https://www.executivetraveller.com/news/apples-900-airpods-max-headphones
Apple's new AirPods Max noise-cancelling headphones launch into a competitive market dominated by the likes of Bose, Sennheiser and Sony.
The $900 price tag is unapologetically high-end, as is the design and promised performance: Apple is pitching the AirPods Max as much more than just a pair of cans for frequent flyers.
If anything, it's the ultimate expression of Apple's embrace of music, which began in 2001 with the launch of iTunes and the iPod.
This also makes the AirPods Max pure fan-bait for those already heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem.
With the AirPods Max on sale now, ahead of arrival in stores later this month, here's what you need to know about Apple's over-ear headphones.
The US list price for the AirPods Max is US$549, although that's immediately spiked up by sales tax depending on where you buy them.
By the time they land in Australia and get our standard 10% GST added on, the sticker soars to $899.
This is of course much more – even twice the price – of equivalent top-shelf headphones from rivals.
Naturally, Apple is breathlessly spruiking the audio quality and technology of the AirPods Max, so we won't rehash that here.
Suffice to say that the core features include similar active noise cancellation and 'transparency mode' as the AirPods Pro and competing headphones.
There's also 'spatial audio' which the company says "places sounds virtually anywhere in a space" to deliver "an immersive, theatre-like experience for content recorded in 5.1, 7.1, and Dolby Atmos", plus 'Adaptive EQ' for real-time adjustment of low and mid-frequencies based on the fit and seal of the ear cushions.
Apple's AirPods Max come in five colours: silver, space gray, sky blue, pink, and green. But limited supply plus the popularity of lighter, brighter colours will come into play if you're hoping to pop these under the Christmas tree.
At the time of writing, silver and space grey models will be delivered just before Christmas, but choose blue and you're looking at mid-January.
(Interestingly, for some colours, selecting the option for free engraving sees the delivery date move a few days earlier.)