Could Apple offer AirPods Max customization this year?

Grogu Airpods Max Iphone 12 Pro
Grogu Airpods Max Iphone 12 Pro (Image credit: Christine Romero-Chan / iMore)

New rumors coming out of Mark Gurman and Bloomberg today have Apple not refreshing AirPods Max this year, which is good for those of us who spent $549 on a pair not so long ago. But Gurman does suggest that we might see new colors announced now that Apple has finally begun to catch up with demand.

Supply has been a real issue for Apple with AirPods Max and actually buying a pair has been more difficult than customers – and Apple – would have liked. In fact, the difficulty with making these things was said to be one of the reasons Apple didn't allow a level of AirPods Max customization at the point of purchase, as had been rumored. Like Apple Watch, users were originally intended to have the option to mix and match colors of AirPods Max. Silver headphones with red ear cups? No problem!

Airpods Max Color Switcher

Airpods Max Color Switcher (Image credit: Rachit Sharma)

That idea was seemingly canned in late 2020. And then Gurman, today:

The last AirPods-related hardware introduction from Apple was the over-ear AirPods Max headphones in December. That $549 pair earned criticism for bugs and its high price but praise for its materials and sound. Apple only recently caught up with demand for the product, and it is not currently working on a second generation of the AirPods Max, though it has discussed launching additional color variations in the future.

New colors, you say?

If Apple truly is beginning to catch up to demand and AirPods Max are more readily available than ever, is it possible Apple intends to revisit the mix and match approach that it couldn't pull off last year? Imagine Apple announcing new AirPods Max in some funky new colors and saying "oh, and you can customize your AirPods Max just the way you want" at the same time.

Sure sounds like something Apple might do to me!

Until that happens, or assuming you just want a standard color option, there are some AirPods Max deals beginning to crop up. The surest sign yet that stock replenishment is finally outpacing orders, perhaps.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.