By John Moltz
March 20, 2026 2:00 PM PT
This Week in Apple: I went to the White House, but I didn’t inhale

Apple announces new AirPods, Tim does an interview, and it’s about App Store standards, people!
It’s the least they could do
Apparently not big enough to make Apple’s “experience” two weeks ago, this week the company announced AirPods Max 2 with the H2 chip. This updated version comes at the same price and in the same colors but with Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, and Live Translation, along with some other small enhancements.
If that seems underwhelming, it could be worse.
“Harmful chemicals found in popular headphones sold across Europe, study”
But I don’t want harmful chemicals in my earholes! My earholes are right next to where I keep my thinking bits!
Fortunately:
The safest headphones were Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 and JBL’s Tune 720BT.
I look forward to the new AirPods marketing touting them as having “the fewest harmful chemicals of any of the popular brands.”
Plain, simple Tim
Tim Cook (remember him?)…