Are the AirPods Max still worth buying in 2025?

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Apple's AirPods Max sound great, look stylish, feature lossless audio, and sit basically at the bottom of the list of popular headphones I recommend.

That's not to say anyone who owns a pair of the AirPods Max should upgrade immediately. Considering they hit the market over five years ago, they hold up surprisingly well with the competition. The problem is, as someone who tests headphones for a living, I've watched as release after release offers more than the Maxes — yet somehow, the AirPods Max remain one of the most expensive consumer headphones on the market.

To be transparent, I haven't tested the AirPods Max for myself, but my colleagues have. So together, with my headphones knowledge and their testing notes about the over-ear headphones, I've broken down why the AirPods Max are probably not worth it for most people to buy in 2025 and beyond.

Form over function

As I said up top, their design is nothing to scoff at. Yes, they're ultimately a pair of over-ear headphones; they have the uniquely sleek Apple look, from the stainless steel headband frame to the knit mesh canopy and memory foam ear cups. These design choices also work to provide a comfortable fit, and certainly established Apple as a leader in balancing form and function back in 2020, upon these headphones' release. However, newer headphones, such as the Sonos Ace, offer an equally sleek and stylish design at a more affordable price.

In the years since their launch, the only meaningful upgrade these headphones have received is a swap in their charging port from Lightning to USB-C. Beyond that, they also now support lossless audio. (Even in Apple's own press release from the event when the "new" USB-C Maxes were launched, the headline is an anti-climactic "AirPods Max Get Five New Colors."

The main selling point of these headphones, then, remains buying into Apple's ecosystem with a pair of over-ear headphones. It's not a moot one — the connection speed to Apple devices is essentially automatic, with the Maxes offering some of the most seamless switching between audio streams on different devices.

Yet once again, that point gets undermined, thanks to the existence of the Beats Studio Pro headphones. As Apple-made headphones, they fit just as well into the ecosystem. Even better, the 2023-released headphones are far more up-to-date than the Maxes, with ANC on par with the older pair, as well as improved sound quality and battery life.

Plus, though they're $349.99 at full price, they're frequently on sale for under $200, putting them less than half the price of the AirPods Max at full price and at their record-low sale price of $399. As Mashable Contributor Alex Bracetti writes in his guide to the best Beats headphones, the Studio Pro headphones are for "anyone who wants Apple noise-cancelling headphones without drastically overpaying for them (cough AirPods Max cough)."

How does the sound quality hold up?

Despite being an older pair of headphones, the AirPods Max still sound reliably great. Mashable's Stan Schroeder described the sound as "pleasant, balanced," and not too bass-heavy. He wrote of the balance, "Audiophiles will call this a 'V' shaped sound: bass and treble are slightly pronounced, while midrange tones are slightly recessed, which works for rock and electronic music, but it can leave intimate, acoustic performances a bit lacking."

They also feature Dolby Atmos, which provides a spatial listening experience. Essentially, you feel like the music is coming from around you, as it might if you were to listen to it in person.

More recently, Apple upgraded the headphones to include lossless audio, which Schroeder wrote did provide a notable bump in the sound quality. To him, the songs opened up, sounding more detailed and less compressed. That quality works nicely with the larger design of the Apple earcups, which provide more physical space around your ear, "which helps create an airiness that closed over-the-ear headphones rarely possess," according to Schroeder.

Audiophiles should note that lossless audio is only supported up to 24-bit, 48 kHz quality (as opposed to Apple Music's support of 24-bit, 192 kHz quality), but that difference is more noticeable and more applicable to professionals using professional gear.

The ANC is fine, but starting to lag behind

Back in 2020, the AirPods Max featured some of the best noise cancellation available. It's a testament to what a good job Apple did that five years later, the ANC is still solid.

That said, it doesn't quite match up with newer models like the Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra (2nd Gen) headphones (both of which clock in $100 cheaper than the Maxes at full price). In comparing them directly against the latter headphones, Mashable Bracetti wrote that the AirPods Max "[silence] a high number of low- and mid-frequency sounds, but it struggles with high-frequency sounds," while the "QC Ultra delivers class-leading ANC capable of eliminating close to 90 percent of unwanted sounds."

While Bracetti called out that the Maxes still have one of the best Transparency modes available, they lack the conversation boost modes you can find on the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3.

They also lack any manually adjustable ANC, which can be found on both headphones like the QC Ultras, as well as mid-range and budget headphones.

A pretty mid option for travel

The quality of a pair of noise-cancelling headphones can make or break your travel experience. While the AirPods Max-owning travelers among us aren't likely to have a bad time, there are a few key features that make these headphones less suited to journeying.

1. The battery life sucks: Plain and simple, 20 hours of battery life with ANC is way behind the standard of premium headphones these days. The aforementioned Bose QC Ultra 2 headphones and Sony XM6 headphones each have 30 hours of battery life, while options like the Sennheiser Momentum 4 headphones and Dyson OnTrac headphones get up to 60 hours and 55 hours, respectively. The Maxes' saving grace here is the five-minute quick charge, which gets you a 1.5-hour charge. But maybe that gets cancelled out by the way you can never really turn these headphones off, thanks to their lack of a power button.

2. The case isn't really a case: Call me crazy, but I feel like a headphones case should cover the entire headphones, including the more delicate mesh headband. Apple seems to disagree, though, resulting in the AirPods Max "case" that isn't likely to provide you a great deal of protection when you're taking them on the go.

3. They're bulky: In addition to having large ear cups, these headphones don't fold up. Apple could probably take a page out of Sony's book when it comes to the next upgrade, because a folding ear cup design allows for a significantly more travel-friendly pair of headphones.

The value just isn't there anymore

Simply put, I struggle to think of another brand resting its laurels on a five-year-old pair of headphones. Where the AirPods Max were once innovative, they're now just solidly OK, but just as overpriced as they were upon release.

Instead of shelling out $549 for headphones with five-year-old specs, we recommend picking up these headphones instead:

Who should buy AirPods Max in 2026?

To anyone waiting with bated breath for the AirPods Max 2, maybe don't. The rumors back in November 2024 that we wouldn't be likely to get an upgrade to the over-ear headphones seem to be holding strong, according to Mark Gurman's Power On newsletter.

With no likely upgrade on the horizon, should anyone really be buying the AirPods Max these days? If you're an Apple user who really likes the design, don't often use headphones for travel, and don't run your battery life down often, these could be a good option if and only if they're on sale. At their record low, we've seen them drop to $399.99. Just be aware that the sale price point still puts them on par with the sale prices (and, in some cases, full prices) of most of the above 2025-release headphones we recommend, so even going for a significantly older model isn’t making a difference in how much money you can save.