Contact the person who sent you the file and ask them to export it from their newer Max into one of these formats:
How to Fix "File Was Saved By A Newer Version Of 3ds Max" If you’ve just tried to open a .max file only to be greeted by the dreaded error: you’re likely feeling the sting of Autodesk’s strict versioning policy. File Was Saved By A Newer Version Of 3ds Max And Cannot