US Media Criticizes Apple's New AirPods Max: Six Years for an Update, Does Adding a "2" Count as Innovation?

AirPods Max 2

Tech Sina News, Beijing Time March 23 — Bloomberg’s well-known reporter Mark Gurman posted on Sunday criticizing Apple’s new over-ear headphones, AirPods Max 2. He stated that Apple is blurring the line between marketing and genuine innovation. Although the name includes the “2,” indicating a new generation, the upgrade is minimal.

Gurman pointed out that Apple should have updated the AirPods Max long ago. It has been nearly six years since the first-generation AirPods Max was released. Aside from color changes and switching the Lightning port to USB-C to meet EU regulations, there have been almost no improvements.

However, Apple has not made significant breakthroughs with AirPods Max 2, and calling it “AirPods Max 2” essentially sets unrealistic expectations.

Essentially, this update is just replacing the H1 chip with the H2. Rather than being innovative, it’s more about improving efficiency. Apple has already phased out the H1 chip in other product lines. Maintaining H1 solely for Max is costly and unnecessary. Using the H2 chip, already employed in newer AirPods, simplifies manufacturing.

The problem is that the H2 itself isn’t new. It has been around for nearly four years and mainly offers features that AirPods users have enjoyed for years: improved noise cancellation, better sound quality, adaptive audio, and conversation awareness. It also supports some new features like real-time translation and head gesture controls, which work more naturally on in-ear earbuds than on bulky over-ear headphones.

The real issue is the “2” in the name. It implies Apple is treating a maintenance update as a new generation. Historically, such naming usually indicates substantial hardware changes. For example, the AirPods Pro 3’s noise cancellation is far superior to the Pro 2, and it added heart rate monitoring. The “AirPods Max 2” name suggests a leap forward, but in reality, it’s not.

At Apple, the line between marketing and innovation is clearly becoming blurred. Like the earlier USB-C update, this upgrade seems more aimed at maintaining sales than truly advancing the product. Priced at $549 and highly profitable, the AirPods Max is in an awkward middle ground: not popular enough to justify large investments, yet ubiquitous in gyms and TikTok culture, making it difficult for Apple to discontinue easily.

Gurman pointed out that a true second-generation product should have seen bigger upgrades: ditching the much-criticized Smart Case, reducing weight, and improving battery life — none of which happened. Apple was even too lazy to update the color options, merely vaguely promising “new high-dynamic-range amplifiers” without much explanation.

The AirPods Max 2 sees minimal upgrades, with no change in size or weight. Internally, the development code for AirPods Max 2 is unchanged from the first generation and the USB-C version. This underscores how insignificant this update is. (Author: Xiao Yu)

(Editors: Dong Pingping)

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