- Jul 21, 2020 -
By
When will we see the Apple AirPods 3? With over a year having gone by since the last iteration of Apple's true wireless earbuds, the AirPods (2019), there are naturally already murmurs of another updated model coming our way.
There have been rumors of an Apple AirPods 3 crashing into the market before 2020 is out, but recent comments from industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggest we may be waiting a while longer – speculating that the next-gen AirPods would start mass production in early 2021, with a new AirPods Pro model arriving in 2022 too (via AppleInsider).
According to 9to5Mac, the prolific Apple analyst believes that Apple "will continue to sell second-generation AirPods through this year’s holiday season", replacing the popular true wireless earbuds with the AirPods 3 "in the first half of 2021".
The new 'Pods will apparently take their design cues from the AirPods Pro, which ditched the rigid plastic tips and super long ear stems of the 2019 Apple AirPods, in favor of silicone eartips and a sleeker look. Whether that means they'll come with noise cancellation as well remains to be seen.
It's possible new AirPods could launch sooner than 2021, though. In fact, notable Apple leaker Jon Prosser tweeted that there's a new Apple AirPods model that is ready to be shipped immediately.
Prosser doesn't have specifics as to which model it might be, whether it's the AirPods 3 or the AirPods Pro Lite, but with no mention of new earbuds at WWDC 2020, the next feasible release window is in September, when we're expecting to see the iPhone 12.
[Update: Apple has been awarded a number of new patents, one of which suggests that the next AirPods could come with a nifty feature for fitness fans.
According to Patently Apple, the patent describes AirPods that use inbuilt sensors to "gather orientation information such as accelerometer measurements during user movements".]
