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Products
Apple AirPods Max
Apple AirPods Pro 2
Tested using Methodology v2.0
Updated Sep 22, 2025 03:42 PM
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Amazon.comTested using Methodology v2.0
Updated Sep 19, 2025 07:29 PM
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BestBuy.com
TypeOver-ear
Noise CancellingYes
EnclosureClosed-Back
Bass AmountSlightly Emphasized (1 dB)
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
Treble AmountUnderemphasized (-4 dB)
MicYes
Sound SignatureWarm
TypeIn-ear
Noise CancellingYes
EnclosureClosed-Back
Bass AmountBalanced (0 dB)
WirelessTruly Wireless
TransducerDynamic
Treble AmountUnderemphasized (-5 dB)
MicYes
Sound SignatureWarm
Our Verdict
Apple AirPods Max
Apple AirPods Pro 2
The Apple AirPods Max and the Apple AirPods Pro 2 have different strengths, so depending on your usage, you may prefer either one. The Max are over-ears with better overall battery life performance. However, the Pro 2 have a more comfortable and stable fit, making them a solid choice if you want to use them for running or working out. The two have a comparable noise isolation performance, with the Pro performing better in common scenarios and the Max excelling across the full range. Both headphones support Apple's Spatial Audio for a more immersive sound, though, and are both equipped with H1/H2 chips for seamless pairing within the Apple ecosystem.
Variants
- AirPods Max (USB-C) (Blue)
- AirPods Max (Lightning) (Green)
- AirPods Max (USB-C) (Midnight)
- AirPods Max (USB-C) (Orange)
- AirPods Max (Lightning) (Pink)
- AirPods Max (USB-C) (Purple)
- AirPods Max (Lightning) (Silver)
- AirPods Max (Lightning) (Sky Blue)
- AirPods Max (Lightning) (Space Gray)
- AirPods Max (USB-C) (Starlight)
- AirPods Pro 2 (White)
- AirPods Pro 2 (USB‑C) (White)
Check Price
Blue
AirPods Max (USB-C)
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Finding storeWhite
AirPods Pro 2
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Finding storeGreen
AirPods Max (Lightning)
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Finding storeWhite
AirPods Pro 2 (USB‑C)
Searching
Finding storeMidnight
AirPods Max (USB-C)
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Finding storeOrange
AirPods Max (USB-C)
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Finding storePink
AirPods Max (Lightning)
Searching
Finding storePurple
AirPods Max (USB-C)
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Finding storeSilver
AirPods Max (Lightning)
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Finding storeSky Blue
AirPods Max (Lightning)
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Finding storeSpace Gray
AirPods Max (Lightning)
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Finding storeStarlight
AirPods Max (USB-C)
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Finding storeMain Differences forSports And Fitness
Sports And Fitness
Threshold
Sports And Fitness
6.9
7.9
Portability
6.0
9.6
Stability
6.5
7.5
Comfort
7.0
7.5
Full Comparison
Sound
Sound Profile
Sound Profile
Normalization Frequency
1,250 Hz
600 Hz
Bass Amount
Slightly Emphasized (1 dB)
Balanced (0 dB)
Treble Amount
Underemphasized (-4 dB)
Underemphasized (-5 dB)
Sound Signature
Warm
Warm
Frequency Response Consistency
8.1
8.0
Consistency L
Consistency R
Std. Deviation
0.83 dB
0.84 dB
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
9.7
9.9
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
1.5 dB
0.6 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
20 Hz
20 Hz
Low Bass
1.71 dB
0.57 dB
Mid Bass
1.08 dB
-0.51 dB
High Bass
1.43 dB
0.38 dB
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
9.2
8.9
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
1.27 dB
1.58 dB
Low Mid
0.42 dB
1.15 dB
Mid-Mid
-0.05 dB
-0.41 dB
High Mid
-1.35 dB
-2.25 dB
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
6.3
6.0
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
4.91 dB
5.23 dB
Low Treble
-4.96 dB
-5.36 dB
Mid Treble
-2.98 dB
-4.58 dB
High Treble
-2.68 dB
-8.34 dB
Stereo Mismatch
9.1
8.6
Frequency Response Mismatch
Phase Response Mismatch
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
0.10 dB
0.14 dB
Weighted Frequency Response Mismatch
0.67 dB
1.04 dB
Weighted Phase Mismatch
0.6°
1.2°
Cumulative Spectral Decay
CSD
PRTF
4.4
0.0
PRTF
PRTF Accuracy (RMS Deviation)
4.28 dB
N/A
PRTF Size (Avg.)
