The Apple AirPods Max are Apple's first pair of wireless over-ear headphones. Unlike other Apple headphones, like the Apple AirPods Pro, which only come in one sleek, white plastic colorway, these over-ears have an aluminum frame with knit padding that comes in several different colors. That said, you can still expect a premium design as well as a powerful noise cancelling (ANC) experience. They also have an adaptive EQ, so the headphones automatically adjust their sound based on the unique shape of your ears, and their H1 chip is great for easy pairing with all of your iOS/iPadOS devices. Unfortunately, there have been a few user issues with build quality. You can't turn the headphones off either, and you can read more about this in our Battery test.
Our Verdict
The Apple AirPods Max are adequate for sports and fitness. Since they're over-ears and made of metal, they're fairly heavy and not very portable. While they're stable enough for upright movements, like pull-downs, they're not necessarily going to stay put if you benchpress or sprint. Their sound profile gives your music a balanced tuning with a warm top-end. Their wireless Bluetooth design ensures cables won't catch on equipment, and if you want ANC to quiet the noise of other people at the gym, it performs very well.
- Great build quality.
- H1 chip for seamless pairing with Apple devices.
- Heavy, bulky design which can be fatiguing to wear.
- Mediocre breathability.
The Apple AirPods Max are great for travel. Their noise isolation is incredible at cutting out environmental noises to make planes, trains, and automobiles quieter. The battery life easily lasts through intercontinental flights without a recharge. It has a sound profile that offers a smooth and weighty bass, an even mid-range, and a warm treble that suits most music genres and movies. They feel decently comfortable, though they're a bit heavy and not very portable.
- Outstanding noise cancelling.
- Great build quality.
- Excellent continuous battery life.
- H1 chip for seamless pairing with Apple devices.
- Heavy, bulky design which can be fatiguing to wear.
- Mediocre breathability.
The Apple AirPods Max are good for office work. Their adaptive noise cancellation does a remarkable job of attenuating keyboard clatter, chit-chat, and ambient din. They're decently comfortable to wear with a long battery life that can last a couple of workdays without a recharge. The sound signature reproduces your audio with a good amount of low-end weight, clear mids, and a warm treble response. Unfortunately, the microphone system and the noise handling struggle to capture your voice accurately and cut out other sounds in the background during a call.
- Outstanding noise cancelling.
- Great build quality.
- Excellent continuous battery life.
- H1 chip for seamless pairing with Apple devices.
- Mic struggles to separate your voice from background noise.
- Mediocre breathability.
Wired connection disables the microphone.
The Apple AirPods Max headphones are Bluetooth-only headphones and, therefore, limited in terms of compatibility with gaming devices. With an Apple device, the A/V sync is better than on Android devices for ensuring your mobile games match the soundtrack, but their overall mic performance is lacking.
The Apple AirPods Max are satisfactory for wired gaming, but their usefulness is limited because their microphone doesn't work when you use them wired. They also need adapters (sold separately) to connect to most analog jacks. Still, their sound offers a balanced low-end and clear mid-range, with a warm top-end that won't cause early fatigue.
- Great build quality.
Wired connection disables the microphone.
The Apple AirPods Max have great audio reproduction accuracy. They're consistent between different people for the most part, though glasses and long hair can break the over-ear seal and reduce the low bass. Nevertheless, the peaks and dips performance indicate that these headphones reproduce a smooth sound. Plus, the bass provides oomph without overwhelming the mostly flat mid-range. The treble sounds warm, albeit slightly dull, depending on the pitch, while higher registers are a bit brighter on cymbal hit harmonics. Their drivers are well-matched and, when pushed at elevated volumes, produce harmonic distortion below what's audible by trained listeners.
The Apple AirPods Max are fantastic for noise isolation. The over-ear design seals your ears well to passively isolate out noise, while the adaptive noise cancellation filters out low rumbles and nearby conversation very well. They leak a little, but in most spaces, neighbors won't hear your audio content.
The Apple AirPods Max are middling for microphone performance. While their mic system captures intelligible speech, it struggles to separate your voice from other voices and background racket.
The Apple AirPods Max have very good frequency response consistency. Most people with large or small heads can expect a similar sound experience. However, people with glasses may find the low-bass rolls off because the frames break the headphones' over-ear seal.
Performance Usages
Changelog
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Updated Mar 12, 2026:
This review has been updated to Test Bench 2.1, which removes the Group Delay test and rebalances scoring for the Harmonic Distortion test and Audio Reproduction Accuracy performance usage. For more details, consult our full changelog.
