Products
Apple AirPods Max
Apple AirPods (3rd generation)
Tested using Methodology v2.0
Updated Oct 30, 2025 03:15 PM
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Tested using Methodology v2.0
Updated Dec 01, 2025 09:30 PM
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TypeOver-ear
Noise CancellingYes
EnclosureClosed-Back
Bass Amount
Slightly Emphasized (1 dB)
WirelessYes
TransducerDynamic
Treble Amount
Underemphasized (-4 dB)
MicYes
Sound Signature
Warm
TypeEarbuds
Noise CancellingNo
EnclosureOpen-Back
Bass Amount
Underemphasized (-5 dB)
WirelessTruly Wireless
TransducerDynamic
Treble Amount
Slightly Underemphasized (-2 dB)
MicYes
Sound Signature
Flat
Our Verdict
Apple AirPods Max
Apple AirPods (3rd generation)
The Apple AirPods Max and the Apple AirPods (3rd generation) have different strengths, and you may prefer either. The Max are over-ear headphones with ANC. Their noise isolation performance is much better, and they have a longer continuous battery life. They also reproduce more thumpy low bass, which some users may prefer. On the other hand, the 3rd generation are earbuds with a much more portable design. They come with a charging case and have an IPX4 rating for water resistance.
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 (3rd generation) (Lightning Charging Case - White)
- AirPods (3rd generation) (White)
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Blue
AirPods Max (USB-C)
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Lightning Charging Case - White
AirPods (3rd generation)
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Green
AirPods Max (Lightning)
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Walmart.com
White
AirPods (3rd generation)
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Midnight
AirPods Max (USB-C)
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Amazon.com
Orange
AirPods Max (USB-C)
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Amazon.com
Pink
AirPods Max (Lightning)
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Purple
AirPods Max (USB-C)
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Amazon.com
Silver
AirPods Max (Lightning)
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Amazon.com
Sky Blue
AirPods Max (Lightning)
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Space Gray
AirPods Max (Lightning)
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Walmart.com
Starlight
AirPods Max (USB-C)
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Amazon.com
Main Differences for
Sports And Fitness
Sports And Fitness
Threshold
Sports And Fitness
6.9
7.2
Portability
6.0
9.7
Bluetooth Connection
7.9
7.2
Full Comparison
Sound
Sound Profile
Sound Profile
Normalization Frequency
1,250 Hz
1,200 Hz
Bass Amount
Slightly Emphasized (1 dB)
Underemphasized (-5 dB)
Treble Amount
Underemphasized (-4 dB)
Slightly Underemphasized (-2 dB)
Sound Signature
Warm
Flat
Frequency Response Consistency
8.1
5.8
Consistency L
Consistency R
Std. Deviation
0.83 dB
1.39 dB
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
9.7
6.3
Bass Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
1.5 dB
7.8 dB
Low-Frequency Extension
20 Hz
40.02 Hz
Low Bass
1.71 dB
-10.47 dB
Mid Bass
1.08 dB
-1.36 dB
High Bass
1.43 dB
-0.53 dB
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
9.2
9.3
Mid-Range Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
1.27 dB
1.13 dB
Low Mid
0.42 dB
-0.09 dB
Mid-Mid
-0.05 dB
-1.29 dB
High Mid
-1.35 dB
1.06 dB
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
6.3
8.5
Treble Profile: Target Compliance
RMS Deviation From Target
4.91 dB
2.9 dB
Low Treble
-4.96 dB
-1.79 dB
Mid Treble
-2.98 dB
-2.93 dB
High Treble
-2.68 dB
-9.72 dB
Peaks/Dips
8.2
7.5
Peaks/Dips Graph
Peaks
0.96 dB
1.39 dB
Dips
1.65 dB
2.08 dB
Stereo Mismatch
9.1
7.3
Frequency Response Mismatch
Phase Response Mismatch
Weighted Amplitude Mismatch
0.10 dB
0.40 dB
Weighted Frequency Response Mismatch
0.67 dB
1.23 dB
Weighted Phase Mismatch
0.6°
3.2°
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%
0.07%
WHD @ 104 dB SPL
0.10%
0.13%
Electrical Aspects
Impedance
Sensitivity @1kHz-1V
N/A
N/A
Bluetooth Max SPL
103.2 dB
104.5 dB
Virtual Soundstage
2.9
2.9
Virtual Soundstage
Head Modeling
No
No
Speaker Modeling
On/Off
On/Off
Room Ambience
No
No
Head Tracking
On/Off
On/Off
Virtual Surround
Spatial Audio
Spatial Audio
Test Settings
Firmware
6A326
6F21.
