If you want a pair of the best wireless headphones, it might be a good idea to hold out for a few months — both Apple and Sonos will have new over-ear models by the end of the year.
Last week, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claims that the AirPods Max 2 were still on track for release in 2024. Now, Gurman says that Apple’s biggest competitor, Sonos, will be launching its new headphones in June and are targeting a price point of $449 (around £350, AU$700).
That's a delay from their expected launch in April, which we reported on back in November, but if both those reports are true, Apple and Sonos’ biggest audio products are on a collision course for this summer — and it’s anyone’s game to win.
But what do we actually know about these headphones right now?
AirPods Max 2 vs Sonos wireless headphones
Unfortunately, we don't have the specs for these headphones (neither of them have been officially announced by either company), but we know enough about them both to get the debate started.
According to Gurman, the AirPods Max 2 aren't slated for huge improvements, and will likely only see minor changes in sound quality. The biggest change is likely the swap from a Lightning charging port to USB-C, which allows Apple to meet the compliance laws enforced by the European Union that go into effect at the end of the year.
The Sonos wireless headphones, on the other hand, are rumored to have a number of novel features, like the ability to play music over both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and sync with Sonos speakers. By streaming music over Wi-Fi, the Sonos wireless headphones will be able to play 24 bit/96 kHz audio a.k.a. High-Resolution Audio.
If the AirPods Max 2 follow Apple's previous pricing structure, we can expect to see them launch for around $549, while Gurman says the Sonos headphones will be locked in at $449. There's a chance Apple will see that price and change its price to match, but what's more likely to happen is that Apple will drop the price of the original AirPods Max to $449 so it can keep the price of the AirPods Max 2 up over $500.
This is by no means the end of the debate — it's merely conjecture based on the rumors we've heard so far — but hopefully it's all useful information you can use before shelling out on a pair of soon-to-be-obsolete over-ear headphones.
