Apple defends the usefulness of its AirPods Max case

Apple's audio headset was released just a week ago, and it didn't take long for criticism to come out against the Apple brand. Price too high, product quality not high enough, object too heavy and therefore difficult to carry... All the tests of this helmet revealed its imperfections,increasing the number of criticisms regarding a product that some believed to be perfect, given the price displayed, of €629.

But the criticism that was most often made against Apple was surely the protective shell of the headset. Apple's “Smart Case” has not convinced, it even seems useless for many users who have made it the target of “mockery” on the blue bird social network.

But in the face of popular ridicule,Apple wanted to defend its position, and gave a little more information about this case in the product user guide. If its design does not suggest it at first glance. The product has some utility, and it is not just playing the protective role that one might usually expect from a product of this type.

Indeed, Apple indicated that when the “Smart Case” came to cover the AirPods Max, the latter then went into ultra-low power mode, to preserve the battery and autonomy of the headphones as much as possible. This is important information, because Apple's headset does not have a dedicated button for this feature. It is therefore impossible to activate or deactivate this energy consumption mode manually. In other words, it is impossible to turn off the headset (or almost). Except with this “Smart Case”.

A minimal advantage?

Even ifApple defends the usefulness of this casewith the argument of its autonomy, it could be that its usefulness is ultimately not that great. In fact, the headset goes into low consumption mode immediately after being stored in its shell. Which takes 5 minutes when the helmet is not stored correctly.

But the “ultra-low power” mode is only launched after 18 hours spent in the Smart Case. Only then are Bluetooth and Find My turned off. If the shell is not used, this power mode only kicks in after 72 hours of inactivity for the headset. Knowing that the slightest movement of the latter, even very slight, restarts the cycle from zero.

Today the AirPods Max is sold at €629 and Apple announces a battery life of 20 hours on a single charge. Also interesting, Apple announces ultra-fast charging, in 5 minutes the headphones are capable of recovering 90 minutes of listening time. Charging is done with a Lightning cable provided, the power adapter is not provided, as is the case for AirPods.