> Honestly, I don't understand why you would buy these when there are a lot of established professional audio companies offering better sound at a cheaper price.
Have you tried them? How do they sound? Do you have a time machine that takes you to Dec. 15?
My defence would be that Apple isn't an audio company and although they're great at everything they do, I doubt they can catch up with Sennheiser, Grado, Audio Technica etc when it comes to pure audio quality.
Where they're better is probably connectivity, noise cancellation (which is still garbage imho), integration with their hardware.
Same with their Homepod - it was innovative not in absolute audio quality but in the way it was omnidirectional and could "fill a room" with sound (if I remember correctly, from having read a review) and connectivity. If you just want great audio for your vinyl, CD or Flac collection then you don't get a Homepod. $300 worth of HiFi gear would be better.
The development budget for the Max was in all certainty bigger than the development budget of the flagships from any of those companies, if not bigger than the companies themselves.
I would not be surprised if Apple shatters the value of their headphones. Apple’s $9 DAC outperforms many “audiophile” DACs costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Have you tried them? How do they sound? Do you have a time machine that takes you to Dec. 15?