New AirPods Max rumored to hit shelves in 2024 without giant feature changes

A new rumor suggests that Apple will be refreshing its AirPods Max before the year ends — but only to swap out its Lightning port.

Apple released its high-end AirPods Max in 2020 and still hasn’t released a second generation yet. However, a recent social media post suggests that Apple is preparing to release an updated version.

In a post on social media platform Weibo, spotted by MacRumors, Instant Digital said that the AirPods Max will “definitely come out this year.”

However, they predict that the only real change will be that the headphones will swap the Lightning port for USB-C, likely to comply with international laws.

Like other rumors we’ve heard, Instant Digital predicts that the chip very well could still be the H1, and says that the refreshed AirPods Max will not get Adaptive Audio.

Adaptive Audio utilizes both Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency modes to provide an intelligent mix of audio. It uses external noise to determine the appropriate audio mix for any given moment, whether it’s cancelling loud engine noise or improving voice capture for conversations. The feature is currently exclusive to the second-generation AirPods Pro.