‘Ride or die for my Sony xm5’: Woman ignores warnings, buys brand-new AirPods Max—only to return it 2 hours later

A woman has gone viral for sharing her brief encounter with a pair of AirPods Max, wherein she revealed she returned them after owning them for just two hours. The TikTok, which has amassed 3.3 million views, depicts Saffron Jackson (@saffronjackson1) unboxing her AirPods Max and trying them on until the camera cuts to her walking to the Apple Store to return them.

On-screen text reads, “Me super excited to open my AirPod Max but returning them 2 hours later because they soooo uncomfortable.”

Jackson didn’t immediately respond to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via TikTok comment.

@saffronjackson1 You live & you learn… I shouldve listened to Tiktok 🥲 #fyp #apple #airpod #airpodmax ♬ son original – Cat’slife

Can AirPods Max cause headaches?

Jackson adds in the video description that she “should’ve listened to TikTok.” And as it turns out, there are plenty of TikTokers that agree with her sentiments. For example, TikToker @organizedm noted in a clip that her AirPods Max give her headaches “90% of the time.” Fellow creator @faithryanw claimed that the “pressure” the headphones put on her temples is giving her headaches and migraines.

Numerous customers also shared similar complaints across Reddit and Apple forums. One Redditor said they were considering returning AirPods Max because of the discomfort it caused their head and jaw. Another user on the Apple forum claimed that the device put a lot of pressure on their ears.

Quora in turn presented a couple of reasons why AirPods Max—or any headphones—can cause headaches. One Quora user highlighted that headphones might cause “external compression headaches.” This was defined by Healthline as a type of headache caused by wearing something tight across your forehead or scalp. Another explained that some sound waves emitted at certain frequencies from headphones can cause a headache, even if you can’t hear said frequencies.

While commenters didn’t necessarily agree that the AirPods Max were painful, plenty suggested alternatives like the Sony XM4/5, Bose, Marshall, and Sennheiser.

But it turns out that headaches aren’t the only problem associated with AirPod Maxes. In another viral TikTok, user @Hadria shared the excruciating moment she was told by an airplane passenger that, despite wearing AirPods Max, they could hear what she was listening to the whole time. This is an example of sound leakage, which is when sound comes out from an unwanted source.

The Daily Dot reached out to Apple via email.

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