I think people are mainly confused because the AirPod Pros are quite competitively priced compared to other higher end offerings. The Max are so far off the market that it doesn't seem to make any sense and it seems unlikely that apple couldn't make up for lost margins with higher volume. Maybe they just literally can't/don't want to produce many of the Max and price them accordingly.

I say this as someone who uses many Apple products, but still can't justify buying this. (I do have AirPods but have wanted headphones so I don't have to stick something into my ears)

If you try to understand this stuff outside the context of fashion, you'll go around in circles (as I did).

If you see this through the lens of "people will pay anything to signal various things to others" and "you can charge whatever the market will bear" then it all adds up.

You can buy three socks for the price of one set of casters.

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/mx572zm/a/apple-mac-pro-w...