In April 2022 I posted a video on YouTube explaining why I had switched to the AirPods Max. At the time I had been podcasting for a year and a half, and I was absolutely sure that, besides good content, the one thing that can’t fail is the audio: recording well, yes, but also hearing well what you’ve recorded when it’s time to edit.
More than four years have passed, Apple has changed the connector, launched the AirPods Max 2… and I’m still wearing the same headphones. So it’s time to revisit that video and tell you why I’m still using them in 2026.
1. The ecosystem is still reason number one
I said it in 2022 and I stand by it: if your whole world is Apple, the AirPods Max are ridiculously convenient. You put them on with your iPhone and they connect on their own; you switch to the iPad and they follow you; you sit down at the Mac and there they are, without touching a single Bluetooth menu. It’s that “Apple magic” we talk about so much, which deep down isn’t magic but pure convenience. And when you work all day jumping between devices, that convenience is worth a lot.
2. The sound holds up over time
In the video I admitted that other brands offer similar sound quality. I still think so. But the combination of good sound + ecosystem is what made me decide, and four years later I haven’t missed anything. For editing episodes, the difference from the $40 gaming headset I used before is huge: you hear details, noises and volume changes that used to slip past you.
3. Transparency mode (and noise cancellation)
Active noise cancellation works very well in noisy places. It’s not the absolute silence the ads promise, but you notice it, a lot. What really surprised me back then, and still does, is Transparency mode: thanks to the microphones, you hear what’s going on around you as if you weren’t wearing anything. For me, it’s still one of the best features of these headphones.
The 2022 downsides… are they still there?
In that video I also told you about three big downsides. Let’s see how they’ve aged.
The Lightning connector: Apple fixed it… for the new ones
For a podcaster, the big pain was Lightning. To monitor yourself while recording you need a cable, and with Lightning that meant Apple’s official adapter (about $35) because the generic ones, from what I’d read, added noise and lowered quality. Even then I said the logical thing was USB-C.
Apple proved me right: in September 2024 the AirPods Max switched to USB-C and, with iOS 18.4 (April 2025), gained 24-bit/48kHz lossless audio and ultra-low latency over a cable. The bad news: it’s exclusive to the USB-C models. My AirPods Max are the Lightning kind, so I still rely on the adapter to monitor. It works, but it’s where you notice most that they’re from 2020.
The “case”: still not convinced
That little pouch-case that looks like it came from a luxury handbag store doesn’t fully protect the headphones and, worst of all, it’s the only way to put them into low-power mode. If you leave them out, they keep draining battery. I have a stand to hang them on, and I can’t use it with the case on, so I have to choose: the stand or the battery. The AirPods Max 2 keep the same design, so nobody has solved this one.
The price: expensive then, expensive now
In 2022 they cost more than €600 on Apple’s website in Europe, and I got them on sale for about €400. At the same store, the Sony WH-1000XM4 were around €330-340, and I figured that for that difference it was worth staying inside the ecosystem. Today the AirPods Max 2 cost $549 in the US (€579 in Spain). They’re still not cheap, but what I paid back then has more than paid for itself over four years of daily use.
So why don’t I switch to the AirPods Max 2?
The AirPods Max 2, on sale since April 2026, bring the H2 chip and with it better noise cancellation, Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, Voice Isolation and Live Translation, plus lossless audio over USB-C. They’re better, no doubt.
But the design, the weight, the case and the 20-hour battery life are practically the same. And the three reasons I bought mine (ecosystem, sound and transparency) still work just as well. As long as the battery holds up and the only toll is the Lightning adapter, I’m in no hurry to switch.
If you’re thinking about buying a pair now, my advice is clear: avoid the Lightning ones. Look for the AirPods Max 2 or, if you want to save, a 2024 USB-C pair on sale or refurbished.
What about you? Are you still using your AirPods Max, or have you switched to the new ones? Tell me in the comments and, if you want a roundup of the most important Apple news every week, sign up for The Sunday Keynote.
