Over time the look of the AirPods has evolved from the long stems of the original AirPods introduced in 2016, to the 3rd-gen AirPods of 2021, which had shorter stems and redesigned earpieces. Over the years there has been no change to the white colorway that harks back to the iPod’s heyday and those classic silhouetted adverts.

In Apple-speak, there's actually no new generation of AirPods Max -- we're still on the first. The only things new in the fall 2024 refresh are several new colors -- Midnight, Blu

But open-ear designs like the AirPods 4 are tricky because they don't fully seal your ears, leaving 'em somewhat exposed. However, Apple managed to pull it off, thanks to a mélange of upgraded microphones, the H2 processor, and cutting-edge computational audio.