AirPods Pro, the high-end version of Apple’s all-conquering AirPods, are due for an update. It’s approaching three years since the earbuds arrived, and in the past two years alone Samsung has managed to pull off two Galaxy Buds Pro games.
The wait is almost over, according to Bloomberg’s well-connected tech reporter Mark Gurman, who in the latest Power On newsletter (opens in a new tab) claims that Apple’s event this week will see the introduction of AirPods Pro 2, along with the winner. It won’t just be Apple introducing the iPhone 14 and the Apple Watch 8.
“I’m told Wednesday will be their big presentation,” Gurman writes.
The tech advisor explains that for Apple, the big selling point of the iPhone isn’t just the initial hardware, but the extras that just work perfectly with it, like the Apple Watch and AirPods. While you can use AirPods with Android devices, you lose so much functionality that you’re better off checking out our list of the best noise-cancelling headphones for AirPods alternatives.
While we expected AirPods Pro 2 to arrive this fall, it wasn’t clear that Wednesday was the ideal launch pad, given that the event looks pretty packed with four iPhones and three Apple Watch models to do so.
Anyway, it wouldn’t be surprising if Apple announced something other than a phone or a watch. Not only did the original AirPods appear in September 2016 alongside the iPhone 7, but the HomePod mini and Apple TV have also held up iPhone releases in recent years.
Gurman doesn’t actually offer any hints about what the new look AirPods Pro might look or feel like. But we’ve heard a few things over the past few months; Improved sound is a given, of course, but there’s also talk of fitness tracking features and a new feature-packed charging case.
Just yesterday, a CAD rendering was spotted that appears to show this case in a complete new look with a lanyard holder, speaker grille, and microphone hole. While the first two are likely to make AirPods less easy to lose, the second is a bit of a mystery, unless it’s for the Live Listen (Opens in a new tab) accessibility feature “.
We should know soon. Apple’s ‘Far Out’ event is scheduled for this Wednesday at 10am PT. Instructions on how to watch the Apple event are available here. But if you’d rather read the whole thing, we’ll have all the details and analysis you could want after the show is over.
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