Here's Your First Look at the New Version of Apple's AirPods

In yet another leak sourced from the iOS 11 GM, developer Steve Troughton-Smith has uncovered a render of the new version of Apple's AirPods. Troughton-Smith noted that while a render of the "iPhone X" has not been discovered within the firmware (yet), the LTE Apple Watch and now the new AirPods each have renders in the golden master of iOS 11.

airpods 1 and 2


Unsurprisingly, the new AirPods look a lot like the old AirPods, with an all-white charging case and white buds. The case has the same clamshell design as the current model, but has one noticeable difference: the LED charging indicator "status light" has moved from the inside of the case to the outside.

When the AirPods are in the case, the LED shows the charge status of the pods, but if they are removed from the case then the LED shows the status of the case itself. Green indicates charged, while an amber glow means less than one full charge remains. In today's short video, the LED appears to be flashing white, which Apple's support website currently explains as an indication that the AirPods are ready to be set up with another device, suggesting some of the same LED patterns will be on the new AirPods.


Last night, the first wave of iOS 11 GM leaks included references to "AirPods 1,2," which could be the updated version of the wire-free headphones that have been shared today. Of course, with just one image and a two-second clip it's impossible to say what other new features might be coming to AirPods 2.0, or if Apple is ready to announce the new model as soon as Tuesday's upcoming iPhone X event.

Related Roundup: AirPods 4
Buyer's Guide: AirPods (Buy Now)
Related Forum: AirPods

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March. As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
m4 macbook air pink

Apple Now Selling Refurbished M4 MacBook Air Models

Friday June 13, 2025 3:34 pm PDT by
Apple today added M4 MacBook Air models to its refurbished store in the United States, making the latest MacBook Air devices available at a discounted price for the first time since they launched earlier this year. Both 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models are available, with Apple offering multiple capacities and configurations. The refurbished devices are discounted by approximately 15...

Top Rated Comments

mikeydeezy Avatar
101 months ago
Is there going to be any real difference because I just ordered mine yesterday? Ironically because I thought it was the only Apple product that wasn’t going to be updated in a couple weeks. :(
If that was your goal you should've bought a Mac Mini. ;)
Score: 56 Votes (Like | Disagree)
penajmz Avatar
101 months ago
Having the original ones I prefer the indicator light inside rather than outside. If there’s no improvement otherwise I will gladly keep version 1.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Appleaker Avatar
101 months ago
Glad they’re making improvements to it, better quality and maybe an hour extra battery life (or more) would be cool. A black model would be a brilliant move.

If you’re going to argue that the GM doesn’t show black then please remember that the W1 animations always show the white model, so it’s not ruled out.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheSkywalker77 Avatar
101 months ago
I'm surprised there isn't a black version. Apple should really add a black version or just all the colors of the iPhone.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Porco Avatar
101 months ago
So would it be fair to say all you people with AirPods with the LED on the inside of the case are using yesterday's technology and you're holding up progress now that Apple has shown us the way? When will you join the future and throw away your outdated, antiquated gen 1 AirPods and replace them with these updated models? This ancient 'LED on the inside' technology is dead already, surely... I predict in 2 months' time no-one will be using anything but AirPods with the LED on the outside of the case. ;)
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fermat-au Avatar
101 months ago
At what point does Apple hire Steve Troughton-Smith purely to stop him posting these kind of leaks?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)