#The AirPods Max case is an abomination and an insult

“#The AirPods Max case is an abomination and an insult”

Yesterday, Apple announced the long rumored AirPods Max, its high-end over-ear headphones. The jury is still out on the cans — they have to be heard to be believed, as it were — but to me, two things were immediately apparent. The first, is the $550 price tag is silly. The second, is the AirPods Max case is both an abomination and an insult.

I briefly covered both of these issues in the announcement piece yesterday. I always expected the AirPods Max to be pricey, maybe not this pricey, but that didn’t shock me too much. The AirPods Max case did though. And, since writing the article, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about them.

Let’s talk about why.

I’ve been using over-ear headphones daily for around 16 years now, and every single pair I’ve used have come with a case that covers their entirety. There’s a reason for this: you often have to carry the cans in some sort of bag when you’re not using them. And, as any human being who has used a bag knows, there’s often other stuff in that bag. This ranges all the way from large objects that can scuff sensitive objects like headphones, to tiny bits of grit that can get into the delicate parts of sensitive objects like headphones.

Having something that covers the headphones is a tried and trusted way of avoiding damage. I can’t believe I had to write that. And it’s because Apple has gone another way with its AirPods Max case.

Rather than providing something that could adequately protect the tech, the company instead decided to provide what effectively amounts to technology lingerie: a soft material that only barely covers the vital parts. Just have a look at the AirPods Max case and imagine how this would fare rolling around in your backpack: