Apple may skip digital crown on AirPods Max 2, could bring touch control support – Times of India

Apple introduced AirPods Max in 2020. The company is reportedly working on a successor to its premium over-ear headphones and has received a new patent for the same. A report by Patently Apple says that the Cupertino-based company has got another patent application from the US Patent & Trademark Office indicating the launch of AirPods Max 2.
The patent is about processing gestures on a touch-sensitive surface, suggesting that Apple’s second-generation headphones may feature touch controls. AirPods Max currently comes with the digital crown that allows users to make volume adjustments and control music. Digital crown on AirPods Max is a unique and clever choice. But, Apple AirPods Max 2 with touch controls may make it easier to awake Siri, jump songs, control volume and do more.
In an interview with Japanese design website Casa BRUTUS in 2020, Apple acknowledged that trials for AirPods Max also included touch controls, but it ultimately settled on the Digital Crown design instead.
The report says that this is not the first time Apple has received a patent related to touch controls on AirPods Max. Apple is said to have at least three documents about this technology.
“Apple’s summary notes that an electronic device includes: at least a first touch-sensitive surface; one or more processors; and memory storing one or more programs configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for: detecting, at the at least a first touch-sensitive surface, a first gesture, including detecting an orientation of the first gesture with respect to the touch-sensitive surface; and in response to detecting the first gesture: in accordance with a determination that the electronic device is in a first device orientation and that the orientation of the first gesture corresponds to a first predetermined orientation, performing a first action” the report says.
It is not known yet when Apple may bring its next premium headphone. A Bloomberg report said that the company may launch new AirPods Max colours in 2021. But we all saw that did not happen. With the second-generation headphone, Apple is expected to add support for Lossless audio.