Well, I guess I didn't already have AirPods Max 2 with the USB-C model I got a year ago. What a strange upgrade that was then.

https://www.macstories.net/news/in-a-surprise-move-apple-announces-airpods-max-2/

In a Surprise Move, Apple Announces AirPods Max 2

Apple kicked off the week with a bit of a surprise: the AirPods Max 2. The updated over-the-ear headphones feature the H2 chip, better adaptive noise cancellation, improved audio, and other improvements. According to director of Audio Product Marketing Eric Treski: With the incredible performance of H2, AirPods Max are upgraded with up to 1.5x

@viticci That was the “comply with the EU update. This is the “We need to stop making H1 Chips” update
@viticci still not compatible with the Polishing Cloth, Apple has really lost its way 😜

@viticci good thing there was absolutely nothing wrong with the physical design so all they had to do was upgrade the internals 🙃

I thought I was going to regret my switch to Sony when Apple inevitably updated the AirPods Max, but it looks like I made out ok 😅

@viticci Haha, I thought the same thing: “Didn’t they already release these?” 😆
@viticci Any theories on why they didn’t include these in launch week?
@viticci I'd love to know what is the best guide out there for buying headphones and or other hardware for music quality, this these two Airpods Max 2 announcements are just confusing me away from Apple 😶
@viticci I heard they were trying to get rid of lightning ports, but I also heard they fixed a hardware issue that would cause them to stop pairing after sustained use.
@alesplin @viticci they had already "updated" them with usbc awhile back