Now That the Sale Is on Before Prime Day, I Can Finally Recommend the AirPods Max
Prime Day 2025 runs from Tuesday, July 8 through Friday, July 11, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price tracking tools.
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I love my AirPods Max, but I can rarely recommend them. It’s a shame, because they should be obvious to anyone in the Apple ecosystem: They connect easily to all your devices, have excellent noise cancellation (they’re my favorite headphones on a plane), and they sound fantastic. What’s not to love? Well, the price.
The AirPods Max typically retail for $549, making them one of the most expensive consumer headphones you can buy. Similar headphones in this category cost between $250 and $450, making the AirPods Max a tough buy for anyone who isn’t fully committed to the Apple ecosystem. If all you care about is a high-quality pair of over-ear or over-ear headphones, you may want to consider something less expensive.
Ahead of Prime Day, however, you can pick up a new pair of AirPods Max for $449.99 — a $99 discount, or 18% off the MSRP. That’s still pricey, no doubt, but it puts the earbuds at the top of the range in this category, rather than the nearly $100-plus ones outside of it — meaning I can confidently say that if you’re interested in these earbuds, now is the time to buy them.
As far as headphones go, the AirPods Max are pretty simple. Like other AirPods, when you put them on your head, they automatically connect to your active Apple devices. If you’re listening to music on your Mac but pick up your iPhone to watch a video, they’ll automatically switch to the new active source. You don’t have to live with this feature , but it’s gotten so good in recent years that it works pretty smoothly across devices.
The earbuds have excellent noise-canceling, as well as its opposite: Transparency mode. This feature channels sounds through tiny microphones in the AirPods, so you can have a full conversation without taking the earbuds off. (Even with noise-canceling turned off, the AirPods Max can block out a decent amount of noise just by sitting on your head.)
But perhaps my favorite feature of the AirPods Max is its battery life. They’re rated for 20 hours of battery life, which beats all other Apple headphones. If you keep the AirPods Max in the case between uses, you’ll find that you won’t have to charge them very often. (Although be sure to use the case, as there’s no way to turn off the AirPods when they’re out of it.)
Should you buy the new AirPods Max or the original?
You may or may not know that these AirPods Max aren’t the original model that Apple released in 2020. Apple actually updated the earbuds last September, though you might not notice it at first glance. In fact, for the most part, the two versions of the AirPods Max are virtually identical, save for three things: new color options, USB-C instead of Lightning, and an “ultra-low latency” audio option that lets you listen to lossless content over a wired connection .
Sure, these are all improvements, especially the last two perks, but for a while I was recommending the original pair over the new model. First, Apple hadn’t released exclusive wired playback features yet, but second, the original model could be found at a bigger discount than the new pair, especially during events like Prime Day. If you could live with Lightning instead of USB-C, you’d save a ton of money and have a roughly equivalent AirPods Max experience.
Now the situation is different. Not only is the new model better, but the original model seems to be harder to find. You can buy an original pair for $399 or less, but they will renew them. If that’s okay with you, then go for it. But I think $449 isn’t a terrible price for a new, unopened pair of AirPods Max.
As an alternative, consider AirPods Pro.
If you’re looking for a high-quality audio experience that also works well with the Apple ecosystem, you really can’t go wrong with the AirPods Pro. In fact, they may be better for some people than the AirPods Max, as they have some exclusive features despite the lower price. I really wish Apple would add things like Conversation Awareness to the AirPods Max, an enhanced version of Transparency Mode that automatically lowers the volume of music or a sound source when you start talking to someone.
Amazon is offering a great deal on the AirPods Pro ahead of Prime Day, so if $449.99 is still too much to swallow, check out the Pros. You’ll get the features you’ve come to expect — noise cancellation, automatic device switching, high-quality sound — and more.
Looking for something else? Retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, and Home Depot are running Prime Day sales that are especially helpful if you don’t have Amazon Prime.
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Walmart’s Prime Day sale starts at midnight on July 8 and includes discounts of up to 50% . It’s an especially good option if you have Walmart+.
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Best Buy’s Prime Day sale , “Black Friday in July,” runs through Sunday, July 13, and offers some of the best tech sales online . It’s an especially good option if you’re a My Best Buy “Plus” or “Total” member.
Home Depot has extended its July 4 sale through at least July 9, competing with some of its own great deals . It’s a particularly good option if you’re looking for power tools, appliances, or outdoor gear.