How to Get Apple AirPods Max a Month Early
The passion for Apple is strong. There was a time when I, too, demanded many of the products that the company produces – I even got to the point of queuing for hours for a brand new iPhone. Whatever you say about Apple’s just-announced luxury AirPods Max, there is one undeniable fact about the new $ 550 (!) Cans: it will take a long time to get them , even if you are smart.
If you are really horny for AirPods Max, there is a quirky way you can get them in front of other people. At the time of this writing, AirPods Max has a 12-14 weeks shipping time from date of purchase. If I pre-ordered the pair today (which I am not doing) it would mean they will arrive sometime between March 3rd and 17th. This is a big delay compared to their December 15 launch.
However, there is a little trick you can use to speed up shipping times a bit: add engraving to your AirPods Max and you can get them almost a month early.
I have no idea why this works as the delivery delay should still apply regardless of whether you are engraving poop emoji on your headset or not. (Actually, I would guess that the engraving will actually cost you more time than just getting a standard pair of earbuds, but obviously this isn’t the case.)
I’m also not sure how long this little trick will last, so get your engraving order if you know you want to buy an Apple headset (no critical reviews). Nothing against Apple, but I would wait to see how well these headphones pair with any other pair of high quality headphones in the somewhat crowded market before I pull the trigger, but that’s just me. I tend to prefer sound quality and noise canceling capabilities much more than the convenience of a wireless connection, even though AirPods are incredibly useful for iPhone and iPad owners.
Once you start paying almost as much for a headphone as, say, a Mac Mini, I think you should probably be a little more picky. Don’t buy AirPods Max just because they’re trendy (sigh), buy them if they’re objectively good for listening to music. We don’t know yet if they are awesome, so it might be worth waiting a few days for audiophiles to submit their feedback; chances are good, you can still get your engraved pair a little earlier if you still need them.
And remember: While this trick will save you a month of waiting, it can affect your ability to resell headphones if you want to switch to something else at some point. These are the risks of personalization, and you may have to overcome a few more hurdles to get a refund if you don’t like them.