AirPods Max in green on green background
(Image credit: Future)
AirPods Max USB-C's lossless update is available now
You'll need iOS 18.4 to get the update to your Max
Instructions for checking the update are below
Apple has announced that the lossless audio update to AirPods Max with USB-C launches today, alongside the release of iOS 18.4 for iPhone.
Apple revealed that the AirPods Max update with lossless and latency-free Personalized Spatial Audio was coming previously, but without an exact date – and here it is.
This is the first totally lossless audio support ever for a pair of AirPods, and it provides 24-bit 48 kHz lossless support over USB-C, with a promise that this also brings the latency down to effectively zero, making it great for audio production or gaming.
(The original AirPods Max were lossless-ish, with support for cabled connections, but via an active cable that took analog signal, converted it to digital, then converted it back to analog in the headphones, so too much conversion to be truly lossless.)
Apple says you can connect to a Mac, iPhone or iPad to get lossless audio, but we'll check whether it works with all other USB-C sources too.
Apple has also finally launched its own 3.5mm to USB-C cable, too, to enable the AirPods Max with USB-C to work with analogue audio output (making them work with airplane entertainment systems at last).
AirPods Max in green, shown from above, looking past the mesh headband to the earcups
(Image credit: Future)
How to make sure you've got the update
AirPods updates should be automatic, though Apple recently explained for the first time how to kick AirPods updates into gear if you need to.
You'll need iOS 18.4 on your iPhone, and then follow these steps:
Put your AirPods Max in Bluetooth range of your iPhone, iPad or Mac, which must be connected to Wi-Fi
Put your AirPods Max on to charge
Wait 30 minutes
Check if you have the new update
To check if you have the update, put your AirPods on, open the Settings app, tap on your AirPods Max, then scroll to the bottom and check to see if Version reads '7E99'.
AirPods Max with USB-C still rank among the best wireless headphones despite their age, thanks to strong sound quality (even at their high price) and tons of unique features for Apple users, including Personalized Spatial Audio, auto-switching between Apple devices, and Find My support.
We actually had to remove them from our list of the best travel headphones since the USB-C version arrived, though, due to their lack of wired input for airplane journeys. This update means we might finally add them back in.
You might also like…
Managing Editor, Entertainment
Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Entertainment, meaning he's in charge of persuading our team of writers and reviewers to watch the latest TV shows and movies on gorgeous TVs and listen to fantastic speakers and headphones. It's a tough task, as you can imagine. Matt has over a decade of experience in tech publishing, and previously ran the TV & audio coverage for our colleagues at T3.com, and before that he edited T3 magazine. During his career, he's also contributed to places as varied as Creative Bloq, PC Gamer, PetsRadar, MacLife, and Edge. TV and movie nerdism is his speciality, and he goes to the cinema three times a week. He's always happy to explain the virtues of Dolby Vision over a drink, but he might need to use props, like he's explaining the offside rule.