AirPods Max iFixit Teardown; Bose, Sony Headphones Seem ‘Like Toys’

Apple recently introduced its first over-the-ear headphones in the form of AirPods Max. More than its features, the price tag of Rs. 59,990 caught people's attention. As per Apple, the headphones are designed to fit all kinds of head sizes, thanks to its knitted mesh canopy and memory foam ear cushions. It claims to offer high-fidelity playback with ultra-low distortion and active noise cancellation along with spatial audio.

So, to check whether the headphones are actually worth the price, tech site iFixit decided to put it through a teardown. Giving a detailed look at the internals and its reparability score, the team concluded that the intricate engineering used to make the AirPods Max justifies the pricing.

So why the AirPods Max priced so high? Well, for starters, its ear cushions have magnets that make them easy to replace. Besides, Apple has used screws to keep internal components in place rather than glue. This makes it easy for repairers to take out the damaged parts. As for the hinge of the headband, it can be detached using a SIM card removal tool without having to open the ear cup.

But this doesn't mean that the headphones are perfectly reparable. Opening the AirPods Max means dealing with some strong adhesive, and the screws used for internal are of a completely different kind which means the repairers need to be well-equipped with different screwdriver heads, to begin with.

When compared to other over-ear headphones, the AirPods Max seems to have an edge over them. For comparison, iFixit also tore down the slightly cheaper Sony's WH-1000XM4 and the Bose's NC 700, which are two of the best noise-canceling headphones. iFixit also went on to say that "internally, the AirPods Max's obsessive craftsmanship makes those other extremely capable devices look like toys by comparison."

Taking the whopping price tag of the AirPods Max, it's good to see that they aren't a reparability nightmare and its components such as batteries and cushions will be easily replaceable when they start falling apart in a few years.