What to Expect From Apple’s Next High-End Buds

The standard AirPods are solid headphones, but those that want a tighter fit and premium features like noise cancellation have turned to the AirPods Pro. The AirPods Pro headphones are a little more expensive than the standard buds, but for many, they’re worth the money. Soon, however, Apple will launch a second-generation model — tentatively called the AirPods Pro 2.

Of course, naming in Apple-land is fluid. The headphones may end up being called the AirPods Pro second-generation. Or, maybe they’ll just keep the AirPods Pro name and simply replace the old ones.

Regardless, however, rumors indicate that they could be an exciting release. Here’s everything we know so far about the AirPods Pro 2 wireless earbuds.

New AirPods Pro design

There is some debate about the design of the next-gen AirPods Pro 2 earbuds. Some rumors suggest that the overall design will be pretty much the same as the current model. Other rumors, however, indicate that Apple wants to bring a stemless design to the AirPods Pro headphones. Bloomberg indicates that Apple is targetting a more compact design with a more rounded shape, which could give the buds a design similar to the Google Pixel Buds.

Of course, that would change a lot of how the AirPods currently work. The stems allow users to control the buds with a squeeze, plus it makes them more immediately more recognizable.

Some rumors previously indicated that the AirPods Pro 2 would come with a USB-C port for wired charging, however a new note from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that instead the headphones will keep the Lightning port.

New AirPods Pro features

The AirPods Pro have always been a little more feature-packed than the standard AirPods, and the next-gen model will likely be no different. The AirPods Pro 2 may offer a number of new features that put them ahead of the competition. That’s apart from the fitness-tracking features that we already discussed. Some rumors suggest that the AirPods Pro 2 will offer the ability to automatically turn off noise cancellation when they detect a voice, like that of your partner or spouse. And, of course, they’ll also support things like wireless charging, transparency mode, and more.

The new AirPods Pro 2 may also have better support for Find My. The headphones already support Find My, but one rumor indicates that the case may have its own support for Find My apart from the earbuds. According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, they may also support lossless audio, which would allow for a much better audio quality. This might mean that Apple would do away with Bluetooth connectivity, or rely on Bluetooth only for devices that don’t support whatever new standard Apple implements.

New AirPods Pro fitness tracking

The AirPods Pro 2 may play into Apple’s big push into fitness tracking. According to many recent rumors, the AirPods Pro 2 will offer some kind of fitness tracking, through the built-in sensors. That said, we don’t yet know exactly what these sensors will track through the AirPods Pro 2.

New AirPods Pro price and release date

So when will we finally get the AirPods Pro 2 earbuds in person? Well, we don’t exactly know just yet. According to the Bloomberg report, Apple is targeting a 2022 launch, and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expects the headphones to launch in the fourth quarter of 2022. They could launch alongside the iPhone 14 series in October 2022. This was further pushed in new tweets from Kuo, who noted that Apple may end up discontinuing the AirPods Pro line after the AirPods Pro 2.

Pricing also remains to be seen. We expect the new AirPods Pro to have a similar price to the current AirPods Pro, which means that they should cost around $250. If Apple manages to pack more features into the headphones, however, it could end up raising the price of the headphones.