DigiTimes: New 'Entry-Level' AirPods Pro to Enter Production by Early Second Quarter

Thursday March 5, 2020 6:29 am PST by Joe Rossignol

Apple's suppliers will kick off production of a new entry-level version of AirPods Pro between the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second quarter, according to Taiwanese industry publication DigiTimes, suggesting that assembly of the earphones will begin around early to mid April.

AirPods Pro
A paywalled preview of the report, which should be published in full by tomorrow:

Chip and component suppliers gearing up for new AirPods production
Production of an entry-level version of Apple's AirPods Pro, dubbed tentatively AirPods Pro Lite, is expected to kick off between the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second quarter, according to sources at chip and component suppliers engaged in the supply chain for the TWS device.

DigiTimes continues to refer to the earphones as "AirPods Pro Lite," but it is unlikely that Apple will actually use that name.

Details surrounding the alleged entry-level AirPods Pro remain slim. It has been speculated that the earphones could end up being third-generation regular AirPods with the same design and sound quality as AirPods Pro, but without active noise cancelation. Apple announced the second-generation AirPods on March 20, 2019.

The second-generation AirPods start at $159, while AirPods Pro are priced at $249.

Related Roundup: AirPods Pro 3

Tags: AirPods Pro Lite, DigiTimes

Buyer's Guide: AirPods Pro (Neutral)

Related Forum: AirPods

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Top Rated Comments

PhireWare

86 months ago

Low cost AirPod Pros... so AirPods?

Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Joseph C

86 months ago

Shame they can't release a firmware update to get us past 2B588/2C54 and restore launch-day noise cancellation.

Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Diamond Dog

86 months ago

Oh joy. Let's make this product line just as confusing to the average person as the iPad line. Great move!

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

AngerDanger

86 months ago

AirPods Pro Lite? How about just AirPods. I don't see any reason for a middle option. The price difference would be minimal between the three.

My guess is that there might be some features that differentiate the two lower-priced AirPods.

I know I'm in the minority, but I actually prefer original AirPods to the Pros. I like the smaller size, the lack of a bulbous in-ear component, being able to quickly tap them with the back of my hand (verses squeezing, which is harder to do with dirty/occupied hands), the lack of the odd vacuum effect, longer battery life, and that I can comfortably lie on my side in bed and wear them.

If there were an intermediate step between AirPods and Pros with a few Pro features, I'd be interested.

Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)

AngerDanger

86 months ago

Surely there is a desire for some of the features to be available in a lesser package, but I think ANC is the biggest seller for the Pros

Oh, yeah, I totally agree there; it's why I briefly owned (then returned) Pros.

(I'd assume that's the cause of the vacuum effect you mentioned). Perhaps an AirPods 3 using the old design but with improved talkative and IPX4 rating would be a good compromise.

That's where it gets interesting. The vacuum effect is a product of passive noise cancellation. The suction and plastic tips work like earplugs, requiring no electronics to block sound.

Active noise cancellation is supposed to mitigate the remaining noise that passive cancellation misses, and I think it accomplishes this by playing an inverse of the waveform of the ambient sound around you. This is why droning, repetitive sounds are easy for ANC, but sudden rises in volume are harder for it to anticipate.

You could conceivably have ANC in original AirPods, but it'd wouldn't block as well as in-ear Pros. I don't know if (but don't think) it'd be more processor intensive.

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)