Apple's AirPods Pro 2 are the company's top wireless earbuds, with better sound and noise canceling than the first-generation model released in 2019.

But after a couple of years of work, xMEMS has arrived at the next generation — ultrasound through a solid-state speaker. This tiny, 1mm-thin speaker is called Cypress, and after listening to it at CES 2025, this company has completely changed the way I think about earbud sound quality.

Beats Fit Pro and AirPods Pro 2 have similar specs, but how do they stack up in performance? Here's what to know about two of Apple's signature buds.

On the other hand, the AirPods Max offer a better noise-canceling experience by virtue of that form factor. Both products offer a transparency mode for hearing environmental noise and noise canceling to focus on the audio itself, but the AirPods Max handle the latter better because they cover your entire ear.

Historically, AirPods Pro allowed users to switch between four different listening modes. Off: Turns off all noise control modes. Active Noise Cancellation: An outward-facing microphone or microphones detect external sounds,