All-New AirPods: First Look at AirPods 4 with ANC, Pro 2 and Max

Intro Guys, the new AirPods are here—two new models,   to be exact. The AirPods Pro 2 got a new  feature, which I think may be the most   important upgrade ever to hit an earbud. And  the AirPods Max? Well, let's talk about that. Welcome back, everyone. I'm Caleb  Denison, coming to you from Apple Park,   and it was a big day for Apple. New iPhone  launches—I can't wait to talk about some of the   creator-friendly stuff those have—new Apple Watch  stuff, and, of course, the big reason I'm here:   AirPods. So, let's break it down—what came out,  what's new, and, just as importantly, what is not. AirPods 4 The new AirPods 4—what's new with those? Well, it  could be hard to tell just from looking, because a   lot of the new features are either very subtle  or they're buried deep inside. But there is a   lot new here. Apple says it used 3D photogrammetry  and photography—I’m not sure what ‘grammetry’ is;   I'm going to have to look that up—but they used  that to map ear shapes with over 50 million   data points. The result, they say, is the most  comfortable AirPods that they've made to date. Of course, everybody's ears are different, and  how earbuds fit in them is a tricky thing to   address. Apple did what it could to analyze  as many different ears as it could and come   up with a shape and design that was going to be  the most comfortable it could be for the most   amount of people. Once we get a chance to put  the AirPods Generation 3 against the new Gen 4,   we might be able to spot some of the differences  on the surfaces of the earbud itself, but I   gather it's going to be pretty minute—we  might not even be able to see it at all. The new AirPods Gen 4 also come in  a smaller case with USB-C charging,   and users will also get the cool new feature where  you can nod or shake your head to answer phone   calls without actually saying anything to  Siri at all. The new AirPods are powered   by the H2 chip inside, which means they are  going to get computational audio help. Apple   says that it has completely changed  the acoustic architecture for these   earbuds to make them sound better than they  ever have in the past. I believe they said   "richer bass and crystal-clear highs," which  is generally what you want with audio products,   but we'll see how they actually sound once we've  gotten a chance to give them a thorough test. Speaking of, I did get like, I don't know,  30 seconds to put these things in my ears,   and quite frankly, I wasn’t really able to  gather a lot of useful information about   them. But I should be leaving this  place with some of those in hand,   and I should have a full review for you very  soon. Oh, I should also mention that they   now have a force sensor included, and battery  life has been improved—you get 30 hours total   on average. That depends on how hard you  drive them—that’s with what’s built into   the earbuds and also what's available in the  charging case. I did not get a breakdown of how   long the buds themselves actually last. Again,  that'll be great to discover for the review. AirPods 4 with ANC The new AirPods product that  I find the most interesting,   however, are the AirPods 4 with ANC. Now, yes,  obviously they do get active noise cancelling,   and I don't expect it to be quite as powerful  as what you find in the AirPods Pro 2. However,   that's just the beginning of all these  trickle-down features from the AirPods   Pro that we're going to be seeing in this new  sort of mid-tier AirPod earbud. In addition   to the ANC, you also get transparency mode, you  also get adaptive audio—which brings your music   or your movie, whatever you're listening  to, it brings that level down so that you   can be more aware of your surroundings—and  they also now pack conversation awareness. You also get a new USB-C charging case, which can  also do wireless charging, and Find My speaker is   now built into this as well. When you zoom out  and take a look at what the new AirPods 4 with   ANC offer, it looks a lot like the AirPods Pro,  just without the actual ear tip. For now, it's   to wonder—well, why would I spend so much more for  the AirPods Pro than I would for this new mid-tier   AirPods? And frankly, that's a really great  question. I think if you don't need the custom ear   tip or if you're not comfortable with that kind of  thing, this is going to be your product. At least,   that is until the new AirPods Pro 3 come out,  which is expected hopefully sometime next year. AirPods Pro 2 But that doesn't mean that the AirPods Pro  didn't get a big boost out of the Apple event   today. One of the most important—and I think  exciting—developments for earbuds in general is   what Apple is doing around hearing assistance.  Now, Apple says it has filed with the FDA to   get the AirPods Pro 2 with this new feature  recognized as a hearing aid. It's intended to   help people with mild to moderate hearing loss.  If you've got the AirPods Pro 2 and you've got   an iOS device that handles iOS 18 or later—and  apparently it will work with some Macs as well,   Macs with macOS Sequoia or later—you'll be able to  take a sort of hearing test where Apple provides a   tone and tells you to tap the screen when you hear  it. It collects a ton of data about your hearing   capabilities, and then makes it possible for you  to change the way your music and movies sound. But in addition to that, it can actually  assist you with your hearing with all the   computational audio stuff that's on board these  AirPods—the ability to reduce noise and do voice   isolation. This could be a legitimate help  to people who are suffering with some kind   of hearing loss. Not only is it going to  help folks in their day-to-day hearing,   but it's also going to make what they  listen to through the AirPods—music,   movies, what have you—sound even better. Again,  because the sound signature of the audio that's   being pumped out of these things has been  customized for your particular hearing needs. Now, I'm not suggesting that these are as good as  the very best hearing aids out there, but again,   for somebody with mild to moderate hearing  loss that needs just a little bit of help,   this is a great option. Because not  only will it help with your hearing,   but it fits into your life in other ways as well. AirPods Max Update And then, finally, we have the AirPods Max.  Now, I'll be honest—I was hoping for a rather   big update on the AirPods Max today, and that is  not what we got. What we found out is that the   AirPods Max will now be available with USB-C  charging and a whole slate of new colors,   as you can see here. We'll have the  names of all those colors listed below,   as well as links to go and pre-order these if you  like. Now, I imagine some folks might be a little   bit disappointed that the AirPods Max didn’t get a  bigger overhaul. Anecdotally speaking, I can tell   you that I know a lot of folks who were hoping for  more—maybe a slightly more comfortable headband,   maybe a slightly lower weight, a power button, a  proper case—none of those came to fruition. And,   you know, we don't really understand what's  going on in the minds of the folks at Apple,   but they did have to get these things  adapted to comply with European rules.   That meant putting a USB-C charging  port in it, and while you're doing that,   I suppose just tack on some new colors as well.  It’s a welcome addition, but it just makes me   long for the new AirPods Max Generation 2 that  we were kind of hoping to see today, but didn’t. I imagine we might see a new  AirPods Max product around the   same time that we see a new AirPods  Pro product. One can hope, anyway. Final thoughts The new AirPods 4 model comes in at $129.  You'll get the new AirPods 4 with ANC for $179,   and the AirPods Max remain at $549. Now, as I  said before, I should be getting some AirPods 4,   some AirPods 4 with ANC, and maybe a new  iPhone to test out all these new features   with them. We'll have the full review for those  units coming very soon. I also have something   to share with you about what I think the new  iPhones are doing in terms of visuals and audio,   both for professionals and creators and the  average user—I think there's a lot going on there. So I'll be back with some more commentary from  this momentous event at Apple Park. For now,   that's all I have for you. Thanks so  much for watching. Don’t forget to like,   subscribe, ring that notification  bell. I’ll see you on the next one,   and until then, here are two other  videos I think you might like.