Apple announced this morning that the first true update to its over-hear phones are up for pre-order on March 25 and will be shipping in early April.
They look identical to the predecessor, with large, colorful earcups and a matching headband.
But inside is the H2 chip that Apple first introduced with the AirPods Pro 2, which enables a host of new features.
Chief among those is improved noise cancelation — Apple says with the H2 and improved audio algorithms, the AirPods Max 2 are 1.5 times more effective at reducing noise than the old model.
From an audio perspective, there’s a new amplifier on board here as well for clearer music and improved spatial audio performance.
If you want lossless music, you can get that by using the included USB-C cable.
There are also a host of new features for the AirPods Max 2 enabled by the H2.
These include an “Adaptive Audio” mode that balances between transparency and ANC modes depending on the environment so you can hear things when you need to while still blocking extraneous noise.