'I better be able to hear god': Apple excoriated for debuting $549 headphones

Tech giant Apple has unveiled a set of over-the-ear wireless headphones sporting an eye-popping $549 price tag, raising eyebrows among even the most ardent Mac fanboys.

Apple has begun taking pre-orders for its new AirPods Max headphones, which officially go on sale next Tuesday. The $549 noise-canceling headset comes in five colors, can be used to answer calls as well as listen to music, and is compatible with Apple’s Siri voice assistant – but even the biggest Apple fetishists had trouble getting over that price tag.

Social media users groaned in anticipation that the overpriced headphones would not only be bestsellers, but that they would inspire other headphone makers to slap similarly silly price tags on their products. “Apple knows its customers are headless chickens, they don’t care,” one user remarked.

Some joked that wearing the absurdly expensive headphones (or even carrying them around in the special case they ship with) would be the equivalent of placing a neon “rob me” sign on one’s forehead.

One user commented that for $549, whoever wears the headphones had “better be able to hear god,” while others called attention to the pointlessness of listening to low-quality streaming music over high-end headphones.

Several observed that for the price of one set of wireless headphones, a person could buy an entire computer, a Playstation 5 – or a bunch of Apple stock.

Many mocked the Mac cultists who would not think twice about shelling out $549 for a pair of headphones.

“I’m just happy they didn’t decide to sell each earpiece separately,” one user joked, perhaps giving Apple an idea for its next headphone release. 

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