Power
On
On
Connection
Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Codec
SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz
SBC, 16-bit, 48kHz
Test Instrument
Audio Precision APx517B
Audio Precision APx517B
EQ
Adaptive EQ
Adaptive EQ
ANC
On
No ANC
Tip/Pad
Default
Default
Microphone
Integrated
Integrated
Design
Style
Design Picture 2
Type
Over-ear
Earbuds
Enclosure
Closed-Back
Open-Back
Wireless
Yes
Truly Wireless
Transducer
Dynamic
Dynamic
Comfort
7.0
7.0
Comfort Picture
Weight
0.85 lbs
0.02 lbs
Clamping Force
1.2 lbs
N/A
Controls
7.9
5.5
Controls Picture
OS Compatibility
iOS
Not OS specific
Ease Of Use
Great
Great
Feedback
Good
Good
Call/Music Control
Yes
Yes
Volume Control
Yes
No
Microphone Control
No
No
Channel Mixing
No
No
Noise Cancelling Control
On/Off
No
Talk-Through
On/Off
No
Additional Controls
Voice Assistant
Voice Assistant
Portability
6.0
9.7
Portability Picture
L
7.8" (19.8 cm)
1.2" (3.1 cm)
W
7.5" (19.1 cm)
0.8" (2.1 cm)
H
1.7" (4.3 cm)
0.6" (1.6 cm)
Volume
99.00 in³ (1,622.31 cm³)
0.62 in³ (10.20 cm³)
Transmitter Required
No
No
Case
6.0
8.5
Case Picture
Type
Soft case
Hard case
L
7.9" (20.1 cm)
2.1" (5.4 cm)
W
8.5" (21.6 cm)
1.8" (4.6 cm)
H
1.7" (4.3 cm)
0.8" (2.1 cm)
Volume
114.00 in³ (1,868.12 cm³)
3.28 in³ (53.80 cm³)
Build Quality
8.0
8.0
Build Quality Picture
Stability
6.5
6.5
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
1.7
Noise Isolation - Full Range Graph
Noise Cancelling
Yes
No
Overall Attenuation
-26.06 dB
-3.75 dB
Bass
-19.54 dB
-0.02 dB
Mid
-30.62 dB
-0.95 dB
Treble
-28.95 dB
-11.36 dB
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios
9.0
1.9
Noise Isolation - Common Scenarios Graph
Airplane Noise Attenuation
-21.85 dB
-3.32 dB
Airplane Noise Isolation Audio
Office Noise Attenuation
-19.98 dB
-3.35 dB
Office Noise Isolation Audio
Street Noise Attenuation
-21.92 dB
-3.57 dB
Street Noise Isolation Audio
Noise Isolation - Voice Handling
Female Voice 1
Male Voice 1
Female Voice 2
Male Voice 2
Leakage
7.1
7.0
Leakage
Leakage Audio
Overall Leakage @ 1ft
38.88 dB
39.46 dB
Microphone
Microphone Style
Integrated
Yes
Yes
In-Line
No
No
Boom
No
No
Detachable Boom
No
No
Mic
Yes
Yes
Recording Quality
6.6
6.0
Microphone Frequency Response
Recorded Speech
LFE
273 Hz
67.27 Hz
FR Std. Dev.
2.77 dB
3.25 dB
HFE
3,466.89 Hz
1,659.96 Hz
Weighted THD
3.025
3.887
Gain
15.85 dB
18.34 dB
Noise Handling
5.0
5.5
SpNR
SpNR
9.61 dB
12.16 dB
Noise Gate
No
Always On
Speech + Pink Noise Handling
5.0
5.5
Speech + Pink Noise Audio Sample
Speech + Subway Noise Handling
5.0
5.5
Speech + Subway Noise Audio Sample
Active Features
Battery
8.3
7.2
Battery Type
Rechargable
Rechargable
Continuous Battery Life
21.6 hrs
6.8 hrs
Additional Charges
0.0
5.0
Total Battery Life
21.6 hrs
40.8 hrs
Charge Time
1.5 hrs
0.8 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
5.0
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
No
Mic Control
No
No
Room Effects
No
No
Playback Control
No
No
Button Mapping
No
No
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
7.2
Bluetooth Version
5.0+H1 chip
5.0+H1 chip
Multi-Device Pairing
No
No
Quick Pair (Android)
No
No
Quick Pair (iOS)
Yes
Yes
Line Of Sight Range
328.00 ft (99.97 m)
205.05 ft (62.50 m)
Latency - SBC
185 ms
184 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)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Lightning Charging Case - White
AirPods (3rd generation)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Green
AirPods Max (Lightning)
SEE PRICE
Walmart.com
White
AirPods (3rd generation)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Midnight
AirPods Max (USB-C)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Orange
AirPods Max (USB-C)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Pink
AirPods Max (Lightning)
SEARCH
Amazon.com
Purple
AirPods Max (USB-C)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Silver
AirPods Max (Lightning)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Sky Blue
AirPods Max (Lightning)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
Space Gray
AirPods Max (Lightning)
SEE PRICE
Walmart.com
Starlight
AirPods Max (USB-C)
SEE PRICE
Amazon.com
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Apple AirPods Max
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Apple AirPods Max vs Apple AirPods (3rd generation): Main Discussion
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