Sonos Preparing AirPods Max Rival With Voice Assistant Support

Sonos is working on an upgraded version of its Ace headphones that will support AI, reports Bloomberg. The Sonos Ace Ultra showed up in an FCC filing earlier this week, with the product likely set to debut in September. Sonos debuted the original Sonos Ace in 2024. Reviews praised the sound quality and active noise cancellation, but the headphone market is crowded, and Sonos' product launched shortly after its disastrous app redesign. The headphones also didn't fully integrate with the rest of the Sonos ecosystem, making them unappealing to Sonos users. Sonos ended up selling around 200,000 units, well below the internal one-million target it set. Bloomberg suggests the new model will kick off Sonos' push into artificial intelligence. The headphones could support voice commands based on info in the filing, allowing them to be used with AI chatbots from third-party companies. Sonos CEO Tom Conrad said last month that AI will be an area of focus, with "conversational computing and predictive intelligence moving into the home." The headphones will come in Greige, Shadow Black, Agave, Blush, and Sand, according to the FCC filing, but little else is known about them because most of the filing was redacted. The original Sonos Ace were priced at $449 at launch and were competitive with the AirPods Max. The headphones had an over-ear design similar to the AirPods Max, and the same general feature set. Apple does not have a new version of the AirPods Max coming anytime soon, so the second-generation Sonos Ace headphones will still be pitted against the original AirPods Max design. Popular StoriesApple's New Headphones Will Blend Beats With AirPods MaxApple is preparing to release a new pair of over-ear Beats headphones that will have a similar design as the AirPods Max, according to teaser images. Spanish soccer star Lamine Yamal was spotted wearing unreleased Beats in a series of photos he shared on Instagram a few months ago. The over-ear headphones have a unique design with some similarities to AirPods Max, including telescoping...AirPods Max 3: The Latest RumorsWhile the AirPods Max were updated with an H2 chip in March, the over-ear headphones could receive another update next year, if a previous rumor is still accurate. In May 2025, Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that he expected lighter-weight AirPods Max to enter mass production in 2027. All versions of the AirPods Max ever released weigh 0.85 pounds, excluding the charging...iPhone 18 Pro Launching Next Month With These 12 New FeaturesIt is now August, and that means the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are just a month away. The devices are expected to look similar to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but there will still be many year-over-year changes, with rumored features including a smaller Dynamic Island, 5G via satellite, and more. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and a...