Can the ANC work purely off the cable power or does it need the battery? I can't find a clear answer to that, and like OP I'm more concerned about longevity: if

Can the ANC work purely off the cable power or does it need the battery? I can't find a clear answer to that, and like OP I'm more concerned about longevity: if the battery dies out, can I still just plug them in with the lightning cable and use them with ANC on? One source [1] says that they don't work passively at all, i.e. they won't even play wired music if the battery is discharged, so I'm not sure it'll work as I'd hope it would. 1: https://www.whathifi.com/advice/apple-airpods-max-tips-tricks-and-features https://www.whathifi.com/advice/apple-airpods-max-tips-trick...