AirPods Max 2 warranty activated 6 months early

No they should not.

The official purchase date, for warranty and AppleCare+ purposes, is based on your purchase date from the Authorized Apple Reseller, not when the reseller originally acquired the device from Apple. That means your Apple Limited Warranty and the eligibility window for purchasing AppleCare+ both start counting from the day you buy the device.

That said, sometimes the device might initially show an incorrect coverage date in Apple’s system — usually if it sat on the shelf for a while. In those cases, Apple lets you submit proof of purchase (like a dated receipt) to correct the coverage start date. This is especially common with third-party retailers or if the device was shipped but not activated right away.

So as long as you have your sales receipt from the reseller, you're good. You’ll have up to 60 days (sometimes extended to 1 year in some countries) to add AppleCare+, depending on your region and the product. You can check or add coverage at Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support or directly on the device in Settings > General > About shortly after activating it.

Tesserax wrote:

No they should not.

The official purchase date, for warranty and AppleCare+ purposes, is based on your purchase date from the Authorized Apple Reseller, not when the reseller originally acquired the device from Apple. That means your Apple Limited Warranty and the eligibility window for purchasing AppleCare+ both start counting from the day you buy the device.

That's all presuming these were purchased from an authorized retailer, which we don't know.

If these were indeed purchased from an authorized retailer, here are the instructions for how to get the date corrected --> Update your proof of purchase - Apple Support

Hi Inzhu102,

There is apparently some lack of understanding among the people helping where the term "authorized retailer" concerned.

We don't know the status of the store where you bought them in your country, if it is authorized or not.

If Apple does not sell their equipment in your country at all and your store owner goes to a different country and buys a bunch of Airpods to sell in his store in your country, that person is not an authorized reseller. As far as Apple is concerned the Airpods have a warranty start date when the store owner bought them and you will have to accept that.

If your dealer is indeed authorized by Apple to sell Apple equipment then that dealer should have provided to correct sale date to Apple. It is possible that your store owner simply didn't get the paperwork filed correctly and your Airpods have the wrong date with Apple. This support article tells you how to resolve that:

Update your proof of purchase - Apple Support

To update your information contact Apple Support by phone. Tell the advisor that you need help with your Apple Limited Warranty or AppleCare plan expiration date.

Here’s what you need when you call:

- The device serial number

- Your sales receipt

- Your AppleCare agreement number [I presume this is only necessary if you have an AppleCare plan on the item.]

As always, the warranty starts on the first day of initial purchase from Apple or an authorized retailer. If your place of purchase was not an Apple authorized retailer, the warranty started when they purchased the AirPods.

inzhu102 wrote:

Genuine new Apple headphones should not be under warranty.

They are only new when purchased from Apple itself or an authorized retailer. That's when the warranty starts. You must have purchased them from an unauthorized reseller.

Check with the reseller if they offer their own warranty.