Another September brings another Apple event, where it's expected that the iPhone 14 series, the Apple Watch 8 and Apple Watch Pro are all going to be showcased.
However, these aren't the upgrades that I've been waiting for. Back in 2021, I upgraded from the iPhone X, released in 2017, to an iPhone 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 my AirPods Pro recently 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 on AirPods Max, the headphone variant of the AirPods line, and I'm hoping that a new AirPods Max 2 gets announced later today, alongside a release date for iOS 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 the iPhone 7 series. I'd been wanting some wireless earphones for a while, so Apple's announcement of these were perfect timing for me.
I'd eventually upgrade to the AirPods Pro in 2020, and as I needed some headphones for some podcasts and the Gaming PC, I eventually bought the Sony 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 an iPhone, an Apple Watch Series 5, a MacBook Pro 14-inch, and testing an iPad Pro on iPadOS 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 seen AirPods 3 arrive, 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 for macOS Ventura and iPadOS 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 the Foo Fighters, but I hope in a week's time they'll be replaced by some purple-colored AirPods Max 2.
