According to noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the next generation of Apple‘s popular AirPods headphones could launch in the second half of 2024 or first half of 2025. The lineup is rumored to include a more affordable pair of AirPods priced at US$ 99 and a new model of Apple’s over-ear AirPods Max headphones (released in 2020).
The $99 AirPods would undercut the price
of Apple’s current most affordable AirPods (its second-generation model) by US$ 30. This move to reduce the price of the entry-level AirPods model mirrors
what Apple did with its Apple TV lineup last year, when it launched a new
set-top box that was US$ 50 cheaper than its previously most affordable version.
Kuo previously reported that Apple would
be launching a new USB-C charging case for all its AirPods models in 2023,
around a year earlier than he’s now predicting the arrival of the next-gen
headphones. However, it’s possible that Apple could refresh its AirPods charging
cases in 2023 but leave the actual earbuds unchanged until 2024 or 2025.
In October, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman
reported that Apple could launch USB-C compatible lineup of AirPods, AirPods
Pro, and AirPods Max by 2024, and recently said that Apple’s AirPods lineup is
unlikely to get any updates of note in 2023.
