AirPods Pro 2 Could Start a New Accessory Ecosystem
Apple's second-generation AirPods Pro could arrive alongside a new series of accessories, recent leaked images suggest.
Alleged leaked photos of the next-generation AirPods Pro obtained by MacRumors showed a charging case with a metal loop on the side for attaching a strap. Apple has not used this design for any of its other AirPod models and it is unclear why it would be added in this instance. That said, it does not seem out of the realm of possibility that Apple would add a strap.
If the metal loop feature does come to the second-generation AirPods Pro, it seems reasonable to expect Apple to offer a host of straps in different colors and perhaps different materials, allowing users to easily tether their AirPods case to their wrist, belt, or bag. Third-parties could also take advantage of the AirPods Pro loop to offer their own wrist straps, tethers, and carabiners, with there being the considerable potential for new accessories.
The launch of AirTags last year allowed Apple to offer a range of new loops and keychains in different materials and colors, so a similar array of accessories for AirPods seems conceivable. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman recently noted the plausibility of the rumor on The MacRumors Show given Apple's interest in offering a range of profitable low-margin accessories such as Apple Watch bands and iPhone cases.
The second-generation AirPods Pro are also expected to feature support for Lossless audio, a charging case that can emit a sound for location tracking, a new design, and more. Apple is expected to launch the updated noise-cancelling earbuds in the third or fourth quarter of 2022.
Popular Stories
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, so the software update is a little over six weeks away from being announced. Below, we recap rumored features and changes planned for the iPhone with iOS 18. iOS 18 will reportedly be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, with new ChatGPT-inspired generative AI features, a more customizable Home Screen, and much more....
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...
Best Buy is discounting a collection of M3 MacBook Pro computers today, this time focusing on the 14-inch version of the laptop. Every deal in this sale requires you to have a My Best Buy Plus or Total membership, although non-members can still get solid second-best prices on these MacBook Pro models. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a...
Alleged leaked image of the next-generation AirPods Pro charging case.
