00:00:05
[Applause]
00:00:08
I bought
00:00:11
them okay old airpods Max new airpods
00:00:16
Max this is what's changed between these
00:00:19
and these colors and USBC charging
00:00:23
that's it or at least we think that's it
00:00:26
which brings me on to one of the reasons
00:00:28
I've bought the new airpods Max because
00:00:30
some of you may be thinking why have you
00:00:32
done that yeah I made a video about
00:00:33
these last week where I said why didn't
00:00:35
Apple do more what's going on yada yada
00:00:37
y why have I bought a pair well there's
00:00:39
a few reasons the first one is that a
00:00:41
tiny part of me a little thing up here
00:00:43
somewhere is rattling around saying
00:00:45
maybe they've done some stuff that they
00:00:47
haven't talked about maybe they didn't
00:00:49
have enough time in the keynote to go
00:00:51
into the details you know the tiny
00:00:53
little details they've put into the
00:00:55
latest version of the airpods max to
00:00:57
make them better as an overall pair of
00:01:00
headphones compared to the first
00:01:02
generation maybe that's the case that's
00:01:04
the first thing the second thing is I've
00:01:05
made a list of the things what was it
00:01:07
the second one oh yeah I want to figure
00:01:08
out who should buy these because they're
00:01:10
for sale and for that reason there must
00:01:13
be someone out there who these are made
00:01:15
for so I'll answer that question and the
00:01:17
third thing is oh yeah the third thing
00:01:19
is to see if they excite me enough to
00:01:21
make me want to keep them which sounds
00:01:23
weird but I'm an apple Fanboy and if you
00:01:26
if you know Apple Fanboys we basically
00:01:28
it doesn't take much to get as excited
00:01:30
it takes things like USBC and new colors
00:01:34
I just want to see I mean the plan
00:01:35
basically was to send these back I'll be
00:01:37
completely honest I wasn't going to keep
00:01:38
them now they're here and now I'm
00:01:40
looking at this
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box and the the image of them on there I
00:01:45
want to see if if I want to keep them
00:01:46
the fourth thing is I want to try and
00:01:48
figure out if this is it for airpods Max
00:01:51
is this the last pair we're going to see
00:01:53
or do I think having tried these and
00:01:55
experienced these for nearly four years
00:01:57
or whatever it is do I think Apple are
00:01:59
going to make a differ
00:02:00
better and massively improved pair in
00:02:03
the near future let's get into it let's
00:02:06
unbox the airpods
00:02:08
max I still enjoy unboxing Apple stuff I
00:02:12
really do says on the back airpods max
00:02:15
with smart case so actually the first
00:02:17
thing to mention is the fact that
00:02:19
they're still just called airpods Max
00:02:20
it's not airpods Max 2 airpods Max Pro
00:02:23
airpods Max second generation these are
00:02:26
just airpods max that kind of
00:02:28
illustrates how different they are it
00:02:30
does say oh look it
00:02:32
says USBC they've got USBC so we know
00:02:36
that now I went for the staright color
00:02:38
which is the same color as my 15-in M2
00:02:42
MacBook Air which is nice and that's
00:02:44
part of the reason I'm thinking I might
00:02:45
want to keep them because it's a nice
00:02:46
match that is ridiculous anyway and they
00:02:48
cost me
00:02:50
Ā£499 which is the is exactly the same
00:02:53
price I think I paid back in whenever it
00:02:55
was 1983 when the first pair came out so
00:02:58
let's open the box
00:03:02
oo okay that looks really nice even the
00:03:05
case looks nice it's wrapped in
00:03:07
something or right okay so uh let's get
00:03:09
them out so we'll get the airpods max
00:03:12
out what else do we get in here we get
00:03:14
the leaflets
00:03:16
that no one reads that's not very
00:03:19
exciting no Apple stickers Tim what's
00:03:22
going on why why have they got rid of
00:03:23
the Apple stickers USBC to USBC very
00:03:26
exciting and braided lovely I can't
00:03:28
remember if the first generation airpods
00:03:31
Max these ones came with a power brick
00:03:34
this one doesn't have a power brick in
00:03:35
here at all if you can remember that let
00:03:37
me know in the comments but that is
00:03:39
pretty much what you get in the Box on
00:03:41
to the airpods max now before I get
00:03:43
these out of here the things that I
00:03:45
wanted after I'd been testing these for
00:03:48
several months was it it was the normal
00:03:50
stuff it was a proper case this isn't a
00:03:52
proper case I wanted to Apple to for the
