Since the introduction of AirPods Max in December 2020, there have been no revisions made to the headphones. However, the AirPods Pro have seen several updates in both hardware and software. According to Bloomberg, Apple will be updating AirPods Max with USB-C and new color options in the near future. But, according to Mark Gurman's Power On newsletter, the update for AirPods Max will be minor, and the generation number will not change. The main motivation for the hardware refresh is to comply with the European Commission regulations, which mandate the use of USB-C for charging accessories like headphones. The update will be similar to the USB-C AirPods Max revision that Apple introduced in September, which featured the same internal chipset as the second-generation Lightning AirPods Pro.

The update will mean that AirPods Max will continue to be powered by the H1 chip, not the H2 chip. This means that they will not be able to support advanced software features such as Adaptive Audio, Conversational Awareness, Personalized Volume, and support for the ‘Siri’ wake word. Furthermore, there will be no changes to the design of the charging case, lack of U1 chip for Precision Finding, and more.

Although the update for AirPods Max will be minor, it is still necessary to comply with the regulations set by the European Commission. The update will be similar to the USB-C AirPods Max revision that Apple introduced in September. This update will mean that AirPods Max will still not be able to support the advanced software features that AirPods Pro received this year with iOS 17. Additionally, there will be no changes made to the design of the charging case, lack of U1 chip for Precision Finding, and more.