AirPods Max 1st Generation with Lightning

The AirPods Max were annouced on December 8 and shipped from December 15, 2020 at $549. 

These were Apple's first over-ear headphones under the AirPods name, sold alongside the acquired Beats line rather than replacing it. They launched in five colours, Space Gray, Silver, Sky Blue, Green and Pink, built around a stainless steel headband with a breathable knit mesh canopy stretched across the top, and memory foam ear cushions designed to seal around the ear for better passive noise isolation.

Each ear cup had its own H1 chip, the same chip family used in the smaller AirPods, running what Apple called computational audio to power Active Noise Cancellation, a Transparency mode for letting outside sound in, Adaptive EQ that tuned output in real time to fit the ear cushion's seal, and Spatial Audio with head tracking for movies and supported music. Control came from an Apple Watch-style Digital Crown on one ear cup for volume, playback and Siri, plus a separate button for switching between noise cancellation and transparency.

Battery life was rated at up to 20 hours with both noise cancellation and spatial audio turned on, and it came with a fabric carrying case Apple called the Smart Case, which put the headphones into an ultra-low-power state whenever they were tucked inside, though its open, sock-like design drew a fair amount of online mockery for looking impractical and left the headband exposed. 

Charging was over Lightning at launch, a port Apple didn't switch to USB-C until an update in 2024.