00:03:54
next version to give us a proper case
00:03:56
because this doesn't cover the most
00:03:58
important parts of headphones I wanted a
00:04:00
power button because you can't turn
00:04:02
these on or off they just do it when
00:04:04
they feel like it and when they think is
00:04:06
when when they think is the right time
00:04:07
to turn themselves on and off they have
00:04:09
had firmware updates over the years
00:04:11
which means that has been less of an
00:04:12
issue because the power drain has got
00:04:14
better but it's still nothing like a
00:04:16
pair of sennheisers or Bose or Sonos or
00:04:19
bows and Wilkins headphones that you can
00:04:21
turn off and when you turn them off they
00:04:23
don't use any battery so when you come
00:04:25
back to them a year later they've still
00:04:26
got battery you can't do that with these
00:04:28
so a power button better case the canopy
00:04:31
which is this part here has loosened
00:04:33
over time to the point where they're
00:04:35
quite uncomfortable to wear now I also
00:04:37
wanted them to be a bit lighter they're
00:04:38
very very heavy headphones I wanted
00:04:40
better audio the audio isn't bad on
00:04:42
these but it's not the more headphones
00:04:44
you try the more you realize that it's
00:04:46
not fantastic on these was there
00:04:48
anything else oh yeah the H2 chip so the
00:04:50
latest chip which we get in the latest
00:04:52
version of the airpods and the airpods
00:04:54
pro and a lower price point because
00:04:57
these are so expensive that's what I
00:04:59
wanted this is what we've got so it is
00:05:01
covered in a some sort of paper which
00:05:04
doesn't look like it's going to come off
00:05:05
very easily nope I'm sure there's a
00:05:09
proper way to do that but oh dear oh oh
00:05:11
what have I done what have I
00:05:13
done that wasn't the way you're supposed
00:05:16
to do that this kind of sums up the
00:05:17
airpods max
00:05:19
experience oh no I've made a right mess
00:05:22
I've made such a mess hasn't even like
00:05:24
that's not a great unboxing experience
00:05:26
unless I'm just a an absolute idiot okay
00:05:30
so here they are in Starlight which is
00:05:32
basically from the looks of it if I can
00:05:34
show you here looks to me cream really a
00:05:38
very nice attractive cream color yeah
00:05:41
okay the case is it any different in
00:05:43
terms of the quality of the case because
00:05:47
the problem with this one is that it
00:05:48
smudges it gets very smudgy very quickly
00:05:51
and it doesn't feel very nice it feels
00:05:53
the same if you're still watching this I
00:05:55
can guarantee there's people saying oh
00:05:56
what was the point of making this this
00:05:57
could have been a tweet I had that the
00:05:59
other day just I won't even get involved
00:06:01
in that you don't have to watch this you
00:06:02
can go and watch something else if you
00:06:04
want to stick around you're awesome okay
00:06:07
uh so the case is it's just the same
00:06:11
it's just the same okay so that's not
00:06:13
changed the okay I forgot this happen
00:06:15
yeah this is this is the same unboxing
00:06:17
experience experience I remember this
00:06:19
now we have these little
00:06:21
protective packaging covers take those
00:06:24
out um and there they are the Starlight
00:06:28
airpods Max and if you weren't aware you
00:06:30
can just go like that to take off the
00:06:33
cushions you can buy these by the way my
00:06:35
podcast co-host Rob on the a26 podcast
00:06:38
if you haven't checked that out yet
00:06:39
there's a link down in in the
00:06:41
description he noted that if you've got
00:06:43
the old airpods Max and you want to
00:06:45
update them a bit and you know refresh
00:06:46
them a little bit you could just buy the
00:06:48
replacement ear cups and do that you
00:06:50
know for instance you could take these
00:06:53
and put put the right one on you could
00:06:55
do that which looks really silly but if
00:06:59
you pick the right color that might be
00:07:00
worth it possibly Rob's advice not mine
00:07:03
uh cuz they are about 70 quid or
00:07:05
something so yeah they look the same
00:07:07
they feel the same they're a lovely pair
00:07:09
of headphones in terms of the design
00:07:11
they are beautiful uh you know my
00:07:13
favorite part is the telescopic what's
00:07:16
it called it's just the arm thing that
00:07:17
you use I'll tell you what that feels
00:07:19
very um compared to these ones oh
00:07:21
they're so stiff they are ridiculously
00:07:24
stiff compared to these I wonder if
00:07:27
