!!!!! 100% Approval!

 

[stealthytolkien]

Is lossless the same as analog?

For example, I have software which adjusts the bass of audio. When I connect my non-Apple headphones likes my Sonys via the 3.5mm connection, there is a clear difference when I adjust the bass. But when I connect my AirPods Max (lightning), it sounds exactly the same regardless of the tuning or connection (BT or 3.5mm), as if Apple is adjusting the audio to their preset.

My understanding is that this is because the AirPods Max do not support an analog connection.

Does this change with the latest firmware updates for the USB-C AirPods Max?

1. Traditionally, yes, analog is lossless. Contextually, no it’s not.

2. USB-C carries a digitally sampled signal. And when it gets to your headphones, the digital to analog conversion will deliver audio to the speakers. So while this lossless refers to a very high number of samples (perceived as lossless to the ear), it’s still a digital signal carried over USB-C from your MacBook. In the past, the 3.5mm to lightning cable carried analog signal, and the cable itself converted it into digital (lightning port on Max needs a digital signal) and then again to analog inside the cans to feed to your speakers.

Hope this helps.

 

[seek3r]

Nailed it. Although the DACs on iphones are surprisingly good. You wouldnt know it as they yanked the headphone jack to try and force musicians like me to buy their second rate for audio landfill fodder. A bigger issue would be the impedance of the headphones like my Beyer Dynamic 1770s. I would gladly instapay for an iPhone Studio with a high impedance headphone jack like my MacBook Pro has.

I mean, FWIW the DAC on the usbc/3.5mm adapter Apple sells is surprisingly good