AirPods Max reviews are in...

Airpods Max On End Hero
Airpods Max On End Hero (Image credit: Joseph Keller / iMore)

What you need to know

  • Creators have started pushing out their AirPods Max reviews, here's what they had to say.

Several creators have started pushing out their AirPods Max reviews, here's a roundup of the very latest.

MKBHD

Marques Brownlee says that Apple's AirPods Max fall squarely in the category of 'luxury listening' headphones as opposed to a pair of studio headphones you might use for production and referencing. Despite this, he notes that they tick off a very unique set of boxes in the headphone world that make them stand out from the crowd. He also says that they sound "really, really good" and have excellent noise canceling. They are a bit on the heavy side, however, and Brownlee also noted that the smart case they ship with is "pretty dumb".

Dave Lee

Lee says that the AirPods Max are "the best headphones that Apple has ever made", but described the price tag as "pretty fierce."

Max Tech

Max Tech notes that whilst they knew Apple's AirPods Max wouldn't sound bad at $549, they were surprised about how good the separation of music and instruments would be through single drivers and how wide the sound stage would be.

Financial Times

The AirPods Max are startlingly beautiful, engineered to a scintillating standard, a good deal more comfortable than most competitors, and innovative in both practical and geeky ways. The sound is wonderfully loud and beefy, smooth, dignified and deep. My only quibble being that the bass is so massive that it's a bit too much for me. 

Apple released its AirPods Max headphones on December 8, and many are already shipping to customers. Despite many raised eyebrows over the $549 price tag, most stores are showing shipping times of up to three months for the headphones. Unfortunately for some Canadian customers, an ongoing UPS mixup means some customers have had their shipments returned to Apple marked "hazardous materials."

Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design. Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9