AirPods Max: Apple's spectacular headphones make heads turn, price makes them spin

Apple made a surprise announcement of its new product line of wireless headphones, which have been in the rumour mill for over two years. Finally, setting the record straight on the audio line-up, Apple sure made a splash with its AirPods Max – the name it chose for its high-end over-the-ear headphones (RIP AirPods Studio). Joining the minuscule AirPods is the all-new Max, which is both in terms of design and price.

AirPods Max wireless headphones bring a plethora of new features for music aficionado, making sure you don't miss any beats (pun intended). From over-the-top design to compelling features, AirPods Max is going after the big guns in the industry with a price tag that will instantly grab the attention.

"The custom acoustic design, combined with powerful H1 chips, and advanced software enable AirPods Max to use computational audio to wirelessly deliver the ultimate personal listening experience," Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, said of the new headphones.

AirPods Max pricing & availability

Before we get to what's so great about these headphones, let's check out the price tag. Apple has launched AirPods Max at Rs 59,900 in India in time for the holiday season as deliveries start December 15. AirPods Max are going to make it to many Santa wish lists with colour preference, too. After all, the AirPods Max come in space grey, silver, green, sky blue and pink – all in the dual-tone finish.

Buyers will certainly find reasonable justifications to spend top dollar on Apple new headphones. That exemplary design is definitely going to leave a lasting impression while you are in your zone catching up on your favourite TV shows while waiting in the airport lounge before it's time to board the flight. If that public impression is not what you're after, you'll find the next part of the story about what the headphones offer of particular interest.

AirPods Max: The stuff that matters

Let's get down to business. In terms of AirPods Max features that buyers must take note of before spending as much as you would on iPhone 11.

For starters, AirPods Max offers high-fidelity audio, Adaptive EQ, Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency Mode and spatial audio. Don't settle for that. Taking inspiration from Apple Watch, there's also an integrated digital crown-esque control that lets you adjust volume with precision in addition to play, pause, skip music functions and even answer calls. It goes without saying that summoning Siri is also integrated into it.

If you're the one for details, there are 40mm audio driver, in each ear – designed by Apple of course. Apple describes that the "unique dual neodymium ring magnet motor allows the AirPods Max to maintain total harmonic distortion of less than 1 percent across the entire audible range, even at maximum volume."

The AirPods Max is powered by H1 chip, which has 10 audio cores capable of performing 9 billion computational calculations per second as it manages adaptive EQ, ANC, transparency mode and spatial audio. If the AirPods Pro are any indication of how spatial audio performs, be prepared to be wooed by AirPods Max performance.

If that's enough technical details, the AirPods Max can also detect when the user is wearing the headphones and when he's not. So it functions accordingly. Now, the next big question is the battery, to which Apple says enable all features like ANC and spatial audio and enjoy up to 20 hours of uninterrupted playback. Now that's something.

As expected with any Apple product, AirPods Max will seamlessly fuse into your Apple ecosystem. With Automatic Switching, you can easily move between your iPhone, iPad and Mac. Pairing is naturally a breeze – all you got to do is bring the headphones near the device and tap.

Apple is one for details and the AirPods Max come in a soft-finish slim case. No, you don't have to pay extra to get it.