You Can Listen By Wire

While we imagine that most AirPods Max users will prefer to use Bluetooth 5.0 for wireless audio, it turns out the you can plug the headphones in to listen to audio from pretty much anything with a 3.5mm jack, although you’ll have to buy the appropriate cable as it’s not included in the box.

The AirPods Max do not include a 3.5mm input jack; rather they rely on the Lightning port for audio input, and Apple sells a Lighting to 3.5mm Audio Cable for this exact purpose.

Available from the Apple Store for $35, it’s 1.2 metres in length and sadly comes only in black or white, but it will work not only with the AirPods Max, but also with Apple’s Beats Solo Pro on-ear headphones. In fact, Apple has been quietly been selling this cable since it introduced the Beats Solo last fall.

It’s also worth noting that the cable is bi-directional, so you can also use it to output audio from your iPhone or iPad to an audio-in port in your car stereo or a wired speaker.