UPDATE: Sep. 10, 2024, 9:50 a.m. EDT This story has been updated with additional links to preorder listings at Amazon and Best Buy.
How about some new AirPods to go with your new iPhone 16?
Apple unveiled three new models of varying degrees of freshness at its "Glowtime" event on Monday, Sept. 9, including the all-new AirPods 4 (available with or without Active Noise Cancellation) and some updated USB-C AirPods Max in five new colors.
The AirPods 4 cost $179 with ANC and $129 without, while the AirPods Max are priced at $549. Preorders are now live at the Apple Store, Amazon, and Best Buy ahead of their official release on Friday, Sept. 20.
While Apple did not announce a new version of the AirPods Pro during Monday's event, it did showcase some new health features coming to the earbuds later this fall — including clinical-grade hearing aid functionality. There's not much else differentiating them from the standard (non-Pro) AirPods anymore, though.
What's new about the AirPods 4
The AirPods series' new standard-bearers have an updated open-ear design that supposedly makes them "the most comfortable AirPods ever." They're powered by an H2 chip, the same processor found in the current AirPods Pro 2, which adds support for features like Voice Isolation and Siri Interactions (a former Pro exclusive); you'll be able to control them with head movements or by pressing a new force sensor on their stem. Apple is also promising "a massive improvement in sound quality."
The AirPods 4 have the same battery life as their predecessors — up to 30 hours with their included charging case — though that case is 10 percent smaller and newly equipped with a USB-C port.
Starting at $129 without ANC, the AirPods 4 cost the same as the now-discontinued AirPods 2 did after their 2021 price cut. (They originally went for $159 when they launched in 2019.)
For $50 more, you can upgrade the AirPods 4 with ANC — a first for a non-Pro AirPods model. They come with a Transparency mode, Adaptive Audio that intermingles it with ANC based on your surroundings, and a Conversation Awareness feature that turns their audio down when you talk to someone. (These used to be AirPods Pro 2 exclusives, too.) Their USB-C case has a speaker to aid Apple's Find My tool, and it can be charged wirelessly or using an Apple Watch charger.
The AirPods 4 with ANC cost the same as the now-defunct AirPods 3 from 2021.
What's new about the AirPods Max
Monday's AirPods Max refresh was a last-minute surprise, but it wound up being decidedly less dramatic than the AirPods 4 reveal: Apple's over-ear headphones now have a USB-C charging port and come in five new colors, including midnight, starlight, blue, orange, and purple. (They retain the same design, fit, H1 chip, and 20-hour battery life that they've had since 2020.) What will Tim Cook think of next?
Price-wise, the AirPods Max will still retail for a too-expensive $549.
