It’s annoying to think about school starting in the middle of summer, but we’ve already begun to see glimpses of back-to-school deals, including a discount on the AirPods Max (USB-C) that brings them down to $449.99 ($100 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart.
Apple’s latest over-ear headphones share many features with its earbuds, but have significantly longer battery life, better active noise cancellation, and higher audio quality. They’re made from aluminum and memory foam, which are more premium materials than the plastic used on many other over-ear headphones. Each earcup has an Apple H1 chip, which processes and optimizes audio in real time, along with an accelerometer and optical, position, and case detect sensors.
All of this hardware enables personalized Spatial Audio with accurate head tracking, so listening to audio mixed in Dolby Atmos sounds different than a stereo track. You can also listen to 24-bit 48 kHz lossless audio with no compression by plugging the AirPods Max (USB-C) into a device using Apple’s USB-C to 3.5mm audio cable, which you can get for $39 at Amazon.
The AirPods Max (USB-C) lasts up to 20 hours per charge with active noise cancellation enabled, so you won’t have to worry about charging them every day. If their battery runs out, plugging them in for five minutes gets you 90 minutes of listening time. The headphones don’t have a power button, but will enter a low power state if they’re not used for five minutes or put into their included Smart Case.
