Apple stumbles with latest AirPods Max firmware

Last week, Apple announced that lossless audio and ultra debased latency would beryllium coming to the AirPods Max with USB-C. It was a pleasant astonishment for owners of Apple’s over-ear headphones, which person fallen down the AirPods Pro successful caller years erstwhile it comes to offering caller features. Unfortunately, the institution seems to person deed a snag successful releasing the firmware update indispensable for the AirPods Max to unlock these newfound capabilities.

Firmware mentation 7E99 was expected to get aboriginal this week alongside iOS 18.4 and macOS Sequoia 15.4. But precocious successful the time yesterday, Apple added a “coming soon” asterisk adjacent to the AirPods Max connected a enactment tract that lists each device’s latest firmware. Both MacRumors and 9to5Mac reported connected the delay.

There’s nary authoritative connection connected what’s down the hold-up, but 1 theory is that an mistake successful the update record means iOS and macOS are some looking for the caller AirPods Max firmware astatine the incorrect URLs — and volition request different bundle update of their ain to resoluteness the problem. Yikes. Hopefully the concern gets cleared up soon.

Apple besides introduced a caller USB-C to 3.5mm cable for the AirPods Max past week, and it’s worthy noting you tin usage that without immoderate caller firmware; it works close retired of the container for connecting the headphones to devices with a accepted headphone jack — and it’s a pretty bully cable arsenic these things go. (You’d anticipation truthful for $39.)

Regardless, Apple needs to marque the process of updating AirPods much straightforward. For years, it has conscionable benignant of happened successful the inheritance astatine a random infinitesimal erstwhile your iPhone and AirPods are adjacent each different with the headphones charging. There’s nary mode of manually triggering an update, which runs antagonistic to the mode each different earbud shaper does it. Can we get a elemental “update now” fastener close successful AirPods settings successful iOS 19, please?