That indeed sounds strange. Was the headset charged? That’s the only reason i can think of off the top of my head I used that lightning to 3.5mm cable from app

That indeed sounds strange. Was the headset charged? That’s the only reason i can think of off the top of my head I used that lightning to 3.5mm cable from apple with my airpods max quite a few times with no issues. Mostly for the purpose of playing some ps5 games with surround sound (by connecting the 3.5mm end to the port on the gamepad).