Apple's suppliers are gearing up to assemble next-generation AirPods as early as October, according to industry sources cited by DigiTimes, suggesting an updated version of the earphones could arrive in time for the holiday shopping season.

airpods
An excerpt from the report:

Apple's supply chain makers reportedly have kicked off volume production of related components for next-generation AirPods that will enable ODM production partners to begin mass assembly of the gadgets as early as October to meet year-end shopping season demand, according to supply chain sources.

Given the supply of current AirPods model still remains tight, it will remain an issue whether Apple could maintain sufficient supply of the next-generation AirPods, whose structural changes might affect yield rates at production lines, according to market watchers.

In April, noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said two new AirPods models would likely go into mass production between the fourth quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020, with Luxshare, Goertek, and Amkor serving as primary suppliers.

Kuo believes one of the new AirPods models will feature an "all-new form factor design" and a "higher price" than the second-generation AirPods, which cost $159 with a standard charging case and $199 with a wireless charging case. The other model is expected to be a more iterative update with the same pricing.

If new AirPods do launch later this year, they will likely be the more iterative pair that Kuo referred to, as Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the higher-priced AirPods with water resistance and noise cancelation to launch as early as 2020. It's unclear what features would be part of the iterative update.

In March, Apple released second-generation AirPods powered by an Apple-designed H1 chip, enabling hands-free "Hey Siri" functionality and up to 50 percent more talk time compared to the original AirPods. The second-generation AirPods feature the same outward design as the original.

Related Roundup: AirPods Pro
Tag: DigiTimes
Buyer's Guide: AirPods Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: AirPods

Top Rated Comments

Maclver Avatar
Maclver
60 months ago
It would make sense to announce AirPods Pro alongside the iPhone Pro, maybe?
I hope we get some sort of surprise in today's keynote... but im not holding my breath....
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fokmik Avatar
fokmik
60 months ago
I miss when Apple had reasonable prices.

Their prices started getting noticeably nutty ~3 years ago, and their response to falling sales was:
1 - Stop disclosing sales.
2 - Double down on increasing prices. Headphones contain $10 in components and plenty of competitors come in below $50? Forget about that! Charge $80! No wait, $160! No - $200! Wait, higher <insert new price here.>

Can we take a moment and remember - you’re buying headphones. They’re not a magical new product category. They come in the box with every iPhone. They came in the box with every iPod 18 years ago. Adding Siri lowered the quality. Adding batteries made them dramatically less reliable. And somehow people are okay with paying over double the price for an unquestionably worse product than what Apple offered a decade ago.
Yea sure...there are not in ear wireless no cords easy to use sound quality better than airpods under 100$
And yea the first macbook air was reasonable priced at starting price 1799$ and so on
Apple haven’t changed
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dave245 Avatar
Dave245
60 months ago
It would make sense to announce AirPods Pro alongside the iPhone Pro, maybe?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Don1985 Avatar
Don1985
60 months ago
I miss when Apple had reasonable prices.

Their prices started getting noticeably nutty ~3 years ago, and their response to falling sales was:
1 - Stop disclosing sales.
2 - Double down on increasing prices. Headphones contain $10 in components and plenty of competitors come in below $50? Forget about that! Charge $80! No wait, $160! No - $200! Wait, higher <insert new price here.>

Can we take a moment and remember - you’re buying headphones. They’re not a magical new product category. They come in the box with every iPhone. They came in the box with every iPod 18 years ago. Adding Siri lowered the quality. Adding batteries made them dramatically less reliable. And somehow people are okay with paying over double the price for an unquestionably worse product than what Apple offered a decade ago.
I take it you haven’t owned a pair of Airpods? As that is not my experience with them.

Overpriced now, yes. But definitely not poor quality.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
brucewayne Avatar
brucewayne
60 months ago
Noise canceling would definitely get me to upgrade from my first gens. Almost bought the WF-1000xm3s but I am spoiled by the seamless pairing in the Airpods
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ryanwarsaw Avatar
ryanwarsaw
60 months ago
Just make something in the color black so my shares soar. I don't care what it is but black would make people here like moths to the flame.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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