6.81 dB
N/A
PRTF Distance
5.22 dB
N/A
Harmonic Distortion
9.5
9.3
Harmonics Levels
THD Ratio
WHD @ 94 dB SPL
0.06%
0.06%
WHD @ 104 dB SPL
0.10%
0.17%
Electrical Aspects
Impedance
Sensitivity @1kHz-1V
N/A
N/A
Bluetooth Max SPL
103.2 dB
104.9 dB
Virtual Soundstage
2.9
5.0
Virtual Soundstage
Head Modeling
No
On/Off
Speaker Modeling
On/Off
On/Off
Room Ambience
No
No
Head Tracking
On/Off
On/Off
Virtual Surround
Spatial Audio
Personalized Spatial Audio
Test Settings
Firmware
6A326
6F8
Power
On
On
Connection
Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Codec
SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz
SBC, 16-bit, 44.1kHz
Test Instrument
Audio Precision APx517B
Audio Precision APx517B
EQ
Adaptive EQ
Adaptive EQ
ANC
On
On
Tip/Pad
Default
Silicone (small)
Microphone
Integrated
Integrated
Design
Style
Design Picture 2
Type
Over-ear
In-ear
Enclosure
Closed-Back
Closed-Back
Wireless
Yes
Truly Wireless
Transducer
Dynamic
Dynamic
Comfort
7.0
7.5
Comfort Picture
Weight
0.85 lbs
0.02 lbs
Clamping Force
1.2 lbs
0 lbs
Controls
7.9
8.2
Controls Picture
OS Compatibility
iOS
Not OS specific
Ease Of Use
Great
Good
Feedback
Good
Great
Call/Music Control
Yes
Yes
Volume Control
Yes
Yes
Microphone Control
No
Mute/Unmute
Channel Mixing
No
No
Noise Cancelling Control
On/Off
On/Off
Talk-Through
On/Off
On/Off
Additional Controls
Voice Assistant
Voice Assistant
Portability
6.0
9.6
Portability Picture
L
7.8" (19.8 cm)
1.2" (3.0 cm)
W
7.5" (19.1 cm)
0.9" (2.3 cm)
H
1.7" (4.3 cm)
0.9" (2.3 cm)
Volume
99.00 in³ (1,622.31 cm³)
0.99 in³ (16.20 cm³)
Transmitter Required
No
No
Case
6.0
9.0
Case Picture
Type
Soft case
Hard case
L
7.9" (20.1 cm)
1.8" (4.5 cm)
W
8.5" (21.6 cm)
2.4" (6.1 cm)
H
1.7" (4.3 cm)
0.9" (2.2 cm)
Volume
114.00 in³ (1,868.12 cm³)
3.67 in³ (60.10 cm³)
Build Quality
8.0
8.0
Build Quality Picture
Stability
6.5
7.5
Stability Picture
Headshots 1
Angled Picture
Side Picture
Headshots 2
Front Picture
Rear Picture
Top
Top Picture
In The Box
In The Box Picture
Isolation
Noise Isolation - Full Range
9.4
9.1
Noise Isolation - Full Range Graph
Noise Cancelling
Yes
Yes
Overall Attenuation
-26.06 dB
-24.48 dB
Bass
-19.54 dB
-20.83 dB
Mid
-30.62 dB
-26.68 dB
Treble
-28.95 dB
-26.47 dB
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios
9.0
9.6
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios Graph
Airplane Noise Attenuation
-21.85 dB
-23.48 dB
Airplane Noise Isolation Audio
Office Noise Attenuation
-19.98 dB
-21.63 dB
Office Noise Isolation Audio
Street Noise Attenuation
-21.92 dB
-25.52 dB
Street Noise Isolation Audio
Noise Isolation - Voice Handling
Female Voice 1
Male Voice 1
Female Voice 2
Male Voice 2
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
Yes
Yes
In-Line
No
No
Boom
No
No
Detachable Boom
No
No
Mic
Yes
Yes
Recording Quality
6.6
5.3
Microphone Frequency Response
Recorded Speech
LFE
273 Hz
216.68 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
2.77 dB
4.98 dB
HFE
3,466.89 Hz
3,466.89 Hz
Weighted THD
3.025
57.033
Gain
15.85 dB
-4.91 dB
Noise Handling
5.0
6.4
SpNR
9.61 dB
10.15 dB
Noise Gate
No
No
Speech + Pink Noise Handling
5.0
7.0
Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample
Speech + Subway Noise Handling
