AirPods Max with VoiceOver on Mac – Any delay when typing?

I have the Airpods Pro 2 and they have very Minimal lag. The Max has a hefty price so you may think of alternatives as they have lower price point with equivalent quality of build and audio.

Seconding about the airpods pro not having any delay, I'm guessing the airpods max are the same.

Out of curiosity, what do you consider comparable? I ask because I tried quite a few headphones and ended up with the Airpods Pro second Gen, because they just sounded the best. I started with some sort of wireless earbuds touted by some site, maybe AT Guys? They were not great. Then I got Airpods Pro and returned them because they seemed pretty losable. Then I tried Beats because Apple said they had a lot of the same features. I was not impressed, Esp. compared to the Airpods. So I ended up going with them in the end.

Other things that *might* have been comparable, e.g. Sony, Bose, seemed as expensive, or more, than the Airpods. I think I tried at least one other brand I'm forgetting about. IMO nothing had comparable sound quality.

Wireless audio devices always have a little bit of noticeable lag due to buffering, and the AirPods Max are no exception, however the current version of the firmware for the USB-c variant provides USB audio support meaning no lag and even lossless audio support if you use them wired, which is what I do. In addition to USB audio, Apple also makes available a male-male 3.5mm headphone jack to USB-c cable that you can use to plug into analog audio devices (they used to sell a Lightning variant of this cable as well but it appears to have been discontinued along with the Lightning AirPods Max themselves). The ability to use these headphones wired and connect to analog devices were the two selling points for me personally.

A few things to note:

• The male-male 3.5mm headphone jack to USB-c cable provides stereo USB audio both ways but to my knowledge this is not configurable on macOS, which always recognizes the cable as an output device no matter which end you plug into the computer;
• Currently, the Microphone of the AirPods Max is only available via Bluetooth, so if the computer starts capturing audio from it, it will temporarily switch everything to Bluetooth mode even if you're using them wired, but they might fix this in the future with a firmware update just like they added USB audio support long after launch with a firmware update;
• While originally I expressed disapproval of the audio signature of the AirPods Max on this forum, I have since realized that this was due to being used to the treble-heavy signature of the wired EarPods, as these days I am already totally used to the bass-heavy nature of these headphones and appreciate them as they are;
• While many people complain about the weight of these headphones, it doesn't really bother me, as they fit my small head perfectly and its ear cups are so massive that my ears fit completely inside;
• Shortly after buying the AirPods Max I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the ear cup cushions are only magnetically attached so they are very easy to replace when they get dirty or smelly due to sweat condensation, however the replacements are relatively expensive, as with everything relating to these headphones;
• Wearing these headphones during heat waves is prone to cause skin irritation due to the accumulation of sweat between the skin and the cushions of the ear cups;
• The sealing provided by the ear cups of these headphones is quite good on its own, so the isolation provided when their active noise cancellation feature is enabled is impressive.

It's the same as the AirPods Pro 2 in that, it's perfectly usable and likely best in class for over ears with apple products.

I love my APM. I've been through quite a few mid to high mid wireless over ears and, though I've found some with lighter builds, I've not found anything that is more convenient. As they say, the best headphone you get is the one you use.

The way the APM disconnect from devices automatically is really useful for Voiceover users and, the transparency is still the best you can get.

The biggest downside for them is the price. They are a five year old design. They are too expensive. 399, would place them better, in my view. Asking such a premium is what Apple do though.

I'm hoping the UK manage to get this new thing through which means Apple has to open up its can of special sauce such as magic switching and deep integration of peripherals. It would be nice to have a wider choice of devices that work well with the platform, especially for us where the integration can be beneficial for accessibility.

I've had the EarPods max for a bit over two days now, and I have to say that they're the best headphones I've ever used. About the only downside to them that I can find is their selling price--which is the cost of a low-end windows laptop. Mind you, I think the headphones offer more bang, or boom, per buck than a budget laptop, but it still feels like a steep price to pay for an audio accessory. Still, I haven't had any reason to regret the purchase.

I'm not sure how Apple got the latency as low as they did when to my knowledge they're using the AAC codec over standard Bluetooth, though knowing them, it's probably some super proprietary system we'll never know about. I wish they'd support LE Audio, particularly on a product as expensive as these AirPods Max models which should support it since they use Bluetooth 5.2 or 5.3. I love using LE Audio on my Surface Laptop with my cheap $80 Zen Hybrid Pro headphones that also support the system. In fact, I heard Microsoft is planning to improve audio quality by allowing LE Audio devices to simultaneously transmit stereo audio while using the microphone, which is something that's unique to LE Audio. I don't think Apple can match that with their current system. I can't tell the difference between wired and wireless anymore. This is as good if not better than aptX Low Latency. Sadly, Apple appears to only care about their AAC codec and whatever other proprietary stuff they've built, so I wouldn't be surprised if this never arrives on hardware that can technically support it. Apple makes great products, but their arrogance and proprietary nature spoil the experience to a degree.

I agree... As long as people actually know and care about all of that. Apple is a sealed box for those who want something that does something without knowing how it works.

Getting the best possible quality isn't what Apple care about. They care about the best possible experience, which is often not the same thing.