AirPods Max 2: Four things that haven’t changed

Chance Miller | Mar 16 2026 - 12:19 pm PT

Apple made a surprise announcement this morning for AirPods Max 2. This is the first real update to Apple’s over-ear headphones since they launched in 2020, with the new H2 chip enabling some much-needed new features.

There are, however, plenty of things that haven’t changed with AirPods Max 2.

AirPods Max 2: What hasn’t changed?

Design

AirPods Max 2 look identical to their predecessor. They weigh exactly the same and they don’t fold up for easier storage.

Here are the full dimensions of AirPods Max 2:

Height:7.37 inches (187.3 mm)
Width:6.64 inches (168.6 mm)
Depth:3.28 inches (83.4 mm)
Weight:13.6 ounces (386.2 grams)

So if you found AirPods Max to be too heavy, that unfortunately hasn’t changed with AirPods Max 2.

Case

Another controversial aspect of AirPods Max that’s unchanged with today’s revision is the Smart Case.

When you place AirPods Max 2 into the Smart Case, they’ll enter the same “ultra-low-power state” as their predecessor.

Battery Life

Battery life for AirPods Max 2 is exactly the same: “Up to 20 hours of listening time on a single charge with Active Noise Cancellation enabled.”

Apple, however, is promoting a new metric that it never quoted with the original AirPods Max: “Up to 20 hours of movie playback on a single charge with Active Noise Cancellation and Spatial Audio enabled.”

Apple also says AirPods Max 2 can get 1.5 hours of listening time with a 5-minute charge.

Lossless audio

While some people have long held out hope that Apple might bring wireless lossless playback to AirPods, that’s not the case with this update. AirPods Max 2 only support lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio when connected with USB-C.

9to5Mac’s Take

I bought AirPods Max on launch day in December 2020 and I use them almost everyday since. I had to buy new ear cups last year and battery life isn’t what it once was, but otherwise they’ve held up quite well.

I’m still debating on whether to buy AirPods Max 2, but right now I’m leaning towards ordering a pair.

I understand why some people dislike the AirPods Max design, but I actually find them pretty comfortable. My only real complaint is that they don’t fold up, so they take up a lot of space in my backpack. Most of the time, I have plenty of extra space in my bag so it’s not a big deal, but they do definitely get in the way when traveling.

It’s clear that Apple’s plan with AirPods Max 2 was to update the chip and nothing more. And they probably only did that because they were running out of the H1 chip and it was cheaper to cram an H2 inside than to make more of the previous-generation chip.

What do you think of AirPods Max 2? Are you planning to order a pair? Let us know down in the comments.

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