- Updated Mar 12, 2026: This review has been updated to Test Bench 2.1, which removes the Group Delay test, and rebalances scoring for the Harmonic Distortion test and Audio Reproduction Accuracy performance usage. For more details, consult our full changelog.
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Updated Feb 04, 2026:
We've updated the Sound Profile box with a video recording of a community-reported buzzing issue when removing the headphones from your head.
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Updated Oct 30, 2025:
The Battery section was updated to mention the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen).
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Apple AirPods Max come in several color variants: 'Space Gray,' 'Sky Blue,' 'Pink,' 'Green,' and 'Silver.' We tested the Space Gray variant with the Lightning port, and you can see its label here. We expect each color variant with the Lightning port to perform similarly to our model. In 2024, Apple replaced the Lightning port with a USB-C port and added new colors ('Purple,' 'Blue,' 'Midnight,' 'Starlight,' and 'Orange'). While we expect similar performance on the USB-C variant as the Lightning model, metrics and performance that directly depend on the USB-C port may differ from our results with the Lightning model.
That said, if you're looking to change up the look of your headphones, you can purchase replacement ear cushions in the aforementioned colors directly from the manufacturer.
If you come across another variant, please let us know in the comments, and we'll update our review.
Popular Headphones Comparisons
The Apple AirPods Max are high-end headphones with a premium design. They're the only over-ear headphones by the brand, though Beats are owned by Apple, the Beats Studio Pro Wireless are a bit brighter with less effective ANC, though they can both use the Apple Spatial Audio feature. Thanks to their Adaptive EQ, the AirPods Max can adjust their sound based on their fit and seal on your head. Their noise cancelling feature is also outstanding, although headphones like the Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless still have a slight edge in this regard. They don't turn off, though, and putting them in their carrying case only puts them into a very low-power mode, which can be frustrating if you want to stop your battery life from draining.
For more headphones, check out our recommendations for the best noise cancelling headphones, the best headphones for music, and the best over-ear headphones.
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Wireless have the edge over the Apple AirPods Max if you own an Android device, and it's a bit closer when it comes to Apple devices. While both headphones have a premium feel, the Bose are significantly more comfortable, and their ANC can block out more background noise. Their battery life is a bit longer, and they support multi-device pairing, so you can stay connected to two devices at a time. Their companion app offers sound customization features to help you tweak their sound. They even support aptX Adaptive, a codec that dynamically adapts to your content, giving you better sound quality or lower latency. The Bose and Apple both have spatial audio features to help your audio sound more immersive, and only the Apple headphones have an H1 chip for seamless pairing with iOS devices.
While the Sony WH-1000XM6 are certified Made for iPhone (MFi), the Apple AirPods Max are still the better option for use in the Apple ecosystem. Although the Sony have better performance in most metrics like noise attenuation, microphone quality, and customizability of both function and sound, the AirPods Max have more replicable audio delivery across individuals and between reseats, making their sound reproduction more predictable and consistent. That said, if you're not in the Apple ecosystem, the AirPods Max probably aren't the pick for you, as you'll lose a lot of functionality. If you're on iOS or running macOS, it's a toss-up between the two products, depending on what you prioritize, though it's worth mentioning that you won't have access to head tracking on the Sony outside of Android.
The Apple AirPods Max and the Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless are both great headphones with fantastic noise isolation performance. If you're an iOS user, you'll want to check out the Apple headphones. They have an H1 chip for seamless pairing with Apple devices and bass and mid ranges that more closely match our target with a darker top-end. Meanwhile, the Sony headphones are also more customizable, thanks to their companion app, and their battery lasts longer. You can also connect them via Bluetooth or analog without adapters. That said, the Sony are more plasticky.
The Apple AirPods Max and the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless have different strengths. While both headphones are well-built, the Apple support Spatial Audio (which can help make your audio seem more immersive), and they can block out significantly more background noise. They also have an H1 chip for seamless pairing with your Apple devices. However, the Sennheiser are more comfortable. They also have a significantly longer continuous battery life, have sound customization features, and support multi-device pairing. You can use them passively too. Plus, their app works with Android or iOS devices.
Our How We Test Headphones article takes you behind the scenes in our lab. You'll learn how we choose and purchase products and dive into the details of our review philosophy, from testing and scoring to writing and editing.
You can also discover how we produce recommendations like this one so that you can find the best headphones (or earbuds!) for your needs.
Test Results
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