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Manually re-sorting your Excel tables every time a score changes is a waste of time. The RANK.EQ function automates leaderboards by assigning positions instantly. Whether you're tracking sales or race times, here's how to keep your data dynamic and accurate.

For over a decade, I’ve written about Windows Phone (RIP), iPhone, and, my main squeeze, Android. But there’s one beloved operating system missing from that list: webOS. 17 years after the Palm Pre hit the market, I’m finally trying it for the first time.

In today’s world of online media, streaming is just as big as cable, if not bigger. And that means now, if you have so many streaming services to pay for, you’re most likely going to be paying the same price as cable.

There are a lot of great smart home devices you can buy right now, but there are some I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. These are some of the devices I would definitely avoid.

I've been stuck dual-booting Linux and Windows for years because—despite huge improvements—there are still a handful of applications that won't run on Linux. CachyOS made me rethink that approach with a feature that allows me to easily run almost any Windows app as if it were a native Linux app.

If you’re not content with only powering your smart home with Home Assistant, you might be interested to learn that the platform has a few other tricks up its sleeve that expand its sphere of utility.

Mini PCs are often essentially laptops without a screen. They're compact, packed full of components, and optimized around making do with minimal airflow.

I get excited whenever Microsoft drops a new Excel function, but when I'm in the trenches with a deadline, I reach for the classics. There's a certain comfort in knowing a formula will work exactly as expected every time.

IDEs, or integrated development environments, have long been a staple of the development world. I’ve used one for decades. However, switching to Claude Code completely changed the tools I use for development, and I’ve simply left IDEs in the dust.

Who said the utility of a smart home has to be limited to humans? With a few accessories and some careful automations, your furry friends can benefit from your Home Assistant setup too.

Television is often considered one of America's past times, for good reason. Television shows have become central to society since technology's invention and have been responsible for some of the greatest pop culture influences of the last century. Yet, even the most popular shows drop the ball now and again.

Android Auto is a highly convenient feature on most modern cars, even if it's a bit underused. If you're not using it, now is a good time to start. And once you do, you'll want to take advantage of a few automations and routines that'll transform your driving experience.

Nvidia's graphics cards may not be cheap, but they do come with a host of fun features that can come in handy. An obvious software and hardware benefit is DLSS 4.5, but many people missed the memo on a hidden feature that can make old videos look a whole lot better.

It's not an exaggeration to say that if you're one of the six billion people who use the internet, it's probably one of the most important technologies in your life. Just about everything you do every day relies on the internet in some way, but that also means you have sensitive information locked away on servers far away and out of your control.

I don't like to think about how much I've spent on my smart home over the years. Some smart home devices, such as Zigbee sensors, can be incredibly cheap, but a lot of smart home tech comes with a higher price tag. I don't have the money to do everything I want to my smart home, but if I did, I know where I'd start.

Excel's built-in slicer styles are like pre-packaged airplane sandwiches: they get the job done, but they haven't changed in years and aren't exactly exciting. But with a little-known duplication trick, you can escape these bland presets and create high-end, custom dashboards.

I've had my Kindle for more than a decade, and it's served me well during that time. That's why I was disappointed to learn that Amazon was going to be ending support for my model. I decided to remove Amazon from my Kindle, and I wish I'd done it sooner.

You've probably seen the meme where a guy opens all the popular AI chatbots in different browser tabs, gives them the same coding prompt, checks the output of each, and then copies the best one. For a moment, I thought I'd do the same experiment. So, I chose three of the most popular AIs and gave them the same problem to solve. Here's how each one performed.

Apple's got new headphones in its lineup. Or does it?

The new AirPods Max 2 are the first proper upgrade to the company's first and only set of over-the-ear headphones, which came out in 2020; the revised version in 2024 only got a USB-C port instead of Lightning, and Apple, again, just called them AirPods Max.

Now, the AirPods Max 2 are here, but the list of upgrades is once again pretty short. I've spent about a week with a pair to see whether these are worth their price; here's what I found.

SEE ALSO: The 12 best headphones of 2026 — we tested the top contenders from Sony, Apple, Bose, and Beats Design, colors, battery life: No changes

This is the first time, and possibly the last time, I'm lumping all of these together in a headphone review. The reason is simple: They're all the same. The design, weight, and dimensions haven't changed at all. Even the colors on offer are the same: Midnight, Starlight, Blue, Purple, and Orange.

I've had an old pair of Midnight AirPods Max with USB-C (check my full review), and the new ones Apple sent me were Blue. There's literally no way of telling that these are different model numbers and two years apart.

On the left, the new AirPods Max 2. On the right, the old AirPods Max. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

To be fair, there isn't very much I'd change here, design-wise. These headphones look great, they're incredibly sleek and comfortable, and even though I rarely use the physical controls on the right earcup, I have no improvement suggestions there, either.

