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After launching two new sets of AirPods in 2019, Apple came perilously close to finishing the year 2020 with none - but finally announced the AirPods Max on 8 December, ready for a 15 December launch. Talk about cutting it fine.
While the recently launched AirPods Max look great, those with budgets below £549/$549 will still want to know what's happening with the rest of the range.
It's now more than two years since Apple launched the current (2nd-gen) AirPods - when are we getting an update to these basic AirPods? How long will Apple wait before releasing version 2.0 of the AirPods Pro? And are rumours of AirPods Pro Lite just that, or will they become a reality?
In this article, we take a look at how Apple will evolve the AirPods line-up in 2021, and examine the release date, price, tech specs, design changes and new features of upcoming models.
When will the new AirPods launch?
We've been hearing for some time that new AirPods would arrive in spring 2021, and a usually accurate leaker initially pointed to 23 March as the date for Apple's highly anticipated spring event. That date not only turned out to be incorrect, Apple didn't announce new AirPods at the eventual 20 April Apple event either.
However, there is an indication in the iOS 14.6 beta that Apple is working on something music related that could arrive alongside new AirPods around the time of WWDC at the beginning of June.
The iOS 14.6 beta indicates that Apple is getting ready to offer Hi-Res audio for Apple Music subscribers. It is possible that only the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max will be able to support Hi-Fi audio - in which case it could be high time for new standard AirPods that can also support the improved format.
However, analyst Ming Chi Kuo said in March that production of the AirPods 3 might not start until the third quarter of 2021, so we may have to wait even longer. Read: AirPods 3 delayed until the autumn - Kuo.
Which AirPods will Apple update next?
This is the question. Apple makes three types of AirPods - well actually you could say four. There's the AirPods without wireless charger, the ones with wireless charger, the AirPods Pro and the AirPods Max.
The AirPods most likely to be updated next are the AirPods 2 the basic AirPods. They are likely to become colloquially known as the AirPods 3.
It's possible that Apple will refresh the standard and Pro variants of the AirPods at the same time (although almost certainly not the Max, which are much newer). But some sources point to the AirPods Pro getting an update separately, perhaps slightly later.
If you're curious to know when the current and previous AirPods launched, here's the release schedule so far:
- December 2016: AirPods (2016)
- March 2019: AirPods (early-2019, aka 'AirPods 2')
- October 2019: AirPods Pro
- December 2020: AirPods Max
It's tough to draw too many conclusions from that release schedule - a big gap and then a flurry of releases; the sample size is too small to extrapolate a trend - but we definitely expect Apple to keep the AirPods and AirPods Pro as two separate lines.
Price: How much will the new AirPods cost?
AirPods pricing has been a little controversial, although this may not have been entirely fair. The basic AirPods are actually pretty reasonable by the standards of True Wireless earbuds, and the Pro models are of sufficiently good quality to justify their price.
Here's the pricing for the current range:
- AirPods with charging case: £159 / US$159 / AU$249
- AirPods with wireless case: £199 / US$199 / AU$319
- AirPods Pro: £249 / US$249 / AU$399
- AirPods Max: £549 / US$549 / AU$899
That cheapest option could disappear the next time Apple updates its range, with the wireless-charging AirPods seeing a price drop. We anticipate something like this:
- AirPods with charging case: dropped from sale
- AirPods with wireless case: £159 / US$159 / AU$249
- AirPods Pro Lite: £199 / US$199 / AU$319
- AirPods Max: £549 / US$549 / AU$899
New AirPods Design: What will the new AirPods look like?
The question here is whether Apple will take the plunge and significantly change the design of the AirPods: the evidence is mounting that it will.
Again, we'll need to discuss the various AirPods models separately.
Basic AirPods
There's been a lot of speculation that the new AirPods 3 will combine the design of the AirPods Pro model (that launched in October 2019) with the AirPods 2 design (from March 2019).
This is likely to mean that the 'stems' of the AirPods 3 will be shorter than those of the current AirPod models, as per the Pro version. Here's what that could look like, based on leaked photos from the Chinese site 52audio:
The site also posted this X-ray image, which gives an idea of what Apple plans to squeeze into that case:
This theory is echoed by Apple analyst Ming Chi Kuo who said back in June that he expects the next-gen AirPods to share elements of their design with the AirPods Pro, but not the active noise cancellation.
The site Gizmochina has also posted renders of the new AirPods design, which it says come from suppliers:
We may also get new silicone ear tips, as on the AirPods Pro. The silicone earpieces complement the active noise cancellation feature of the Pro models, which is unlikely to be duplicated on the cheaper models, but silicone tips would still achieve batter passive isolation.
