iOS 16.4 Seemingly References New AirPods and AirPods Case

The iOS 16.4 release candidate version that was provided to developers today appears to hint at a new set of AirPods that could be coming in the near future. According to @aaronp613, the beta features references to AirPods that have a model number of A3048 and an AirPods case with a model number of A2968.

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There have been no rumors that new AirPods are on the horizon, and it is early for Apple to update the earbuds as they were just refreshed in 2021.


It is not clear if there are indeed new AirPods on the way or if this is some kind of iterative update that will see Apple transitioning to USB-C charging instead of Lightning for the charging case as expected.

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Top Rated Comments

pittpanthersfan Avatar
11 weeks ago
Everyone, I just bought my first AirPods last week, so this is a sure thing.
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vegetassj4 Avatar
11 weeks ago
AirPods Ultra or nothing:



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Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
xxray Avatar
11 weeks ago
AirPods Pro with USB-C? ?
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
11 weeks ago
Wow! That's interesting! Hopefully, it's coming with a USB-C AirPods Pro case.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CPx Avatar
11 weeks ago

Everyone, I just bought my first AirPods last week, so this is a sure thing.
Thank you for your service!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ProfessionalFan Avatar
11 weeks ago

Maybe fixing the airpods after all these years
What is wrong with them?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)