You’re Wrong: Apple Can Justify the $550 Price Tag
Apple knows what they’re doing with the AirPods Max
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The internet has seemed to come to a consensus that the AirPods Max are overpriced. The $550 price tag seems steep when compared to other headphones like Sony’s XM4’s for less than $350. But I’m going to make the argument that Apple does have the justification to charge the price, and people will probably buy it.
The “Apple Tax”
This argument is pretty weak and nobody likes it. But it’s true and should be mentioned. Love it or hate it, Apple tends to always overcharge on their products. The classic example for this is the $700 wheels for the Mac Pro:
Let’s be clear here: Apple doesn’t charge you $700 for 4 wheels because it cost that much to make them (though they’re definitely not mass producing them on the same scale as iPhones). They charge you $700 because of the “Apple Tax”.
I won’t go into super depth on what the Apple Tax is but basically, it means that Apple hikes its prices up to give them the luxury image. When Apple releases an iPhone, they want that iPhone to seem luxurious and high quality. To build that image, they charge exorbitant amounts of money for certain products. It’s all just to make them seem more luxurious and less for everybody (even though that is their end goal).
As I said, it’s a weak argument that nobody likes. But it is definitely a factor in Apple’s choice for the price of the new headphones.
They’re Just Really Nice Headphones
Another reason they’re so expensive is that they’re just really high quality. The headphones make the other competitors look old and bulky. When compared side-by-side, the Sony’s look a decade old.
Plus Apple chose to use metal materials for earcups and much nicer plastics on other parts. The build quality just overall looks so much better. Sure the metal makes them a lot heavier. But Apple’s willing to take that sacrifice. It just looks so much better.
Features — Specifically Spatial Audio
We’ve gotten a taste of the Spatial Audio magic on the AirPods Pro. And while I haven’t had an opportunity to try out Spatial Audio on the AirPods Max yet, I’m confident it’ll be even better than the Pros due to the additional H1 processor and a total of 9 microphones.
When you first hear about it, Spatial Audio seems like a gimmicky feature that’s trying to be the next-gen surround sound. The thing is, it’s actually really immersive and brings more depth to movies. I recently recommended my friend to try out Spatial Audio. This is what I got back:
Look, if you have access to AirPods Pro (or AirPods Max for that matter) you should try out the feature. It’s supported on all Apple TV+ shows, Hulu, and Disney+. Unfortunately, it has not come to Netflix or Prime yet. The feature is also waiting to be added to Macs and Apple TVs for some reason.
Regardless of Spatial Audio, the AirPods “brand” has a bunch of other features that you don’t see on competitors. Starting with the AirPods connecting “magic”, Apple has the experience refined to a tea.
Reviews are also starting to say that the transparency mode on AirPods Max is also next-level. The transparency mode takes cues from Spatial Audio and has the same spatial effect but with your actual surroundings. You’re more immersed in real life (pretty sad sentence, I know).
It’s the Little Things
Combine all this and we’re left with the question of whether the $200+ price difference is worth it. Apple obviously says yes. And I’m, hesitantly, kinda agreeing with them.
Yes, $550 is a lot of money. And no, I won’t be buying them anytime soon. But the headphone landscape is overall pretty expensive in the first place. Forgetting about the Sony XM4’s or Bose 700’s, the $500 range is pretty affordable and fair. And with those extra “Apple magic” features, the headphones themselves blow the Sony’s and Bose away like nothing.
I’m putting my bets on this product having a decent amount of success. Feel free to tell me why I’m wrong in the comments.
Thanks for reading!
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