We’re expecting the AirPods 4 to be unveiled alongside the iPhone 16 at Apple’s September 9, 2024 event. The new AirPods will reportedly come in two flavors, including one that borrows many of the AirPods Pro 2’s features.
But they may not have all the spotlight to themselves: leaker Kosutami (who MacRumors Notes (a company with a good recent track record) says the AirPods Pro 3 will have “much better” active noise cancellation than the current version, and that they’re coming “soon.”
Considering that the AirPods Pro 2 are still among the best noise cancelling earbuds in terms of raw noise-blocking power, taking another leap forward might be… a little crazy, actually. I’ve already had to rewire my brain a bit to get used to how well the current AirPods Pro 2 dampen low frequencies, and they haven’t been vastly improved upon by rivals in the two years since their launch.
That’s one reason I’m skeptical that “coming soon” means “at the event next month.” Other reports have said the AirPods Pro 3 are planned for a 2025 release, and that makes sense considering the original AirPods Pro were replaced after three years, and the current ones are only two years old – and the current model was upgraded last year to only include USB-C.
However, there are also possible indicators that a new model is coming, and a few reasons why it might make sense to launch them now.
The 2 reasons why Apple could launch AirPods Pro 3 now
The reasons Apple isn’t releasing the AirPods Pro 3 now are simple: the current model is still too new and too popular, and it would negate the launch of the cheaper model.
But there are two things that make me suspect it might happen (on top of the fact that I predicted Apple wouldn’t announce the USB-C AirPods Pro 2 last September and I was dead wrong, so I’m right to doubt my instincts).
First, the AirPods Pro 2 are hitting record low prices, with the USB-C model even selling for a lower price than the Lightning model ever did during Prime Day, as did the AirPods 3 model that we know for sure will be replaced. I suspect we’ll see the same record-low AirPods prices come Labor Day.
It’s somewhat of a stock clearance for the new model, and it’s certainly going to be tough for the new mid-range AirPods 4 model to sell well if everyone thinks the AirPods Pro 2 will drop to a similar price on Black Friday. So it would make sense for Apple to prepare to replace them all and have an entirely new pricing plan.
The second reason is to make the AirPods Pro stand out more from the regular model, and to ensure that the AirPods Max 2 (also coming soon) feel high-end enough. Let’s assume Apple plans to put the H2 chip that powers the AirPods Pro 2 in the AirPods 4, unlocking features like Adaptive Transparency.
Presumably, an AirPods Max 2 launching at the same time would also launch with the H2 chip. But we all think that the AirPods Pro 3 will come out next year at the latest, which will undoubtedly have a more powerful H3 chip, and so the AirPods Max will start to feel outdated alarmingly quickly, even though, given their price, they should be Apple’s flagship headphones in terms of features. After all, the previous AirPods Max are almost four years old – can the new model really be in a position where they feel outdated after a year at most?
So it might make sense to launch the AirPods Pro 3 alongside the rest with a new H3 chip, so that we have a clear hierarchy for the best AirPods: the budget- to mid-range AirPods 4 with the H2; then the AirPods Pro 3 with the H3; and finally, the AirPods Max 2 with the H3.
But this is all just me complaining to the clouds about what seems like should make sense. Apple has made a lot of surprising decisions with AirPods in the past that haven’t helped them become the best-selling model among the world’s best wireless earbuds. Why mess with a winning formula now?
If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on the AirPods Pro 3 not showing up at the next event. I’d guess they’ll come out in 2025. But I would have lost that money on the same bet last year, and as mentioned above, there’s good reason to think Apple will. We’ll find out soon.