I don’t care about the iPhone 14 - just give me the AirPods Max 2 and iOS 16

How else can I listen to Spiceworld in Spatial Audio?

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Another September brings anotherApple event, where it’s expected that theiPhone 14series, theApple Watch 8andApple Watch Proare all going to be showcased.

However, these aren’t the upgrades that I’ve been waiting for. Back in 2021, I upgraded from theiPhone X, released in 2017, to aniPhone 13 Pro. Having that jump gave me years of updates, such as Night Mode for the camera, better FaceID, another camera lens and more.

I’m still content with the phone - the camera is fantastic and the battery is still great. However myAirPods Prorecently broke – the right ‘Pod’ is constantly crackling whenever some bass or loud sound is made. I had these replaced in 2021 for the same issue, but now I’ve just had enough.

This is why I’ve had my eye onAirPods Max, the headphone variant of the AirPods line, and I’m hoping that a newAirPods Max 2gets announced later today, alongside a release date foriOS 16.

Over-ear instead of in-ear has won me over

I’ve been an owner of AirPods since the first model arrived back in 2016 alongside theiPhone 7series. I’d been wanting some wireless earphones for a while, soApple’s announcement of these were perfect timing for me.

I’d eventually upgrade to theAirPods Proin 2020, and as I needed some headphones for some podcasts and the Gaming PC, I eventually bought theSony WH-1000XM3.

I’ve never been keen on headphones before, but it’s only when I switched on noise-cancellation and really listened to the audio quality that I became a converter of over-ear peripherals.

There’s been times when I’d walk over to the Apple-authorized store in Lincoln here (Apple, please consider a store in Lincolnshire), and try out the AirPods Max, and I’d be surprised at how impactful the noise-cancellation would be, and suddenly a wash of temptation would come over me every time, but I’d resist.

As I own aniPhone, anApple Watch Series 5, aMacBook Pro 14-inch, and testing aniPad ProoniPadOS 16.1, it makes sense to look at AirPods Max this time, but I’d rather wait for the second version.

We’re approaching two years since the headphones debuted, with no update since, but we’ve seenAirPods 3arrive, alongside an allegedly imminent announcement of AirPods Pro 2.

At this point I’d be uncomfortable buying headphones that are two years old, and this time of the year is usually when we start to see some audio announcements from Apple. So I’m hoping that we see some improvements to the AirPods Max, such as a USB-C port instead of lightning, some kind of water resistance, and, please, an actual case for them.

A lower price and a purple color would also be a bonus for me. But if they don’t arrive at today’s event, hopefully we see them in October once there’s if there’s another event to announce new iPads and release dates formacOS VenturaandiPadOS 16.1.

In the meantime though, I’m reduced to making do with a buzzing sound in my right AirPod Pro as I listen to theFoo Fighters, but I hope in a week’s time they’ll be replaced by some purple-colored AirPods Max 2.

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Daryl had been freelancing for 3 years before joining TechRadar, now reporting on everything software-related. In his spare time, he’s written a book, ‘The Making of Tomb Raider’. His second book, ‘50 Years of Boss Fights’, came out in 2024, with a third book coming in 2025. He also has a newsletter called ‘Springboard’. He’s usually found playing games old and new on his Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch, and MacBook Pro. If you have a story about an updated app, one that’s about to launch, or just anything Software-related, drop him a line.

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