Apple Pulls December Surprise With $549 Over-Ear AirPods Max Intro

After staking a commanding lead in the true wireless earbud category with two versions of in-ear AirPods ($159 and $249), Apple took an old-school turn with Tuesday’s announcement of the $549 AirPods Max over-ear headphones. AirPods Max have an Apple H1 chip built into each ear cup and use “computational audio” from the chips’ 10 audio cores -- capable of 9 billion operations per second -- to provide adaptive equalization, active noise cancellation, a transparency mode and spatial audio, said the company. Adaptive EQ adjusts sound to the fit and seal of the ear cushions by measuring the sound signal delivered to a user and adjusting the low and mid-frequencies in real time, it said. Like competing models, AirPods Max have a transparency mode that allows users to listen to music while hearing the surrounding environment. The spatial audio feature tracks the motion of a user’s head and how the device is paired with the headphones, compares the motion data, and then remaps the sound field so it stays anchored to the device -- even as the user’s head moves, Apple said. It calls the experience “theaterlike” for content recorded in 5.1- and 7.1-channel audio and Dolby Atmos. Automatic switching enables users to take a call when listening to music on a Mac, iPad or iPhone; audio sharing allows two sets of AirPods to share music or content from Apple TV 4K. The headphones can be voice-controlled by Siri. Apple is taking preorders for the headphones, slated for Dec. 15 shipping. It didn’t respond to questions on whether it’s continuing to develop the Beats by Dre headphones line. GlobalData analyst Rupantar Guha said AirPods Max will "substantially tighten [Apple's] grip" on the hearables market and are a direct challenge to audio brands AKG, Bose, Bowers & Wilkins, Sennheiser and Sony. Previous AirPods benefited from "impressive interoperability" with Apple-branded devices, he said. Apple didn’t respond to questions on whether it’s continuing to develop the company's Beats by Dre headphones line.