Which AirPods Should You Buy?

These are the latest AirPods Pro (8/10, WIRED Recommends) and the most feature-packed AirPods yet. They launched in 2023 and are equipped with a new Conversation Awareness feature, which turns down your music and lowers background noise when it detects you're having a conversation. It comes with Adaptive Transparency mode (first introduced with the second-gen AirPods Pro with Lightning in 2022); this combines noise cancellation and transparency to adjust the audio so you won't get the worst of a blaring siren but can still hear important sounds around you. These have an IP54 sweat- and dust-resistance rating (instead of the IPX4 on previous versions). They also have support for a new Lossless wireless protocol (at 20 bit/48 kHz) for seamless connectivity to the Apple Vision Pro.

The sound quality is above average with crisp highs, authoritative bass, and awesome noise canceling. WIRED editor Parker Hall noticed a more refined soundstage with more definition when listening to music. Watching a movie or TV show with its spatial audio feature also makes these some of our favorite buds for travel, and the call quality remains excellent. Battery life remains the same as its predecessor though, with up to six hours of listening time plus an extra 24 hours of charge from the case. Speaking of, the case comes equipped with a built-in speaker that plays a sound if you lose it. Thanks to the U1 chip, anyone using an iPhone 11 or newer can use Precision Finding in the Find My app, which gives you onscreen directions to the exact location of the case.

If you're still in the Lightning ecosystem: The second-gen AirPods Pro With Lightning ($189) (9/10, WIRED Recommends) came out only two years ago, and are nearly identical to the latest model, except the charging case has a Lightning port instead of USB-C. If your Apple devices use Lightning cables and you're not planning on switching them anytime soon, these earbuds are great. You'll still get noise canceling and transparency mode (adaptive transparency included), great sound, and the same charging case with support for MagSafe. Apple no longer sells them directly, but they're still available at third-party retailers like Amazon and Walmart. Just try to avoid spending more than $190.

The AirPods Max (8/10, WIRED Recommends) are the only over-ear headphones in Apple's audio lineup. For the steep price, you'll get top-notch sound comprised of rich bass, a massive soundstage, and excellent noise cancellation. It's tough to ignore the high-quality build too. It has a milled aluminum casing and a metal headband with mesh padding, along with fun color options, all of which create a super unique style. We're also fans of the Apple Watch-like crown that sits on top of the right ear cup, which controls the volume and cycles between the different noise modes. These headphones are also user-repairable, thanks to the replaceable magnetic ear cups and screwed-in components.

The downside? The AirPods Max don't have the best microphone quality. When I tested them, people on the other end of calls commented on how flat and echoey my voice sounded. They don't have a water-resistance rating either, so you shouldn't take these out in the rain or use them while working out. As for battery life, Apple claims up to 20 hours, which is 10 hours less than what you'd get from most other wireless headphones.

A New USB-C Version: The latest AirPods Max ($549) finally comes with USB-C. But that's the only new feature aside from the new color options which include blue, midnight, orange, purple, and starlight. We don't recommend upgrading to these if you already have the Lightning version. But if you've been waiting on a USB-C version, then these are certainly the ones to get.