Technologies

AirPods Max 2 vs. AirPods Max: Is the Overdue Upgrade Worth It?

After a long wait, Apple has unveiled the AirPods Max 2. Here’s my full skinny on all the performance and feature upgrades the new model offers.

Apple’s AirPods Max 2 will be available to order starting March 25 in midnight, starlight, orange, purple and blue, and begin shipping in early April. Announced out of the blue on March 16, the new over-ear AirPods were greeted with mixed reactions on social-media platforms, with some pundits excited to see them finally getting a meaningful upgrade after several years. Others lamented that they cost $549 when Apple’s new Macbook Neo — a full-fledged laptop — could be had for as little as $500 with Apple’s education-pricing discounts.

The AirPods Max’s high price was a source of contention when the original model launched in 2020, but that didn’t stop people from buying them and helped set a new benchmark for pricing for premium noise-canceling headphones (top models from Bose, Sony and Bowers & Wilkins have all received price hikes in recent years). The list price for the AirPods Max 2 hasn’t changed from the original, and neither has the design. But the new headphones are now powered by Apple’s H2 chip rather than the H1, which brings the Max up to date with other AirPods models, including the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3 and AirPods 4.

Read more: Best Headphones of 2026

That appears to be the biggest difference between the Max 2 and the Max 1, which was updated with USB-C connectivity in September 2024 and USB-C audio in 2025 (with a firmware update). But it’s a big difference, as the more powerful H2 chip brings a host of new features and some performance upgrades. And there are also a few other small but notable upgrades. Let’s have a look at just what all those are.

What are the AirPods Max 2 performance upgrades?

Better active noise canceling (ANC): Apple says the Max 2 offers 1.5x more effective noise canceling. Interestingly, that jump isn’t as big as the jumps in noise-canceling performance that the AirPods Pro made when moving from the original AirPods Pro to the AirPods Pro 2 (2x better) to the AirPods Pro 3 (also 2x better or 4x better than the AirPods Pro’s noise canceling).
Cleaner sound: The Max 2 has a new “high-dynamic range amplifier for even cleaner audio,” according to Apple.
Improved spatial audio: Apple says that spatial audio content sounds “better than ever, with improved localization of instruments, more accurate and consistent bass response and more natural-sounding mids and highs.”
Even more natural transparency mode: Thanks to a new digital signal processing algorithm optimized for H2 and the microphone array on AirPods Max, Apple says the Max 2’s transparency mode (which allows you to hear the outside world) sounds even more natural.
Better voice-calling performance (maybe): While Apple didn’t mention anything about upgraded microphones, voice-calling performance should be slightly improved, thanks to more advanced computational audio (powered by the H2 chip) that better filters out background noise while homing in on your voice during calls. That said, this is something I’ll have to test. Apple’s Voice Isolation feature exists for the Max 1, but the H2 chip does provide more processing power.

What are the AirPods Max 2 feature upgrades?

The Max 2 now has most of the same features as Apple’s latest earbuds, including the following:

Adaptive Audio: Based on the noise levels in your environment, the Max 2 automatically adjusts the levels of ANC and transparency to optimize the audio experience.
Conversation Awareness: When you start speaking to someone, the volume of whatever you’re listening to is reduced, and the headphones enter transparency mode so you can have a conversation without taking the headphones off.
Studio-quality audio recording: Allows you to record content with higher-quality audio and a more natural vocal texture (Apple pitches this feature toward content creators).
Camera Remote: You can capture content at a distance by pressing the Digital Crown to take a photo and start or stop video recording while using the Camera app or compatible third-party camera apps on iPhone or iPad.
Live Translation: Allows for near real-time translations of what people are saying in another language.
Loud Sound Reduction: ANC automatically kicks in to prevent exposure to loud environmental noise while preserving the sound signature of what you’re listening to.
Personalized Volume: Your listening experience is automatically fine-tuned based on your preferences over time.
Siri interactions: You can respond to Siri announcements by simply nodding your head yes or shaking your head no.

What’s the same between the AirPods Max and Max 2

Design: The Max 2 has the same design and dimensions as the Max (they both weigh 13.6 ounces or 386.2 grams).
Case: It comes with the same protective smart case.
Color options: It’s available in the same five color options.
Battery life: It’s rated at up to 20 hours with noise canceling for both models.
USB-C audio: They both support 24-bit/48kHz lossless audio when connected with the included USB-C cable.
Low latency: Playing iOS, MacOS and iPadOS games in Game Mode reduces audio latency when using the Max and Max 2.