that's just age possibly that feels a
00:07:29
little bit rough
00:07:31
rough think I prefer this there's more
00:07:34
resistance there these
00:07:36
ones they're a bit looser not as keen on
00:07:39
that interesting the canopy obviously is
00:07:41
fine here because it's new but will it
00:07:44
get like that in the future you know
00:07:47
that's annoying and they haven't fixed
00:07:49
that have they
00:07:51
oh no they haven't that's gone all
00:07:53
fluffy as you can see there over time
00:07:56
will that go fluffy who knows Okay so so
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yeah they're the same pair of headphones
00:08:01
because of course they are the next
00:08:03
thing I want to do is try the audio do
00:08:05
they sound oh I haven't even looked at
00:08:07
the USBC Port it's got a USBC Port look
00:08:10
they've got
00:08:11
USBC okay that's that done yeah the next
00:08:14
thing is sound do they sound any
00:08:16
different do they sound any different to
00:08:19
these okay so connect this by the way is
00:08:22
my iPhone 15 Pro Max I've done a first
00:08:25
impressions video of it which I'll link
00:08:26
to at the end of this video so you can
00:08:27
go and check that out but let's use this
00:08:29
as the playing device to test these two
00:08:32
pairs of headphones so we're all set up
00:08:35
let's start with what it makes more
00:08:37
sense to start with the old pair doesn't
00:08:39
it let's let's try these first if you're
00:08:41
interested I'm using Sledgehammer by
00:08:43
Peter Gabriel which is my goto test
00:08:45
track for headphones I can't play you
00:08:47
any of that so while I'm doing this Nile
00:08:50
cue the incidental music
00:08:53
[Music]
00:09:01
okay new airpods
00:09:04
[Music]
00:09:11
Max no they sound exactly the same okay
00:09:14
so the sound is the same the Design's
00:09:16
the same the case is the same colors are
00:09:18
different the USBC is different because
00:09:20
it's not lightning they're the same pair
00:09:22
of headphones aren't they I kind I knew
00:09:24
this was going to happen I there was
00:09:26
honestly a bit of me that thought maybe
00:09:29
maybe they're different in some way
00:09:30
maybe they are a little bit they're not
00:09:32
they're not at all they're just not
00:09:33
they're just a different they're
00:09:34
different color and you can you can
00:09:35
charge them as you can charge every
00:09:37
other device with USBC so what what were
00:09:39
my other questions I needed to answer so
00:09:41
the next question was who should buy
00:09:43
them I think if who should buy these cuz
00:09:46
people are buying them aren't they
00:09:47
people are buying them if you absolutely
00:09:49
love Apple if you're looking at these
00:09:51
now and you're
00:09:52
thinking they look lovely and you keep
00:09:55
seeing people wearing them and you're
00:09:56
thinking I want a pair of them and
00:09:58
you've got the money if you've got 500
00:10:00
quid 400 no
00:10:03
$559 as it is in the states to spend on
00:10:06
these then go for it but please just
00:10:10
have a little look at what else is
00:10:11
available just have a little peek at the
00:10:13
other stuff out there and you can check
00:10:15
out my channel there's a playlist full
00:10:16
of headphone reviews of headphones which
00:10:18
are considerably cheaper than these and
00:10:21
considerably better as well they're not
00:10:23
as well designed these do have the best
00:10:25
transparency mode ever I've ever tried
00:10:27
very good for taking calls they also
00:10:29
have all of the Apple ecosystem stuff
00:10:31
which is fantastic but that's about it
00:10:33
really but if you are that sort of
00:10:34
person who just wants them get them I'm
00:10:36
not who am I to say to you that's a bad
00:10:38
purchase it's not if you buy them and
00:10:40
and enjoy them fantastic what was my
00:10:42
next question so that's who should buy
00:10:43
them everyone else should just do lots
00:10:45
of shopping around and look at other
00:10:46
other headphones do they excite me
00:10:48
enough to keep them
00:10:51
uh it's a lot of money isn't it 500 quid
00:10:55
stay tuned I'll come back to you on that
00:10:57
hit subscribe hit the Bell not to future
00:10:59
videos about the airpods max the last
00:11:02
question was uh I want to try and figure
00:11:05
out if basically is Apple going to make
00:11:07
another pair of airpods Max call them
00:11:10
airpods Max 2 for instance and release
00:11:13
them fairly soon if they do it's not
00:11:15
going to be for a long time these feel
00:11:17
like they're just making them because
00:11:18
