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cardfan

macrumors 601
Mar 23, 2012
4,431
5,627
The same knuckleheads bought HomePod at 399. They claimed it was a great price while other laughed at them. Retailers couldn’t discount these soon enough to move them.

Obviously the same (taking half off) won’t apply here as the AirPods max aren’t garbage like the homepods were at 399. But expect the usual 100-150 off sales.
 
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macnmac

macrumors 6502a
Jun 18, 2017
778
609
Apple Park
I'm not speculating but you can think whatever you want. Also, the home speaker market is a billion times more popular than the ultra expensive over the ear headphone market. You can't say just the "headphones" market because that's lumping everything from $10 skull candy ear phones all the way to the Airpod Max's. Thats not how it works. Apple entered into the EXTREMELY niche luxury over the ear market and it is astronomically smaller than the home speaker market. That is also a fact.

home speakers are popular than ultra expensive ear headphones, yeah sure
are these ultra expensive earphones, no
you were the one that compared them to homepod, not me
extremely niche luxury, again, these are not
 

rkuo

macrumors 65816
Sep 25, 2010
1,308
955
The thing about these headphones is Apple has the scale and sophistication to get the software right and do incredibly complex tricks with the audio, down to the algorithms and custom processor. Then they tack that onto a premium set of headphones. Companies like Bose and Sony just can't do the reverse as well. Hell ... as far as a "premium" build goes, they don't even stack up to Apple right now.

For me, I'm fine waiting to see how these AirPods Max pan out in critical reviews and will probably just wait until they go on sale or I can pick up a clean refurb. And that's IF they meet expectations in all the areas I need them to. They need to be good office/work headphones ... so good call quality, comfortable to wear all day, not constantly disconnecting or presenting huge lag, etc. I LOVE the headband design ... it seems perfect for my needs. I don't like the idea of the extra weight, but when I have a chance to demo them, we'll see how that all balances out.

I'm surprised people are glossing over how Apple has totally skipped over the travel market with this design. IMO they are completely unsuitable for travel and you'd have to be quite obsessive to force yourself to carry them. The way the Sony's and Bose's fold up and go into a real travel case means they still own that market as far as I'm concerned.

Past a certain point, headphones aren't about what you get for your dollar per se. It's about the pursuit of perfection and being able to integrate them into your life transparently. That's why these headphones don't need to be twice as good to cost twice as much.
 
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LongWayHome

Suspended
Oct 18, 2020
503
1,010
home speakers are popular than ultra expensive ear headphones, yeah sure
are these ultra expensive earphones, no
you were the one that compared them to homepod, not me
extremely niche luxury, again, these are not
You've totally lost me. These are the most expensive consumer headphones for the masses that are out there. They are going to be directly compared to the Sony XM4's and the Bose 700 line of headphones. You literally said that the home speaker market was less popular the the over the ear headphone market. That's incorrect. These are a niche product because of their pricing, period.
 

doboy

macrumors 68040
Jul 6, 2007
3,775
2,946
Don’t get all this fuss over the pricing. If you like it and willing to part with $550+tax you buy it, but if you don’t like it or think it’s worth $550 don’t buy it. Simple.
 
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turbineseaplane

macrumors P6
Mar 19, 2008
17,392
40,179
Don’t get all this fuss over the pricing. If you like it and willing to part with $550+tax you buy it, but if you don’t like it or think it’s worth $550 don’t buy it. Simple.

Good point. Same for all products everywhere, always, so let’s never talk about pricing.
/s
 
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falainber

macrumors 68040
Mar 16, 2016
3,539
4,136
Wild West
Don’t get all this fuss over the pricing. If you like it and willing to part with $550+tax you buy it, but if you don’t like it or think it’s worth $550 don’t buy it. Simple.
That's not how rational people think. If they cost $500 and work as good as $278 headphones why waste your money.
 

quagmire

macrumors 604
Apr 19, 2004
6,985
2,492
That's not how rational people think. If they cost $500 and work as good as $278 headphones why waste your money.

If a $50K car works just as good as a $30K car, why waste the money? Because the other differences between the two cars( build quality, materials, etc) matters to that person when it comes to deciding which one to buy. This isn't a Chevy Cavalier being dressed up as the Cadillac Cimarron situation, but there is distinguishable differences between the Max and the $278 pair of headphones. It's now just a matter are those differences worth it to YOU. Some will say yes, others will say no.
 

ipponrg

macrumors 68020
Oct 15, 2008
2,309
2,087
550$ is pretty cheap for a pair of headphones if they sound good. HD800S costs 1700$. And you buy an amp to drive it as well. I'm not saying APM will sound as good as amped HD800 but sound quality as everything gets into diminishing returns once you go up. HD800 does not sound 3 times better than APM and probably APM does not sound 200$ more than XM4. But everyone seems to agree they sound better than the Bose and Sony. Also B&W PX7 and Momentum 3. That's basically the entire competition in the consumer market. So it's going to be compared to B&O H95 and fail there, but that's a 800$ ANC headphone.

