When Apple debuted its new AirPods Max last week, it was discovered that the over-the-ear headphones do not include a physical on/off button. The headphones enter an “ultralow” power mode when inserted into the included Smart Case.
This has led to questions about what happens to the AirPods Max’s battery life when they’re left out of the Smart Case and not being actively used.
Apple has answered some of those questions, and their answers imply that using the Smart Case isn’t as important to preserving the AirPods max battery life as was first believed.
From Apple’s AirPods Max support document, which was updated overnight:
Here’s what you can expect:
- Your AirPods Max can get up to 20 hours of listening time, talk time, or movie playback when you have Active Noise Cancellation and spatial audio turned on.
- If you charge your AirPods Max for 5 minutes, you get around 1.5 hours of listening time.
- If you set your AirPods Max down and leave them stationary for 5 minutes, they go into a low power mode to preserve battery charge. After 72 stationary hours out of the Smart Case, your AirPods Max go into a lower power mode that turns off Bluetooth and Find My to preserve battery charge further.
- If you put your AirPods Max in the Smart Case when you’re not using them, they go into a low power mode immediately to preserve battery charge. After 18 hours in the Smart Case, your AirPods Max go into an ultralow power mode that turns off Bluetooth and Find My and maximizes battery life.
it appears that the headphones enter the same “low power mode” when put down and left alone for five minutes as they do when placed in the Smart Case. However, it takes a full 72 hours to go into “ultralow” power mode that happens in 18 hours when inside the Smart Case.
