AirPods Max: Apple explains its design choices for the headphones and its case | WatchGeneration

Three Apple officials gave some details about the development of AirPods Max and the reasons that led to certain choices. The comments were collected by Casa Brutus, who interviewed Evans Hankey (she has led Apple's design studio since the departure of Jony Ive), Eugune Whang, one of her colleagues and Bob Borchers, one of the VPs product marketing. The interview is in Japanese but you can enter some answers.

Several hundred prototypes have been made, explains Evans Hankey, and when Apple enters a product category for the first time, it has, so to speak, no room for error and must aim high. In terms of design, the result was an ultimately simple, "iconic" shape, immediately representative of the product, which can be illustrated with a simple sketch.

Which boiled down to two headphones and a sturdy, flexible headband to connect them. A minimalist specification that led to the choice of materials and the final design. The shape of the headphones was dictated by the choice to make them in aluminum. A material of which Apple has an indisputable knowledge and mastery. Using other materials might have led to a different design, but aluminum—and the colors you can use with it—had interesting properties in terms of light reflection and shadow play.

The hoop has a deformation capacity of 285% compared to its initial position. As for the elastic mesh—the “canopy” in Cupertino language—it is designed to stretch and widen the area of ​​contact with the top of the skull in order to diffuse the weight of the helmet. Instead of feeling it in a very localized place. In addition, this mesh is intended to allow the skin to breathe. Finally, the axes of articulation at the top of the headphones must contribute to a good isolation of the ears by their movements.

This, combined with the choice of materials for the pads which echo textiles which are more natural and pleasant during direct contact with the skin - more so than leather or imitation leather - must ensure that this helmet forget once placed on the head (our feelings are very different within MacG on this point, editor's note).

About the Smart Case, this transport accessory that has been widely decried, it was Eugune Whang who was in charge of its development. He describes it as very efficient for transport, unlike the cases of other brands, which are considered more bulky.

In addition, the headband of the helmet finds a new function as a carrying handle. And for him, there is no need to worry that this part of the AirPods Max is not protected at all by the case (we think in particular of the mesh) because Apple has expressly designed it to be resistant .

Finally, Apple tested touch controls for its headphones, before preferring physical buttons. A priori, the tests would have shown that equipping these headphones with touch devices was not compatible with the assurance of having good sound reproduction.

The two buttons have been placed at the top of the right earphone, where the fingers will intuitively find them when you put your hand on the earphone (you also touch them accidentally when you want to adjust your headphones, editor's note). Finally, the digital volume adjustment crown produces a different beep (low or clear) depending on whether the sound is at maximum or minimum. It would be to give the illusion of a tactile sensation...