AirPods Max may cost $549 — but it's missing a key feature

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AirPods Max may cost $549 — merely it's missing a key feature

(Epitome credit: Apple)

After what seems like a lifetime of rumors and leaks, Apple has finally announced the new AirPods Max — the first over-ear headphones to bear the AirPods proper noun. They also have an heart-watering $549 toll tag.

For that toll you'd expect the very best of Apple'due south sound engineering, but that might not be the example. Despite rumors to the contrary, the AirPods Max doesn't come with Apple's U1 chip.

• Read our Apple AirPods Max review
• The all-time dissonance cancelling headphones
• Just in: AirPods Max hands-on review roundup: Is it really worth $549?

For those that don't know, the U1 chip is designed for precise positioning of the Ultra Wideband radio. That means devices with the chip tin detect their exact position relative to each other in the same room.

Information technology also has a number of uses including quick handoff betwixt the HomePod mini and iPhones, faster AirDrop sharing, and the ability to unlock a car while your iPhone is however in your pocket.

In the AirPods Max, the U1 chip could have been used to work out how the headphones are being worn, so information technology would know which side is left or right without needing separate drivers. It would also have been able to connect to the upcoming AirTags, which would aid you lot locate the AirPods Max if they e'er went missing.

And if there'due south one matter you'd recollect you would desire to find in a hurry, information technology would exist a pair of $550 headphones.

Unfortunately, this isn't the case, and it looks like the AirPods Max have the same H1 flake as the AirPods Pro. That isn't such a bad thing, since H1 enables important features like the instant connectedness with iPhones and Hey Siri support. In fact, there are two H1 chips within the AirPods Max, which are designed to help deliver pristine audio quality and power everything from the adaptive EQ and active noise cancelling to spatial audio.

There are also enough of other great features, including sensors that tell whether they're being worn (and pausing playback when they're not), and dynamic head tracking for improved spatial audio.

So while this isn't a major loss, it is a shame that Apple doesn't have its latest and greatest tech in the AirPods Max given the price tag.

Tom is the Tom'southward Guide's Automotive Editor, which means he tin normally exist constitute knee deep in stats the latest and best electric cars, or checking out some sort of driving gadget. It'southward long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He'southward unremarkably institute trying to squeeze another behemothic Lego gear up onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining that Ikea won't allow him buy the stuff he really needs online.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/airpods-max-may-cost-dollar549-but-its-missing-a-key-feature

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