Some people complain that the AirPods Max are too heavy. At 386.2 grams, they are pretty chunky; for comparison, Sony's WH-1000XM6 and Bose's QuietComfort Ultra headphones, which are also wireless, over-the-ear headphones with active noise cancellation, both weigh roughly 130 grams less. I don't mind the weight, but if you do, just note that nothing has changed in this regard since the very first AirPods Max model.

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What does annoy me is the fact that the AirPods Max can only be fully folded inwards, and when you do that, the chance of one earcup chaffing and scratching the other gets very high with each movement. Apple's Smart Case is practically a must-carry for this reason alone, but I'm unhappy to report that the case is still the same as before: Unsightly and not very protective.

I like the look of the AirPods Max 2, and I don't mind the fact that they're pretty heavy but...they are pretty heavy. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

The Blue color was nicer than I thought, because it's far more silver than blue. It is a lot flashier and more noticeable on your head than Midnight, so if you're looking for something subdued, Blue isn't it. It is odd, however, that Apple didn't introduce at least one new color with the new model.

Battery life is still listed at 20 hours with noise cancellation on, and I didn't notice any difference between the old and the new model.

They sound pretty much the same, too

If you're shopping for a pair of headphones, the way they sound should be pretty high on your list of priorities. With the AirPods Max 2, Apple left most of the hardware unchanged, with the biggest difference being the new H2 chip.

In theory, it should improve sound quality; in its marketing materials, Apple says the new model offers "elevated sound quality."

As hard as I tried, I couldn't hear the difference when it comes to sound quality. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Both the old AirPods Max and the new ones sound excellent. They offer a wide soundstage and plenty of detail across all frequencies. The sound is tuned so that the bass and treble are pronounced, while the mid-range is a little subdued. I prefer to fix that with a trick: On the iPhone, go to Settings - Accessibility - Audio & Visual - Headphone Accommodations; turn the setting on, and select "Tune audio for Balanced Tone". I have it set to Moderate, which makes the overall sound brighter and the vocals more present.

With or without such tinkering, I could not hear the difference between the old and new models. My initial setup was to remove all equalization, turn off Bluetooth, connect the headphones to a MacBook Pro with a USB-C cable, and play some hi-res lossless track on Apple Music, while alternating between the two models. In such a setting, the two models sounded exactly the same.

With the biggest improvement to the new model being the H2 chip, I thought perhaps I could get a bigger difference by going wireless, and switching between various modes and options, including Transparency mode and Noise Cancellation. Nope. I still couldn't hear a difference, aside from noise cancelling being better on the new model (more on that in a bit).

Better noise cancellation and tons of new software features The noise cancellation has been improved. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Apple says the new H2 chip improves noise cancellation by 1.5x compared to the old model. I can't vouch for that exact figure, but the noise cancellation has been audibly improved. I've tested it by blasting white noise and jet engine noise on various speakers around the house, and not only did the new AirPods Max 2 blocked more noise, but they were also better at reducing noise depending on where I turned or how I moved my head.

That said, Apple's AirPods Max 2 still aren't particularly great at noise cancellation. While not directly comparable as they're a different type of headphone, Apple's own AirPods Pro 3 earbuds are a better choice, and not by a little. Wearing them on a busy street makes the outside noise vanish in a spectacular fashion; the AirPods Max 2 make the noise more tolerable, but the effect isn't nearly as noticeable.

The AirPods Pro 3 are worth mentioning here because they also have the H2 chip, and with this latest upgrade, Apple's AirPods Max 2 are essentially catching up with them. This means the AirPods Max 2 now also have features like Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, Live Translation, Voice Isolation, Personalized Volume, Loud Sound Reduction, and Siri Interactions. These are all great since they're optional. For example, I like to manually switch Noise Cancellation on and off, but if you prefer the headphones to do it automatically, Adaptive Audio is the way.

Still pretty great, but not all that new The AirPods Max 2 are still a great product, but if you have an old model, you don't really need to upgrade. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

The AirPods Max 2 are Apple's only over-the-ear headphones (if you don't count Beats), and they're an excellent product. They sound pretty good, play nice with Apple hardware, they look great, and they're very comfy (if you don't mind the weight). They're pricy, and you can get better-sounding headphones for the money, but you will never get all of the features listed above in one product.

As a second-generation product, however, they aren't great. They're basically the same as the original, with the only meaningful upgrade being the new H2 chip. This does enable a number of new features as well as improve noise cancelling, but that's where the list of improvements ends. And yes, they're still priced at $549, which is more than you'll pay for similar headphones from Sony, Bose, or Sennheiser.

As a result, I can recommend the new AirPods Max 2 in one case only: If you're an avid Apple user shopping for over-the-ear headphones for the first time. If you have a pair of old AirPods Max at home, it's not worth upgrading, and I'd argue that if you just need something that cancels noise well, you'd do better if you just bought the AirPods Pro 3.

Apple AirPods Max 2 $529.99 at Amazon
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