The AirPods Max launched in 2020 – 5 years ago, and the only update we’ve seen in that time is a color-refresh and a shift to USB-C. Now sure, headphones aren’t the kind of devices that need replacing every 2-3 years the way you would with smartphones, but I really think it’s time for a Gen2 AirPods Max… because Apple’s come a long way since 2020.
In the past few years, Apple has made a push for the metaverse (or spatial computing as they say) but more notably, the company has also launched its own AI service, dubbed Apple Intelligence. Apple Intelligence lets you achieve a variety of tasks, outpacing Siri by large magnitudes in its ability to search for information, generate content, and even set up commands/tasks/schedules. It’s the kind of AI that the AirPods Max would benefit massively from – which is why Felix Schwamkrug decided to build it into his version of the Apple AirPods Max 2.
Designer: Felix Schwamkrug
The second iteration of the AirPods Max retains the same pebble-inspired can design, with a minimalist overall appearance. There are a few notable changes, though. For starters, the headphones sport the Apple logo on the earpieces, something Apple wouldn’t be caught dead doing. However, personally I think it looks nice. All of Apple’s flagship devices have the logo – the iPhone, MacBook, iMac, Mac Mini, iPad, so why not the AirPods Max. Sure, the smaller AirPods are too tiny to sport the logo, but hell, even the iPod Shuffle had the Apple logo on it, so why not the AirPods Max?
Other clear visual changes can be found in the headphone’s headband – which goes from the woven-style build to something more robust, sporting a hard outer plastic shell and a padded inner cushion. The previous AirPods Max were known to be on the heavier side due to their use of metal, so the plastic headband helps cut weight without cutting out on aesthetics.
The Gen2 headphones also ditch the rotating crown found on their predecessor for a two-part interface, comprising of a touchpad as well as a button. The touchpad lets you swipe up or down to increase volume or side by side to skip songs. Unlike the crown that can register accidental input, this recessed touchpad offers much more protection against accidentally brushing against a crown and having your music volume bumped up dramatically.
Beside the touchpad is the AirPods Max 2’s pièce de résistance – its Apple Intelligence button. Pressing this will trigger Apple’s internal AI assistant, allowing you to search for songs, set reminders, or probably even curate playlists based on your mood. It’s all pure speculation here, but imagine being able to hit a button on your headphones to set an alarm or a task, or even start a workout without needing to take your phone out of your pocket. Of course, the button serves other purposes too, like answering/rejecting calls or playing/pausing music.
The headphones are pretty perfect on the audio front (which is probably why Apple never updated them), although a few incremental upgrades are in order. For starters, many users noticed condensation inside the headphones after a few days of use – something Apple never really explained in detail. A few tweaks to the architecture should solve that problem. The headphones retain the 40mm drivers with the neodymium ring magnet motor, although the concept now boasts the use of the new H2 chip, which has its own NPU for handling Apple Intelligence tasks.
The AirPods Max 2 is clearly a concept, but it paints a much-needed picture of what version 2.0 of Apple’s flagship headphones should look like. Felix rendered the headphones in 3 colorways, although I personally could use a few more – maybe some reds, greens, and that gorgeous orange colorway that Apple announced last year!
