Looking forward to the AirPods Max 2? You may need to wait until late next year to charge with USB-C

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The AirPods Max 2 are rumored to receive a USB-C upgrade, new color options, and not much else.

AirPods Max
(Image credit: Future)

If you bought the AirPods Max a few years ago and feel like new AirPods are outshining them, you may be waiting a while to catch up. A recent report suggests that the AirPods Max could receive an upgrade in the next 12 months and, with how great the AirPods Pro 2 are, it needs it. 

Originally released way back in 2020, the AirPods Max are starting to show their age. With the older Apple H1 chip, the new AirPods Pro 2nd gen outperforms these headphones in many key areas like battery life and some unique audio upgrades.. In his weekly newsletter, Power On, Mark Gurman reported that, in 2024, the new AirPods Max would get ‘ a USB-C port and fresh colors. There won’t be other major changes, but it shows Apple is still committed to this product, which hasn’t been updated since 2020.’

This information could always change over the next year but, as of right now, it suggests we won’t see the next release of AirPods Max get the H2 chip present in AirPods Pro 2nd generation.

About time — iMore’s Take

Though we’re glad to see some extra support for a pretty great pair of headphones, it’s a little disappointing that they may not receive any hardware upgrades alongside the USB-C port. The H2 chip present in AirPods Pro 2nd gen enables better battery life, active noise cancellation, and some cool features like transparency mode, which allows you to listen to your surroundings with the pods in. These are all present in AirPods Max but only as good as they could be back in 2020. 

By the time the AirPods Max 2 will reportedly launch, it will have been four years since the first generation. The AirPods Pro 2nd gen saw a USB-C refresh this year but it has only been one year since the 2nd generation launched with Lightning in 2022. If AirPods Max 2 do launch next year, I hope Apple goes for a bigger upgrade, rather than a small refresh. If not, will new colors be nice enough to make up for it?

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James Bentley
James Bentley

James is a staff writer and general Jack of all trades at iMore. With news, features, reviews, and guides under his belt, he has always liked Apple for its unique branding and distinctive style. Originally buying a Macbook for music and video production, he has since gone on to join the Apple ecosystem with as many devices as he can fit on his person. 

With a degree in Law and Media and being a little too young to move onto the next step of his law career, James started writing from his bedroom about games, movies, tech, and anything else he could think of. Within months, this turned into a fully-fledged career as a freelance journalist. Before joining iMore, he was a staff writer at Gfinity and saw himself published at sites like TechRadar, NME, and Eurogamer. 

As his extensive portfolio implies, James was predominantly a games journalist before joining iMore and brings with him a unique perspective on Apple itself. When not working, he is trying to catch up with the movies and albums of the year, as well as finally finishing the Yakuza series. If you like Midwest emo music or pretentious indie games that will make you cry, he’ll talk your ear off.