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AirPods Pro 3 vs. AirPods Max Buyer's Guide: 30+ Differences Compared
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What’s next, iMac vs. Apple Pencil Buyer’s Guide: 14 Differences Compared?
1. Screen: iMac boasts a stunning 24-inch 4.5K Retina display for binge-watching cat videos in glorious detail. Apple Pencil? Zero screen. It's blind as a bat and relies on your iPad to see anything.
2. Processor: iMac packs an M4 chip with up to 16-core CPU for rendering 3D models or editing 8K footage. Pencil? Powered by... your hand's vague enthusiasm. No CPU, just vibes.
3. Memory (RAM): iMac offers 8GB to 32GB unified memory for multitasking like a boss. Pencil has 0GB—it's got the memory of a goldfish, forgetting your last stroke immediately.
4. Storage: iMac: 256GB to 8TB SSD for hoarding every meme ever. Pencil: Stores nothing but graphite dust and existential dread.
5. Ports: iMac has four Thunderbolt 4 ports, Ethernet, and headphone jack for all your cable spaghetti needs. Pencil: One magnetic attachment point and a USB-C port that's mostly for charging while you cry about battery life.
6. Keyboard/Mouse: iMac bundles a Magic Keyboard and Mouse—full QWERTY glory. Pencil: No input devices; it's the input device, awkwardly.
7. Weight: iMac weighs 12.3 lbs (5.6 kg)—a hefty desk anchor. Pencil: 0.49 oz (14g)… Lighter than your regrets after impulse-buying it.
8. Dimensions: iMac: 21.5 x 19.6 x 7.4 inches—a mini-fridge for creatives. Pencil: 6.3 x 0.35 inches. Fits in your ear like a deranged AirPod.
9. Build Material: iMac: Recycled aluminum in fun colors (silver, blue, green). Pencil: Matte plastic with a glossy tip.
10. Cooling: iMac has fans that whisper like ASMR. Pencil: Air-cooled by default (it's mostly air).
11. Battery Life: iMac: Plugged in forever, no drama. Pencil: 12 hours of scribbling before it ghosts you mid-sketch.
12. Multitasking: iMac juggles 50 tabs, Photoshop, and a Zoom call. Pencil: Handles one line at a time. Try drawing 10 circles at the same time and watch it betray you.
13. Software Support: iMac runs macOS. Pencil: runs ApplePencilOS, or is there such a thing?
14. Find My Integration: iMac can be located if stolen (via iCloud). Pencil: Nope—lose it under the couch, and it's gone forever.
1. Screen: iMac boasts a stunning 24-inch 4.5K Retina display for binge-watching cat videos in glorious detail. Apple Pencil? Zero screen. It's blind as a bat and relies on your iPad to see anything.
2. Processor: iMac packs an M4 chip with up to 16-core CPU for rendering 3D models or editing 8K footage. Pencil? Powered by... your hand's vague enthusiasm. No CPU, just vibes.
3. Memory (RAM): iMac offers 8GB to 32GB unified memory for multitasking like a boss. Pencil has 0GB—it's got the memory of a goldfish, forgetting your last stroke immediately.
4. Storage: iMac: 256GB to 8TB SSD for hoarding every meme ever. Pencil: Stores nothing but graphite dust and existential dread.
5. Ports: iMac has four Thunderbolt 4 ports, Ethernet, and headphone jack for all your cable spaghetti needs. Pencil: One magnetic attachment point and a USB-C port that's mostly for charging while you cry about battery life.
6. Keyboard/Mouse: iMac bundles a Magic Keyboard and Mouse—full QWERTY glory. Pencil: No input devices; it's the input device, awkwardly.
7. Weight: iMac weighs 12.3 lbs (5.6 kg)—a hefty desk anchor. Pencil: 0.49 oz (14g)… Lighter than your regrets after impulse-buying it.
8. Dimensions: iMac: 21.5 x 19.6 x 7.4 inches—a mini-fridge for creatives. Pencil: 6.3 x 0.35 inches. Fits in your ear like a deranged AirPod.
9. Build Material: iMac: Recycled aluminum in fun colors (silver, blue, green). Pencil: Matte plastic with a glossy tip.
10. Cooling: iMac has fans that whisper like ASMR. Pencil: Air-cooled by default (it's mostly air).
11. Battery Life: iMac: Plugged in forever, no drama. Pencil: 12 hours of scribbling before it ghosts you mid-sketch.
12. Multitasking: iMac juggles 50 tabs, Photoshop, and a Zoom call. Pencil: Handles one line at a time. Try drawing 10 circles at the same time and watch it betray you.
13. Software Support: iMac runs macOS. Pencil: runs ApplePencilOS, or is there such a thing?
14. Find My Integration: iMac can be located if stolen (via iCloud). Pencil: Nope—lose it under the couch, and it's gone forever.
