Discover lossless audio, ultra-low latency, and wired playback on the 2025 Apple AirPods Max with iOS 18.4. Upgrade now!

The 2022 patent suggests that the outer panel of the earcups would be used to control the headphones, like you see on models like the Sony WH-1000XM5. This also didn’t appear on the mid-cycle refresh, so it could be something new for the potential next model.

Apple's AirPods Max over-the-ear headphones now support lossless audio. Apple announced the upgrade in late March, and now the new firmware for the AirPods Max is out, adding support for lossless audio,

When iOS 18.4 arrived earlier this week, AirPods Max users were likely the quickest to update after Apple announced last week that a new AirPods Max firmware update released at the same time would bring lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio to AirPods Max for the first time via the bundled USB-C cable.

That’s the capability to connect AirPods Max to analog sources such as the inflight entertainment on an airplane which, almost universally, still requires a cable link to a 3.5m

After a botched software update, Apple is sending out new AirPods Max update to enable lossless audio over USB.

Apple announced that its AirPods Max (USB-C) would get lossless audio and ultra-low latency with iOS 18.4. However, due to a bug, users weren't able to install it. The issue is now resolved, and Apple has released firmware version 7E101,