How much of an upgrade is the AirPods Max 2 compared to the AirPods Max?

You can criticize Apple for not doing an even more substantial AirPods Max 2 upgrade inside and out, with an updated design and perhaps new drivers. And some folks, like me, were hoping that the next AirPods Max would be the first AirPods to include its upcoming H3 chip, rumored to be in development.

All that said, it was getting a bit ridiculous that Apple’s pricey flagship over-ear headphones didn’t at least have the H2 chip, which first appeared in the AirPods Pro 2 in 2022. The addition of the H2 is certainly welcome and could make the headphones, which already sounded excellent and had very good noise-canceling, as much as 20% better when you factor in the performance and feature upgrades. But I’ll withhold my final verdict until I get my hands on the AirPods Max 2 and A/B test them against the original.

It will be interesting to see where pricing shakes out for the Max as it’s phased out. They currently cost $450 or $99 off their list price, but we could see that price drop even more. If you’re sold on getting the AirPods Max, the Max 2 are likely worth getting for the improvements. If you can’t afford the $549 price, I suspect that in the not-so-distant future, sites like Amazon will offer discounts that initially shave $30 off the Max 2’s price and gradually bring the price down closer to $500.

Technologies

Anthropic warns investors of AI’s ‘existential risk to humanity’ in IPO prospectus, reports say

Anthropic’s IPO filing dedicates 80 pages to the risks of AI, nearly double the 48 pages it spends discussing its business plans, according to Reuters.

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Technologies

U.S., Iran hold separate mediator talks as Mideast oil exports hit war-time high

Iranian and U.S. officials reportedly met separately with mediators Monday to push for a ceasefire, as Middle Eastern crude exports rebounded to war-time high.

Iranian and U.S. officials reportedly met separately with mediators Monday to push for a ceasefire.

Middle Eastern crude exports rebounded this month to around their highest level since the war began in February.

An outright export ban by Washington on diesel would keep roughly 1.2 million barrels a day at home, and risks overwhelming Gulf Coast storage, according to Kpler.

The building of the destroyed Shajareh Tayebeh primary school is pictured surrounded by rubble in Minab in Iran’s Hormozgan province on August 10, 2026. Six months on, a team of AFP journalists obtained rare access to the school which has remained largely in ruins, its collapsed walls and twisted steel now surrounded by portraits of the children killed as Iranian flags flutter above the rubble. Iran says the attack on the school involved two separate US Tomahawk missiles but neither the United States nor Israel has officially claimed responsibility for the strike. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images) /

Atta Kenare | Afp | Getty Images

U.S. and Iranian officials have reportedly held separate indirect talks with mediators on Monday, reviving efforts to end seven months of war as Tehran presses for a response to a revised ceasefire framework and Middle East crude exports climb to their highest level since the conflict began.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Qatari mediators in New York, where he remained after the United Nations General Assembly, and reportedly said he expects Washington’s reply by Tuesday. “We talked about ideas and how to find solutions to fulfil Iran’s conditions,” Araghchi said, adding that he planned to return to Tehran once a response arrives. “Whenever the Qataris have a response, they know how to get it to us.”

Iran’s proposal, first presented on the sidelines of last week’s General Assembly, calls for a four- to five-day U.S. timeline to release frozen Iranian funds, lift sanctions on Iranian oil and end the naval blockade of Iranian ports, with nuclear talks beginning within seven days. Tehran has tied any reopening of the Strait of Hormuz to those steps.

President Donald Trump had on Sunday called the plan “unacceptable” and rejected it, telling reporters Iran wants a swift deal because of the economic pressure it is under. Speaking at the White House Monday, Trump said U.S. officials had spoken separately with mediators but gave no further details, adding: “We’re going to win. It’s going to go pretty quickly.”

The diplomatic push comes as physical supply data shows the war’s toll on the oil market easing. Middle Eastern crude exports rebounded this month to around their highest level since the war began in February, Kpler data showed. “Middle East crude exports at just under 80% of pre-conflict levels,” the tracking firm said in a note on Monday.

The Strait of Hormuz itself remains far from normal. Kpler’s real-time tracking showed total clearance through the strait at 10,591 kilobarrels a day on Saturday, against a pre-war baseline of 17,133.

Technologies

Oil prices fall as crude exports recover at Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea ports

Saudi Arabia has restored flows through the pipeline to around 3.5 million barrels per day, according to media reports.

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