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Last week, Apple revealed that the AirPods Max would soon support lossless audio and ultra-low latency via USB-C. This announcement brought unexpected delight to owners of these over-ear headphones, which had lagged behind the AirPods Pro in adopting new features in recent years. The company initially encountered a hurdle in launching the essential firmware update for the AirPods Max to access these new features, but successfully addressed the problem by Wednesday afternoon.
The firmware update labeled version 7E99 was intended to be released earlier this week in conjunction with iOS 18.4 and macOS Sequoia 15.4. However, late on Tuesday, Apple added an unusual “coming soon” indicator next to the AirPods Max on a support page that lists each device’s most recent firmware version. Both MacRumors and 9to5Mac covered the news of the delay, although Apple never provided a reason for it. A newer software update, version 7E101 for the AirPods Max, was subsequently issued on Wednesday.
Additionally, the company launched a new USB-C to 3.5mm cable for the AirPods Max last week. It’s noteworthy that you can use this cable regardless of your current firmware; it functions straight out of the packaging for connecting the headphones to devices with a standard headphone jack—and considering its quality, it’s a solid purchase at $39.
Apple really needs to make the process of updating AirPods more straightforward. For years, it has just sort of happened in the background at a random moment when your iPhone and AirPods are near each other with the headphones charging. There’s no way of manually triggering an update, which runs counter to the way every other earbud maker does it. Can we get a simple “update now” button right in AirPods settings in iOS 19, please?
Update, April 2nd 6:30PM ET: The article has been updated to reflect that the latest AirPods Max firmware is now available.