5.0
5.5
Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample
Active Features
Battery
8.3
7.0
Battery Type
Rechargable
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
21.6 hrs
5.9 hrs
Additional Charges
0.0
4.0
Total Battery Life
21.6 hrs
29.5 hrs
Charge Time
1.5 hrs
0.9 hrs
Power-Saving Feature
Standby mode
Standby mode
Audio While Charging
Yes
Yes
Passive Playback
No
No
Charging Port
Lightning
Lightning
App Support
6.0
6.5
App Picture
App Name
iOS Interface
iOS Interface
iOS
Yes
Yes
Android
No
No
macOS
Yes
Yes
Windows
No
No
Equalizer
No
No
ANC Control
On/Off
On/Off
Mic Control
No
No
Room Effects
No
No
Playback Control
No
No
Button Mapping
No
Yes
Surround Support
Yes
Yes
Connectivity
Wired Connection
9.3
0.0
Cable Picture
Analog Audio
Yes
No
USB Audio
No
No
Detachable
Yes
No
Length
N/A
N/A
Connector
Lightning
No Wired Option
Latency - Analog
1.7 ms
N/A
Latency - USB
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency
N/A
Recorded Latency Connection
Analog
No Wired Audio
Bluetooth Connection
7.9
8.0
Bluetooth Version
5.0+H1 chip
5.3+H2 chip
Multi-Device Pairing
No
Yes (Apple Ecosystem)
Quick Pair (Android)
No
No
Quick Pair (iOS)
Yes
Yes
Line Of Sight Range
328.00 ft (99.97 m)
334.65 ft (102.00 m)
Latency - SBC
185 ms
160 ms
Latency - aptX
N/A
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (High Quality)
N/A
N/A
Latency - aptX Adaptive (Low Latency)
N/A
N/A
Latency - LDAC
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency
Recorded Latency Codec
SBC
SBC
AAC Support
Yes
Yes
Wireless Connection (Dongle)
0.0
0.0
Line Of Sight Range
N/A
N/A
Latency - Dongle
N/A
N/A
Recorded Latency
N/A
N/A
PC Compatibility
Analog
No
No
Wired USB
No
No
Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PlayStation Compatibility
PS4 Analog
No
No
PS4 Wired USB
No
No
PS4 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
PS5 Analog
No
No
PS5 Wired USB
No
No
PS5 Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Xbox Compatibility
Xbox One Analog
No
No
Xbox One Wired USB
No
No
Xbox One Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Analog
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Wired USB
No
No
Xbox Series X|S Non-BT Wireless
No
No
Base/Dock
0.0
2.2
Type
No Base/Dock
Charging Case
USB Input
No
No
Line In
No
No
Line Out
No
No
Optical Input
No
No
RCA Input
No
No
Dock Charging
No
Yes
Power Supply
No Base/Dock
Lightning
Check Price
Blue
AirPods Max (USB-C)
Searching
Finding storeWhite
AirPods Pro 2
Searching
Finding storeGreen
AirPods Max (Lightning)
Searching
Finding storeWhite
AirPods Pro 2 (USB‑C)
Searching
Finding storeMidnight
AirPods Max (USB-C)
Searching
Finding storeOrange
AirPods Max (USB-C)
Searching
Finding storePink
AirPods Max (Lightning)
Searching
Finding storePurple
AirPods Max (USB-C)
Searching
Finding storeSilver
AirPods Max (Lightning)
Searching
Finding storeSky Blue
AirPods Max (Lightning)
Searching
Finding storeSpace Gray
AirPods Max (Lightning)
Searching
Finding storeStarlight
AirPods Max (USB-C)
Searching
Finding store
Apple AirPods Max
Apple AirPods Pro 2
Comments
Apple AirPods Max vs Apple AirPods Pro 2: Main Discussion
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