AirPods Max VS Beats Studio Pro! Which Should You Buy!?

Apple-owned Beats By Dre just released its new Beats Studio Pro over-the-ear headphones with ANC and Spatial Audio. At $349, how do these compare to Apple's 3 year-old AirPods Max and which should you buy? I help you out with this video!

Grab the LOWEST prices on Apple gear! 👇

Follow our social channels! 👇

New here? AppleInsider has been around since the 1997 covering anything, and everything Apple. This YouTube channel will give you the best coverage for anything Apple related. New MacBooks? We'll cover them! New iPhones? We got you covered on that as well. Want to get the most out of your new Apple product? We've got videos to help you with that. Make sure to subscribe, comment, and share our videos!

AppleInsider may earn commission on purchases made through affiliate links.

[spreadgospel]

man.. i just want to know which sounds better..

[joelaguilera]

Just picked up a pair of the beats studio pro’s, great pear of headphones . Even better that i got them on sale for $180 . Makes it become almost a $400 difference when taxes are included .

[JEwisethinkers]

It was a hard decision but I bought the Beats Studio Pro in Navy with a tax discount. Can’t wait to use them in my classes.

[giantgm]

I’d love to know how the ANC compares to each other. That’s the only real reason to buy over ear headphones anymore. And beats has lossless audio where AirPods Max does not.

[Aggielife]

I’m almost positive Apple is going to update the Max during iPhone event or a website release soon. If not, it makes me wonder if they are deciding to get out of the over the headphone market on the Apple side and focus on AirPods. Remember we have no data on how well the Max’s are selling.

[richaintcappin]

I tried the Max in the Apple Store.. my honest opinion is the noise cancellation is VERY strong which is great for traveling, however they aren’t loud enough for me… I never had a volume issue with beats

Beats noise cancellation is just as strong and are a better product for just under 200 bucks

[technow_]

A $300+ headphones in 2023 without on-ear detection is a huge letdown. AirPods got this ages ago. This is no longer an optional feature

[Lepinkainen_]

It's not the weight that makes headphones comfortable. The Koss Portapros are really light, but they HURT my ears.

I easily wear my Airpods Max for 12-14 hours a day with glasses and have zero issues with comfort.

[adh]

One thing I think goes over ppl’s heads is the ability to have lossless audio. The Beats brand is second to AirPods in terms of the amount of features Apple includes so the fact that they included lossless audio with Beats is pretty much confirmation that the next AirPods Max should be coming with full Hi-Res Lossless capability.

[Dangelo]

Ordered both the studio pro and the max and I’m definitely not impressed with the studio pros still that cheap feeling and it doesn’t stop when you take them off and even the sound quality doesn’t even compare to the max’s. For 2023 releases the Beats Studio pro definitely is a let down would definitely stick to the max.

[FlorinBlaj-zz]

Hi. I am from Romanian ( yes It's a country from Eastern Europe, but we are in NATO) and I follow you with subtitle activated from YouTube. Unfortunately, in the last videos I do not have the option to activate the subtitle in Romanian. I do not know why, please solve it because I want to follow you. Probably it is not possible to translate into any other language. Thanks and increase what you do.

[raycharles]

People acting like they can hear the difference between regular audio and lossless. Audio is funny as hell.

[RonKris]

I got tired of waiting on Apple to update the AirPod Max so I had to buy the Sony.

[pvpvxfc]

I found the Beats Studio Pros to be very uncomfortable on the top of my head. It feels like there's very little padding. I hated that aspect so much that I took them back to Target and just said they were broken.

[jcsdarnell]

I've used airpods max since January 2021 almost every day at work at my desk and occasionally the gym. I got over how heavy they felt after about 2 weeks because I've previously used Beats, Sony, Jabra, and Bose. Those weren’t as comfortable as airpods max. Apple’s grip harder and are heavier but they are also the only ones that don't cause soreness after 3+ hours of wearing them. Airpods max never made my head or ears sore.

To my surprise, my airpods max died last week. The only reason I can think of causing them to break was that they got some moisture inside them once and I didn't discover it till a couple days later (then I dried them), but that was more than a year ago that they had moisture, so I don't know why they died now. And they were out of warranty. Apple would replace them for $300 out of warranty and for free under warranty.

I needed a replacement quickly and I didn't want to pay full price. After shopping and researching for a few days, I ordered another pair of airpods max that were only used a couple times on Mercari for $250. They're 99.9% as good as new for a price that’s really competitive with the other headphones, like Beats’ or Sony’s. I do wish there was an airpods max v2 available at this time, but I need headphones at work and I can't wait for that. And for what it's worth, airpods max sound better than all the competitor's that I've used and don't hurt my head or ears whatsoever even when worn for more than 7 hours.

[doygwapo]

If only they came out with a transparent version similar to Buds+. That wouldve been lit.

[tobycraft]

I think I will buy used AirPods max when the second gen

[Btz-bs]

I just got the beats for $172 which is in insane price difference

[mulljacob]

Not having Siri when I'm walking around the house would be weird. She's so silly I would miss yelling at her for turning off all the lights when I ask her to turn the volume down. True story, by the way.

[Refield]

I went with the studio pro because they are $170 at the moment due to black Friday deals. The airpods max I feel are not worth it due to most likely new airpods max will come out next year or the following. Also the airpods max don’t fold which is a big downside. I’ll use my studio pro and wait until a new airpods max releases.