Last month, Mophie announced the launch of its Max Charging Stand. Aimed squarely at those with multiple sets of Apple's headphones, it can charge AirPods Max headphones plus a pair of AirPods or AirPods Pro at the same time.
Priced at $150, it immediately garnered criticism in our forum, largely over its price point compared to its functionality. But is it actually worth it? I've spent a few weeks with it to see.
Design and Build
The charging base is aluminum lined with smooth silicone along every surface that comes into contact with your devices. The bottom also has a large rectangular pad of this same silicone so that it doesn't slide easily on your desk. The Mophie logo is subtly stamped on the top just under the square indentation that shows you where to place your AirPods (or other Qi-enabled device) for charging.
At 15.7 ounces (445 g) on my kitchen scale, it's weighty enough to hold my AirPods Max without wobbling. But more on this later...
It comes with a decently long 5-foot USB-C cable coated with the same silicone that covers the stand, a 20W wall adapter, two magnetic charging dongles, and a pass-through adapter.
To use the stand, you insert one of the magnetic dongles into the USB-C port of the AirPods Max. This dongle then connects automatically to the charging port in the stand thanks to its magnetism. The second magnetic dongle included is a spare which is a nice touch, especially at this price point.
The pass-through adapter allows you to leave a charging dongle in the Max's charging port at all times so you can still charge it with a standard USB-C cable, avoiding wear and tear on the port with frequent removals and insertions. But on the other hand, this is another adapter to carry around and avoid losing. The pro tip here is to just leave this dongle attached to a USB-C cable you use to charge the headphones when you're away from home.
The charging dongle does not pass through audio, so if you use your AirPods Max with a cable for lossless audio or to connect to a 3.5mm analog device, you'll have to remove the dongle each time.
The magnetic dongle is the key feature of the stand and it isn't a new concept—charging stands that make use of a magnetic dongle have been released by smaller companies over the years (e.g., the Max Stand a few years ago) and Mophie's is a premium entry by one of the larger Apple accessory makers.
How It Works
When you place the AirPods Max on the stand, the white LED on the front of the stand illuminates for a few seconds and then turns off. Since you can't see the status light next to the USB-C port on the headphones themselves to verify charging while it's in the stand, it's a bit frustrating to not be able to see charging status after the stand's light turns off.
Additionally, since the stand places the headphones in sleep mode using magnets built into the ear cup holders, you can't even see its charge level on another Apple device in Control Center or the Battery widget unless you remove it from the stand. I'd rather this light stay on or pulse while the headphones are charging.
Removing the AirPods Max requires two hands since the stand, while weighing in at nearly a pound, is not heavy enough to overcome the magnetic force from the charging dongle. You must also use two hands to place the headphones into the stand since the ear cup holders are placed far enough apart that you need to stretch the headband wider.
This ear cup holder placement does, however, allow the stand to accommodate AirPods or another Qi-enabled device in the center. I'd been using a simple 3D-printed AirPods Max stand with no charging capability where the ear cup holders are close enough together that it's easy to drop in and remove the AirPods Max with one hand, so this was an adjustment for me.
The center charger fits an AirPods Pro case easily and the indentation makes it easy to target where it should go. It's even large enough to accommodate the large case cover I use on mine. It also charged my iPhone 17 Pro although it takes a few seconds to line it up in the right spot.
The center charger is nice to have but seems like an addition meant to add value to the stand to justify the price. I'd like to see a version at a lower price point without this center charger that would also allow a narrower placement of the holders for the ear cups.
In my charging tests, I saw no significant differences between charging my AirPods Max directly with Apple's USB-C cable to a 20W wall adapter, using the Max Stand, or using the USB-C cable with the pass-through adapter that Mophie includes. Apple states that a 5-minute charge adds 1.5 hours of listening but does not claim any fast-charging features beyond this, nor does Apple specifically recommend using a high-wattage wall adapter.
Per iFixit, the USB-C AirPods Max has the same battery cells as the original model released in 2020 with a total capacity of 664 mAh. AirPods Max automatically limits the amount of power drawn during charging and using a higher-wattage wall adapter doesn't increase charging speeds.
With this stand on my desk, I noticed that I was no longer ultra-careful about taking every opportunity to put my headphones into sleep mode to avoid draining the battery. I started leaving my AirPods Max around the house willy-nilly without a charging care in the world since I knew I could easily pop them on the stand for a quick charge anytime. Using a USB-C cable to charge them is not hard of course, but it takes more steps than just dropping the headphones into a stand.
The Big Question
Will Mophie offer a Lightning dongle that will allow the stand to work with older AirPods Max models that have Lightning ports? It seems like this would be an easy thing to do since the stand is only handling low power to the headphones and no data, and it would open up the consumer base greatly for Mophie to sell more of these. This is the most commonly-asked question on the stand's product page and there's no official answer from Mophie there at the time of this review, though there is someone who claims that Mophie responded to them directly and said no. We asked Mophie directly and they did not respond prior to publication of this review.
We presume that the official answer to this question is no. While disappointing, it's likely a licensing issue that's preventing a Lightning dongle. The Lightning connector is a proprietary one and Apple offers licensing of its use through its MFi program, while USB-C is not proprietary. If Mophie has done the math here, it must be that licensing a Lightning dongle is more costly than offering it, even if it means missing out on a potentially large user base of Lightning AirPods Max owners.
Who It's For
You use your AirPods Max frequently throughout the day at or near a desk and want an easy and quick way to charge them. Or you are out and about all day and want to drop your AirPods Max in a dock near the door when you get home to charge fully overnight before you grab them and go in the morning. And you have $150 to burn.
I was salty about the price when this was first announced, but I have appreciated this dock more and more and even find myself using my AirPods Max more because of it. Like much in life, making something easier has a large impact on how often it's used or done. So is it worth it? For me, the answer is yes.
Pros:
- Solid, quality build
- Aesthetically pleasing
- Can charge two devices at once
- Easy and convenient charging
Cons:
- No at-a-glance charging status indicator
- Need two hands to place and remove headphones
- Stretches headband
- Pass-through adapter is another thing to lose
- Price
Note: Mophie provided MacRumors with a Max Stand for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received. MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Mophie. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.
Top Rated Comments