$550 is probably cheap for people like me that are into headphones. Reading the crinacle review and the fact that he says it performs closer to the ATH-M50X or DT770 Pro, that's an easy pass for me.

For me, I'm fine waiting to see how these AirPods Max pan out in critical reviews and will probably just wait until they go on sale or I can pick up a clean refurb. And that's IF they meet expectations in all the areas I need them to. They need to be good office/work headphones ... so good call quality, comfortable to wear all day, not constantly disconnecting or presenting huge lag, etc. I LOVE the headband design ... it seems perfect for my needs. I don't like the idea of the extra weight, but when I have a chance to demo them, we'll see how that all balances out.

I think the Airpods Max are panning out to be exactly what many are thinking. It seems to be an alternative, albeit more expensive, to the ~$400 mid tier wireless ANC line with additional features such as spatial audio and sacrificing portability. Without a doubt, I think they will be acceptable for office/work headphones if you do not want a dedicated boom mic. I very much doubt you will have disconnect issues or huge lag. Check out this YouTube video that demonstrates some of the mic noise canceling

.
 
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ouimetnick

macrumors 68040
Aug 28, 2008
3,552
6,345
Beverly, Massachusetts
Time will tell if $550 is a "fair" price. Apple is in the market of selling products and services. Many people thought $350 was a fair price for the HomePod, but it seems that sale numbers disagreed because Apple has since lowered the price to $299.

If in a year to two Apple reduces the price of AirPods Max or retailers start discounting them, you can bet that they apparently don't think $550 is a fair price anymore.
 
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ouimetnick

macrumors 68040
Aug 28, 2008
3,552
6,345
Beverly, Massachusetts
The same knuckleheads bought HomePod at 399. They claimed it was a great price while other laughed at them. Retailers couldn’t discount these soon enough to move them.

Obviously the same (taking half off) won’t apply here as the AirPods max aren’t garbage like the homepods were at 399. But expect the usual 100-150 off sales.

I'll buy them (to try out) at $150 off. $399 is fine I guess. $350 seems to be the sweet spot, but tack on $50 for the Tim Apple tax, and you get $399.
 

macnmac

macrumors 6502a
Jun 18, 2017
778
609
Apple Park
You've totally lost me. These are the most expensive consumer headphones for the masses that are out there. They are going to be directly compared to the Sony XM4's and the Bose 700 line of headphones. You literally said that the home speaker market was less popular the the over the ear headphone market. That's incorrect. These are a niche product because of their pricing, period.

most expensive consumer headphones, wrong

for the masses, your assumption, nobody claimed these to be for the masses, wrong again

incorrect again, because you claim its incorrect, where is there any factual evidence? you just claim these things but a quick google search will show you 1/4 american homes own a smart speaker... so youre telling me less than 1/4 americans own headphones?

and exactly, a niche product, which is exactly counter to what you said in your second sentence that they are for the masses...
 
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LongWayHome

Suspended
Oct 18, 2020
503
1,010
most expensive consumer headphones, wrong

for the masses, your assumption, nobody claimed these to be for the masses, wrong again

incorrect again, because you claim its incorrect, where is there any factual evidence? you just claim these things but a quick google search will show you 1/4 american homes own a smart speaker... so youre telling me less than 1/4 americans own headphones?

and exactly, a niche product, which is exactly counter to what you said in your second sentence that they are for the masses...

Dude I'm done arguing with you on this. You want to think that the APM's are "flying off the shelves" then be my guest. They are flying off the shelves because of extremely low volume. Its basic business principals but you can believe whatever you want to believe.
 

LongWayHome

Suspended
Oct 18, 2020
503
1,010
I still can't believe why anyone would pick the Airpods Max vs the Pro's...

Well to be fair here, that is purely a matter of preference. Some people really dislike "in-ear" earphones and want something that sits over the ear as it can on some occasions be more comfortable. You also have to factor other things like sound quality and battery. But overall I get your point, but its just preference.
 
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Grolubao

macrumors 68000
Dec 23, 2008
1,579
583
London, UK
Well to be fair here, that is purely a matter of preference. Some people really dislike "in-ear" earphones and want something that sits over the ear as it can on some occasions be more comfortable. You also have to factor other things like sound quality and battery. But overall I get your point, but its just preference.