The tech is too expensive. I’d never drop $1k NZ on a set of headphones from a tech co. My Grado open ear cans were cheaper and hand assembled by a family owned company.
Yeah, but they are comfortable and I have trouble with in-ear buds. I mean, some people just prefer over-ear headphones and Airpods Max are the most comfortable I've used (which is really subjective).
But for me, comfort > features (and even sound quality). And APM still sound *really* good.
It’s amazing to me in a world where both Sony and Bose have updated their flagship headphones, Apple gets away with charging $549 for FIVE year old technology.
I live in Los Angeles, so there are Apple stores all over. My Bose QC 35 headphones are getting long in the tooth, so I checked out the AirPods Max while my girlfriend was picking up her new iPhone 17 Pro Max a couple of weeks ago. The build quality and sound seemed very good, but they were quite a bit heavier than what I'm used to. Nevertheless, I was interested and left the store thinking I'd do a little research before ordering them.
I'm glad I didn't buy them, because I quickly learned that other than a refresh of colors, they are essentially the same hardware released five years ago.
There's apparently no power switch. The headphones go to sleep if they're not moving for a while, but I need them for home and travel and the only way to guarantee they'll go to sleep is to put them in their soft case, which looks like a handbag or a bra. The headband is always exposed, and the headphones don't fold, so they would take up significantly more room in my carry-on bag.
I therefore decided to wait until this morning when the Bose QC Ultra 2nd Gen was released, and ordered one of those instead. They're not cheap, either, but still about $100 less than the Apple headphones.
Thank you for the information. I'll definitely keep that in mind should I decide to buy them in the future.
I bought some AirPods Max recently and travelled from Australia to the UK with them. I couldn’t wear them on the plane for longer than an hour as the weight of them caused severe pain in my ears and jaw. What is it with Apple trying to put so much pressure on our heads? Perhaps they want to cause some damage so we don’t know how bad Apple Intelligence is 😂.
Buy them from the Apple Store online, doublecheck but I’m pretty sure Apple stores globally have a really great returns policy even if you’ve opened them up and use them. Just make sure they’re not damaged.
They definitely have 40mm drivers.
Say what you will about them (over priced, expensive, badly designed head band, and useless case), but the sound quality is excellent.
And with people who wear them in airports… they’re either in noise cancellation mode to get the incredible sound, or they’re in transparency mode such that you have to turn the volume way up to hear anything because nothing is being blocked out… in either case, the lack of situational transparency (edit — AWARENESS) would make me nervous (tho I’m amazed walking around in Seattle with people who are so engrossed on their phone that if I hasn’t stepped to the side at the last possible minute, we would’ve run into one another — and they didn’t even notice).
I guess you could keep them in transparency mode and keep the volume down, but then what’s the point of having them (edit — wearing then in a crowded environment) now instead of AirPods or APP.
And I LOVE my APM, too… wear them all day and use them for calls and Zoom. but when traveling leave them at home. They just don’t fold up compact enough for them to fit in my laptop case that is already carrying so much electronics (and countries where you have to still take out everything for security at airports… ugh that’s so annoying).
I definitely prefer AirPods Pro/ normal AirPods than over the head headphones. Would like to see AirPods in different colors too.
I was lucky enough to try them in the Apple Store in Amsterdam. Absolutely loved them. The feeling of putting them on and to have the murmur inside the store disappear was something else. They sounded really good too, not sure that H1 chip is the horror some make it out to be.
I had the Beats Studio Pros but they literally fell apart after a few years. The leather/foam on the earpods had started to deteriorate before that.
That was 5 years or so ago and since then I’ve only used Airpods, both the normal ones and the pros. The Airpods don’t really hurt me but when I take them out after a few hours my ears feel like I still have them in. I don’t think they sound all that great too.
As nice as the Airpods Max are, there are cheaper alternatives out there, which are much lighter as well. Wife and daughter have Sony over ears, the version 4s I think. I think Sony is on version 6 now but you can still buy the v4s new. You can probably buy 3 sets of them for the price of the Airpods Max.
I've had my Airpod Pro series 3s now for a week and the noise cancellation sucks. It's not nearly as good as my series 2 or series 1 Airpod Pros. Apple promised a 50% improvement but I'm getting a 50% worse noise cancellation. Tried all 5 tips for those who may ask.
I'm going out of town this weekend so maybe I'll look for an Apple Store there. I really want to try them, weight and all. I heard they sound amazing. Thanks for the information.
I don't believe this in any way.
What are you talking about? Apple intentionally causing harm? To mask Apple's problems? These statements lack any credibility and are so disingenuous. The new norm here on the MacRumors forums.