You can see what this would look like in this image leaked by the site 52audio:
Black AirPods (or other new colour finish)
It's feasible that we could see a new colour option when the next set of AirPods is launched. It would be unusual for Apple to get this far into a product line without offering at least two colours. The AirPod Max, indeed, get five: Space Grey, Silver, Pink, Green and Sky Blue.
Space Grey or black is probably the most likely, but green, blue and pink are all feasible. But again, this will only happen if the next version of the AirPods Pro come out first, or if they come out at the same time as the updated version of the standard model.
Our reasoning here is that it would be strange and slightly annoying for Pro owners if they were missing out on something that was offered with the standard model.
AirPods Pro
As for the AirPods Pro, they've had their updated design for only one generation and it's therefore unlikely that this will see a major change anytime soon.
We're big fans of this design, incidentally, although we have a few reservations about the charging case: it's harder to get the Pros out than was the case with the previous models, and the hinge feels less robust. (The hinge sits along the longer edge because the Pro models are shorter and wider than before.) Perhaps Apple could tweak the case design in lieu of major changes to the earbuds themselves.
It's also been claimed that the new AirPods Pro will come in two sizes for the first time. This prediction is based on leaked components, and was made via a tweet by Mr White:
New AirPods Pro Mabey Two Sizes Still W2 Chips 🤨 pic.twitter.com/R5MpzUrUlg
— Mr·white (@laobaiTD) December 29, 2020
He refers to the image as W-chips, but it's actually the H-chips that feature in the AirPods. The components that feature in the leaked images come in two different sizes, suggesting that Apple may have two sizes of the next generation AirPods Pro in the works.
Read more on this story here: AirPods Pro 2 could come in two sizes.
New AirPods features
Let's split this into two sections: the features we expect to drop down from the Pro range to the basic AirPods, and the entirely new (or at least new to Apple) features we expect to appear in the Pro range.
One new feature we are hearing about is the ability for two sets of AirPods to link up so that you can chat with your friend across a noisy room. For more information, read AirPods could gain walkie-talkie chat feature.
Basic AirPods
The Pros have only been available since October 2019; it would be a surprise for Apple to allow many of their exclusive features to appear on the baseline AirPods only a year later, which is when we expect the next launch. Active noise cancellation (ANC), for example, is virtually the Pros' signature feature, and the chances of that appearing on standard AirPods is almost non-existent - aside from the fact that it would require a redesign that we don't expect either. The same applies to the Transparency mode, which comes hand in hand with ANC.
Improved water resistance, however, could be ready for the mainstream. The Pros are rated IPX4, which Apple glosses as "water- and sweat-resistant, but not waterproof or sweatproof"; the early-2019 AirPods are not claimed to be water-resistant at all. That could see an improvement in 2020.
In addition the usually well-informed analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that the third-generation AirPods will use the same charging case as the AirPods Pro.
Kuo suggests that Apple intends to abandon the older case design in favour of the one used in the Pro model. The two cases are similar in appearance but the Pro case opens along the long side instead of the short one.
AirPods Pro
What entirely new features could Apple contemplate for the Pros? Well, while we're still on the subject of water resistance, that IPX4 rating leaves a fair bit of room for improvement.
The RHA TrueConnect and Creative Outlier Air headphones, which are the top two choices in our roundup of the best wireless earbuds, are both rated IPX5; the JBL UA True Wireless Flash buds are rated as a 'stormproof' IPX7.
Optical heart rate sensors have always struck us as unnecessary and uncomfortable, but some sport-loving users swear by them and they are offered by some rival earbuds. This is a long shot but not beyond the realms of possibility - especially if Apple can deliver them in a sleek package.
Like the AirPods Studio, the AirPods Pro could be in line for gesture-based controls. Apple has applied for a patent called Wearable Voice-Induced Vibration or Silent Gesture Sensor, which describes the use of a sensor to scan the user's face and detect minute changes in expression, and the muscular movements associated with speech even if not spoken out loud. This could be used to trigger commands, or as a biometric identification tool for improved security.
Further reading
And on that note, it's time to wrap up: that's all the AirPods rumours fit to print.
If you'd like to read about the current range, check out our AirPods 2 review and AirPods Pro review, and catch up on the best AirPods deals.
Finally, for more information about what Apple's likely to release in the next 12 months, have a read of our guide to the new Apple products coming in 2021.
Main image supplied by 52audio.