Sure but the point is the Airpods Pro will provide a better seal, similar Noise cancellation and features, and obviously great portability with a case that actually is useful ? Oh, it's $250 cheaper
 

macnmac

macrumors 6502a
Jun 18, 2017
778
609
Apple Park
Dude I'm done arguing with you on this. You want to think that the APM's are "flying off the shelves" then be my guest. They are flying off the shelves because of extremely low volume. Its basic business principals but you can believe whatever you want to believe.

im not arguing with you, im just trying to explain the fact that when you compare them and the price of them to compare them properly... never have i once argued against general business practices and what makes sense... i was arguing the fact that you said those things as facts which is a misrepresentation... thats all
 

russell_314

macrumors 604
Feb 10, 2019
6,675
10,274
USA
Now that reviews are out it's fairly clear that the APMs are being marketed towards the prosumer, similar to the target market for the Bose QCs/Sony XM4s. At least to me, it's fairly clear that most consumers in this market will pay $200-250 more for:

- The "best" ANC in the market (in quotations because it's only marginally better than the XM4s/QCs but still measurably so)
- Better build quality
- Sound quality that is the same/better than the XM4s/QCs
- The style
- The Apple brand and integration with other Apple products

Apple has a long history of shocking consumers with seemingly high prices, and I don't see how this initial price shock is any different than:

- The release of the original Airpods (still remember co-workers laughing that I paid $170 for them-- now they all own a pair)
- The "high" prices of iPhones relative to "similar" android phones that were a constant talking point back in 2010-2014
- The release of the $100 Apple pencil (gen 2 now 30% more expensive at $129, no one bats an eye)

I know, it's easy to look back and say something like, "oh yeah but these products were clearly worth it." But hindsight is 20/20, and we've been around the block too often to be surprised again. In 2 years people are going to be saying the same thing about the APMs. Every tech YouTuber will have them on their desk in their videos. APMs will be on Christmas lists, not XM4s. Then Gen 2 will be released and the focus will be on new features, not the price, and Apple's dominance over the XM4s/QCs will be cemented.

The simple fact is that these things are flying off the shelves, and although supply constraints have a lot to do with the current 12-14 week ship times, no one can deny that the demand is there. For the most part, if people can afford them, they'll buy them. Can't call it overpriced if people are willing to pay...

From the posts here of people who bought these headphones most of the ones I’ve seen said they liked them. Most of the posts here critical of them are from people that have never tried them. Whenever Apple releases a product there are people in these forms that will say it’s overpriced garbage. It doesn’t matter what that product is or how much it costs it’s overpriced garbage. For some reason Apple causes a negative reaction with some people. You can spend all day trying to convince those people that Apple products are worth it and you’ll get nowhere.
 

Frankfurt

macrumors 6502a
Dec 4, 2016
740
889
USA
You can spend all day trying to convince those people that Apple products are worth it and you’ll get nowhere.
But that is the point: nobody should convince anybody of anything. If folks like to try them, get them, you have 14 days to return them. Otherwise, just don't buy them and over with. It seems in these fora, people are on a "mission" for their respective opinion. That is even worse, if they have not even tried the product.
 

russell_314

macrumors 604
Feb 10, 2019
6,675
10,274
USA
But that is the point: nobody should convince anybody of anything. If folks like to try them, get them, you have 14 days to return them. Otherwise, just don't buy them and over with. It seems in these fora, people are on a "mission" for their respective opinion. That is even worse, if they have not even tried the product.
I agree. To me this is like trying to convince you to like ice cream. Some people don't like ice cream and while that seems a bit weird to me it's okay. Everyone has their likes and dislikes and the world would be boring if everyone liked the same things. I think something else is going on here though. It's something people like to do online when it comes to online. I think they're on some type of world tour right now ?

Once I finally get my AirPods Max I will post how I think they are. If they're disappointing in any way I'm sending them back because for that price I have high expectations. I don't think I'll be disappointed though.
 
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Frankfurt

macrumors 6502a
Dec 4, 2016
740
889
USA
Once I finally get my AirPods Max I will post how I think they are. If they're disappointing in any way I'm sending them back because for that price I have high expectations. I don't think I'll be disappointed though.
I picked mine up on Saturday, got lucky as few got dropped to the local Apple Store.

My impressions so far: great build, great sound quality, a bit heavy (not ideal for commuting or - gasp - exercising), excellent ANC, spatial audio a bonus (IF you have a device to use it with), good battery life, switching between devices works generally well (Mac vs iOS still a bit shaky once in a while).

They will not replace my APP (I use them for conf calls and "on the go"), but complement them. I was hoping to use them on longer air travel to replace my aging wired Bose - but that would require an actual case (will probably take too much space).

They are not "all-rounders" for me, but fill a niche when I want great sound or need "all-day" conferencing capability.
 
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Oct 27, 2020
192
118
Honestly people are just cheap I know folks who say B and O headphones are overpriced and honestly a consumer being cheap is not the manufactures but a consumer problem. People need to realize if you want nice things then you have to spend money.

I can only imagine that if Apple ever released a car people would be uproar about the pricing if they can't deal with 550.00 headphones.
 
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