Apple’s new AirPods Max over-ear headphones cost $549

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  AirPods Max. [credit: Apple ]

This morning, Apple made a surprise announcement: it has started taking orders today for its long-rumored over-ear headphones bearing the AirPods brand. Called AirPods Max, they take design cues from existing Apple products and use several internal sensors and microphones to deliver "computational audio" features.

Priced at $549, AirPods Max are fully wireless headphones, and they use Bluetooth aided by Apple's custom tech to connect to audio sources like an iPhone or a computer. They come with a "Smart Case" that protects the headphones for storage and puts the headphones in a low-power sleep mode. Additionally, the case has a Lightning port, allowing users to charge the headphones with an included Lightning to USB-C cable.

The above-mentioned sensors include an optical sensor, a position sensor, a case-detect sensor, and an accelerometer in each ear cup, and a gyroscope in just the left ear cup. There are also nine microphones. One is devoted exclusively to voice pickup, while the other eight are used for active noise cancellation; two of the mics perform double duty.

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