It wasn't the retro-futuristic design or flashy color options that first caught people's attention when the AirPods Max was announced It was the shockingly high price [$549 for noise-canceling headphones? Scoring at home, they cost $170 more than the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 and $200 more than our top pick for the best noise-canceling headphones, the Sony WH-1000XM4

The price difference is even greater, as the Bose and Sony currently sell for $339 and $278, respectively This means that the difference between the AirPods Max and its top two competitors is currently $210 and $271

Does Apple really need to justify such a high premium when the Bose 700 and Sony XM4 headphones are so much better? Of course, we'll be trying out the AirPods Max in person, but until then, here's what's good and not so good about Apple's first over-ear headphones

Apple did not skimp on the design of the AirPods Max, making the over-ear headphones comfortable and tailored to the user For example, the knit mesh canopy should feel lighter and more breathable than the Bose 700 and Sony XM4s In addition, the headband arms stay securely in place no matter where they are placed

The AirPods Max's ear pads are made of memory foam to block out noise Additionally, according to Apple, each ear cup can be rotated to conform to the contours of the user's head

Inside the AirPods Max are two H1 chips that do much more than just enable Hey Siri According to Apple, the chips, coupled with advanced software and custom acoustic design, provide audio quality that is true to the original sound The chip has 10 audio cores that can run 9 billion operands per second and underpins everything from Apple's Adaptive EQ and active noise cancellation to spatial audio features

Essentially, the AirPods Max can adjust sound in real time based on a variety of factors, including ear cushion fit and seal

If you're going to charge this much for noise-canceling headphones, you better be prepared to outperform the competition And the AirPods Max seem to be up to the task The headphones feature four outward-facing microphones that detect noise and a microphone in each ear cup that monitors the sound reaching your ears The difference between Apple's headphones and those from Bose and Sony is that the AirPods Max's computational audio technology continuously adapts

Spatial Audio, introduced in the AirPods Pro, uses dynamic head tracking to position sound around you for content recorded in 51ch, 71ch, or Dolby Atmos Spatial audio works by tracking your head position in conjunction with the position of your iPhone or iPad and comparing motion data to remap the sound field

The AirPods Max look impressive on paper, but there are a few drawbacks For one, the battery life is 20 hours, 10 hours less than Sony's WH-1000XM4 However, the Bose 700 is rated at 20 hours as well

The AirPods Max's digital crown is also a concern We'll have to see how well it works, but tapping the capacitive touch controls offered by Bose and Sony seems more intuitive to me than fiddling with a small dial Also, on the Bose 700, the AirPods Max offers more control with 11 noise-canceling settings; on the AirPods Max, it's just on or off

Finally, the Bose and Sony have a headphone jack, but the AirPods Max does not

Until we get a chance to test the AirPods Max and do a full review, we cannot answer this question However, from the asking price of $549, Apple seems to want shoppers to believe that the AirPods Max are a completely different class of headphones

We don't know that for now, but we'll have to believe it by ear