The AirPods Max is now Apple’s oldest remaining current-generation AirPods product with the debut of the second-generation AirPods Pro. The second-generation AirPods Pro, which include numerous new technologies like Adaptive Transparency and the H2 chip, could offer some of the greatest predictions yet of what to anticipate from the second-generation AirPods Max.
Nearly two years later, there aren’t many speculations regarding an AirPods Max replacement. The most recent information we have on the AirPods Max was a May 2021 article from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman that stated Apple was exploring offering more colour choices for the product. The second generation of the AirPods Max may have at least 10 possible AirPods Pro features in addition to new colour choices and updated audio technology.
A2 Chips
The H2 chip, an exclusive silicon chip made by Apple, especially for earbuds and headphones, is included in the second-generation AirPods Pro for the first time.
The H2 chip enhances computational audio for the enhanced sound quality on the AirPods Pro and extends battery life with more effective energy use. Given that the AirPods Max are Apple’s most expensive AirPods, it is fairly inevitable that the following model will have an H2 chip in each earcup. Any upgrades to the audio hardware of the device are most likely to centre around the chips.
Bluetooth Connectivity 5.3
The new AirPods Pro have Bluetooth 5.3 in addition to the H2 chip, a specification that has already been included in the Apple Watch SE, Apple Watch Series 8, and Apple Watch Ultra, as well as the full iPhone 14 family. It follows that the second-generation AirPods Max will also include the newest Bluetooth protocol. Reliability, connection speed, and battery consumption have all been improved with Bluetooth 5.3.
Enhancements to Active Noise Cancellation
The increased Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) in the second-generation AirPods Pro is up to two times more effective at obstructing outside noise as a result of the H2 chip.
The inward-facing microphone picks up sound originating from within the ear while the outward-facing microphones pick up sound from outside the ear so the AirPods can evaluate background noise. The new AirPods Pro then modify the sound signal that is delivered to the ears 48,000 times per second to suppress outside noise.
To cut down on additional unwanted noise, the second-generation AirPods Pro include a redesigned motor and enhanced acoustic algorithms. It appears probable that the second-generation AirPods Max, which are the only other AirPods that support ANC, will likewise provide improved ANC thanks to the H2 chip.
Transparency That Adapts
The second-generation AirPods Pro include a brand-new Adaptive Transparency mode that significantly reduces undesirable environmental noise, like as a passing car siren, construction equipment, or even loud concert speakers, while still allowing necessary environmental noise, like speech, in.
Apple claims that the function is made “for more comfortable everyday listening.” The second-generation AirPods Max are quite likely to have Adaptive Transparency in addition to the enhancements to ANC made possible by the H2 chip.
Discussion Boost
Another possibility is that the AirPods Max will get Conversation Boost, a function that has only ever been available on the AirPods Pro.
Conversation Boost is a feature on the AirPods Pro that boosts the volume of a person speaking directly in front of you so that it is easier to hear what they are saying. It is designed to help those with modest hearing impairments hear conversations better.
Body-Detecting Sensors
The AirPods Pro is now equipped with Apple’s skin-detect sensor technology, leaving the AirPods Max as the only device in the current generation of AirPods to be devoid of it. The technology was initially introduced on the third iteration of AirPods. To determine whether they are positioned over a user’s ears, the latest AirPods Max still employs optical IR sensors.
Skin-detect sensors could not be as helpful on the AirPods Max because playback is unlikely to be started on a surface or in a pocket, but they might make playback halt and restart more swiftly and precisely. The AirPods Max might potentially benefit from the skin-detect sensors’ increased efficiency and longer battery life.
Additional Battery Life
Both the second-generation AirPods Pro and the third-generation AirPods include longer-lasting batteries, according to Apple. Under the condition that Apple does not reduce the internal battery’s size, the second-generation AirPods Max should have a comparable improvement in battery life thanks to the H2 chip, Bluetooth 5.3, and skin-detect sensors.
Resistance to Sweat and Water
The third-generation AirPods and second-generation AirPods Pro include charging cases and earphones that are IPX4-rated as sweat- and water-resistant. Although Apple has made improvements in this area with its numerous earphones over time, the first-generation AirPods Max lacks any grade for water or sweat resistance.
Given Apple’s expanding emphasis on fitness and health, a grade for sweat and water resistance for the second-generation device seems conceivable. It is possible that the second-generation model of the AirPods Max will have a greater focus on fitness by being sweat-resistant, as Apple Fitness+ debuted only a day before the first-generation model did in 2020.
Using the U1 Chip for Precision Finding
Similar to AirTag item trackers, the MagSafe Charging Case for the second-generation AirPods Pro has an Apple U1 chip for Precision Finding in the Find My app.
The current AirPods Max offers rudimentary Find My assistance, but a U1 chip in the second-generation model might enable a considerably more accurate method of locating the headphones when they are close by.
Charging
The casing of the second-generation AirPods Pro introduced the capability to charge using an Apple Watch charger, expanding the range of charging choices that already included MagSafe, Qi wireless charging, and Lightning.
It is still too soon to say whether the second-generation AirPods Max would have a new charging method, such as via MagSafe, although such a move would need more substantial adjustments to the AirPods Max’s design. Apple may be aware of the advantages of having a variety of charging options and may wish to extend this to its most expensive headphones in some way, as seen by the fact that it currently offers four different methods to charge the AirPods Pro.
