Will the AirPods Pro 3 Launch This Year?
After a substantial update in 2022, can users expect Apple to launch the next-generation AirPods Pro this year?
The second-generation AirPods Pro launched in September 2022, offering a major update with active noise cancellation enhancements, Adaptive Transparency mode, H2 chips, battery life improvements, touch volume controls, improved battery life, IPX4 sweat and water resistance, Apple Watch charger compatibility, the U1 chip for precision finding, and more. The scale of this update suggests that it could be some time before a sufficient number of further upgrades are ready for a third-generation model. Indeed, the third-generation AirPods and the AirPods Max may need to catch up with the existing AirPods Pro before a further update to Apple's high-end in-ear earbuds.
The second-generation AirPods Pro came 35 months after the launch of the previous generation, which similarly suggests that it could be a long while before a third-generation model arrives. Likewise, Apple appears to focus on refreshing just one AirPods model each year, in which case, the AirPods Max would be next up for a refresh, followed by the standard AirPods. This means that third-generation AirPods Pro may not arrive until 2025.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the AirPods Pro to switch to USB-C by 2024, but this does not necessarily mean that there will be a new model to introduce this change. Apple could simply upgrade the charging case, just as it did in October 2021 when it added MagSafe to the first-generation AirPods Pro. Overall, at the current time, new AirPods Pro this year seem very unlikely. 2024 or 2025 appear to be more probable time frames for the introduction of a third-generation model.
Popular Stories
Game emulator apps have come and gone since Apple announced App Store support for them on April 5, but now popular game emulator Delta from developer Riley Testut is available for download. Testut is known as the developer behind GBA4iOS, an open-source emulator that was available for a brief time more than a decade ago. GBA4iOS led to Delta, an emulator that has been available outside of...
The first approved Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) emulator for the iPhone and iPad was made available on the App Store today following Apple's rule change. The emulator is called Bimmy, and it was developed by Tom Salvo. On the App Store, Bimmy is described as a tool for testing and playing public domain/"homebrew" games created for the NES, but the app allows you to load ROMs for any...
Last September, Apple's iPhone 15 Pro models debuted with a new customizable Action button, offering faster access to a handful of functions, as well as the ability to assign Shortcuts. Apple is poised to include the feature on all upcoming iPhone 16 models, so we asked iPhone 15 Pro users what their experience has been with the additional button so far. The Action button replaces the switch ...
A decade ago, developer Riley Testut released the GBA4iOS emulator for iOS, and since it was against the rules at the time, Apple put a stop to downloads. Emulators have been a violation of the App Store rules for years, but that changed on April 5 when Apple suddenly reversed course and said that it was allowing retro game emulators on the App Store. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel ...
iOS 18 is expected to be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. iOS 18 is rumored to include new generative AI features for Siri and many apps, and Apple plans to add RCS support to the Messages app for an improved texting experience between iPhones and Android devices. The update is also expected to introduce a more...