they can and because people are buying
00:11:20
them and they've got a production
00:11:22
process that just works and is very
00:11:24
profitable I would I would guess they're
00:11:25
not in any danger of taking over the the
00:11:27
iPhone uh in terms of sales but I bet
00:11:30
they're a big seller and Apple is very
00:11:33
very smart with this sort of stuff they
00:11:35
know that if they refresh the colors as
00:11:36
they do with the iPhone quite often they
00:11:38
have like a spring refresh with the with
00:11:40
the color for the iPhone it increases
00:11:42
sales that is almost definitely going to
00:11:44
happen with these because most people
00:11:46
don't care about a lot of this stuff
00:11:48
they just want the nice shiny airpods
00:11:50
the tragedy with this is the fact that
00:11:52
these are the new airpods 4 the airpods
00:11:55
4 with active noise cancelling these are
00:11:57
much better than these yes they they're
00:11:59
a completely different pair of their
00:12:00
earbuds they're not even headphones but
00:12:02
they have the H2 chip in here those have
00:12:05
the H1 chip in there which is the same
00:12:06
chip in the old airpods Macs that are
00:12:09
now nearly four what is it three or four
00:12:11
years really old four years old which
00:12:12
means these can do more stuff so they
00:12:15
have things like conversational
00:12:16
awareness if you're listening to stuff
00:12:18
and you walk up to someone and you start
00:12:20
talking it dips the volume automatically
00:12:22
and then brings it back up when you
00:12:23
finish speaking I made a list of the
00:12:24
things actually the other stuff you get
00:12:26
is voice isolation as well it does that
00:12:28
on telephone calls Siri interactions so
00:12:31
if you're talking to Siri and not to say
00:12:33
yes and shake your head to say no you
00:12:34
can do that with these you can't do that
00:12:36
with them the price the price is
00:12:38
ridiculous anyway I am disappointed I'm
00:12:41
an Apple fan Mass massive Apple fan I
00:12:43
love the stuff they do but I can't get
00:12:45
my head around the excuse the pun these
00:12:48
headphones I can't work out why in the
00:12:50
at the very least they didn't just put
00:12:52
the latest chip in there why don't we
00:12:54
have the H2 chip in here Apple I'd love
00:12:56
to know I actually mentioned this on a
00:12:58
tweet or post whatever about a week ago
00:13:00
I said if if anyone out there from Apple
00:13:02
on the off chance the very off chance
00:13:04
that you are reading this and the same
00:13:06
thing now if you're if you're watching
00:13:07
this and you you work in the airpods
00:13:09
team or the the audio team at Apple and
00:13:11
you you're able to have some you know PR
00:13:14
interactions with people like myself I'd
00:13:16
love to talk to you I'd love to ask a
00:13:17
few questions because we haven't heard
00:13:19
the other side of the story we've only
00:13:20
seen Apple announce these that's it they
00:13:22
haven't said anything about why they
00:13:24
didn't put the H2 there might be a
00:13:26
reason there might be a legitimate
00:13:28
reason why the h 2 chip isn't in the in
00:13:30
the airpods max there might be but we
00:13:32
need I'm firmly of the belief that every
00:13:34
business decision is made for a reason
00:13:36
but we don't know what that reason is so
00:13:38
if you do if you know someone at Apple
00:13:39
then get in touch I'd love to interview
00:13:41
you and just ask a few questions and see
00:13:43
where the airpods max line is going in
00:13:45
the future I will continue to compare
00:13:47
airpods Maxs against other headphones
00:13:49
because I get a lot of requests for that
00:13:51
so that isn't going to change and that's
00:13:52
probably why I need to keep these I
00:13:54
guess but yeah guys let me know what you
00:13:56
think in the comments if you're going to
00:13:57
buy a pair of USB airpods Max let's call
00:14:00
them that if you're not let me know
00:14:02
whatever you're going to do let me know
00:14:03
in the comments let's get involved let's
00:14:04
have a bit of a chat about it if you've
00:14:06
enjoyed this video as always give it a
00:14:07
thumbs up hit subscribe if you haven't
00:14:09
done already hit the bell and hang
00:14:11
around for a link to my first reactions
00:14:14
video of the iPhone 16 Pro Max which I
00:14:17
think you'll find interesting but in the
00:14:19
meantime I'm going to try and figure out
00:14:22
if I'm going to am I going to keep these
00:14:24
they look quite good around your neck
00:14:26
don't they
00:14:29
d
