In this review I’m digging into the Apple AirPods Max from an audiophile perspective, and yeah—this one turns into a bit of a rant by the end. I bought these myself and tested them mainly on an iPad with the latest iOS, because if you’re not in the Apple ecosystem, I honestly don’t see the point. I go over the build (aluminum cups, metal sliders, that actually-clever mesh “suspension” headband), but I also call out the oversights: the weird “purse” case, the charging port not lining up, and the cups wanting to smack into each other and scratch. On comfort, the clamp force is the big problem—some of the tightest I’ve used—and the pads feel soft in your fingers but don’t compress the way you expect on your head, which creates pressure points fast. Noise canceling is good but not quite Bose/Sony level for things like barking or keyboard clicks, while transparency mode is straight-up top tier. Sound-wise, I break down the tuning: a huge bass shelf (basically a double Harman shelf), recessed upper mids, and a treble that’s peaky and kind of grating. Technicalities are middling—compressed dynamics, mediocre stage, three-blob imaging, plasticky timbre—and I even think AirPods Pro can come off more resolving. My takeaway: the AirPods Max are listenable, but a sad departure from Apple’s recent run of genuinely great-sounding audio products unless you’re paying specifically for ecosystem integration.