Sonos Preparing AirPods Max Rival With Voice Assistant Support

Sonos is preparing the Sonos Ace Ultra, an upgraded version of its Ace headphones with AI and voice assistant support, according to Bloomberg. The device appeared in an FCC filing this week and is expected to debut in September, as Sonos aims to compete with Apple's AirPods Max. The original Sonos Ace sold around 200,000 units, well below its internal target of one million, and CEO Tom Conrad has said AI will be a focus area.

Sonos is working on an upgraded version of its Ace headphones that will support AI, reports Bloomberg https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-11/sonos-plans-ace-ultra-headphones-and-broad-push-into-ai . 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 https://www.macrumors.com/2024/05/21/hands-on-sonos-ace-headphones/ 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 https://www.macrumors.com/2024/07/25/sonos-app-update-apology/ . 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 https://apps.fcc.gov/eas/GetApplicationAttachment.html?id=9521921 , 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 https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/airpods-max/ coming anytime soon, so the second-generation Sonos Ace headphones will still be pitted against the original AirPods Max design. This article, " Sonos Preparing AirPods Max Rival With Voice Assistant Support https://www.macrumors.com/2026/08/11/sonos-ace-ultra/ " first appeared on MacRumors.com https://www.macrumors.com Discuss this article https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/sonos-preparing-airpods-max-rival-with-voice-assistant-support.2486782/ in our forums