Kuo: AirPods Pro With USB-C Charging Case to Launch Later This Year

Apple plans to release second-generation AirPods Pro with a USB-C charging case later this year, with mass shipments expected to begin in the second to third quarter, according to information shared today by Apple industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

airpods pro 2
The second-generation AirPods Pro launched in September 2022 with a Lightning charging case. The updated version of the second-generation AirPods Pro would have a USB-C charging case instead, but it's unclear if any other hardware changes are planned. Kuo believes references to new AirPods discovered in the iOS 16.4 Release Candidate earlier this week are related to the USB-C version of the AirPods Pro.

Around two years after the original AirPods Pro launched, Apple started selling the headphones with a MagSafe-compatible charging case, so there is precedent for a mid-cycle charging case update. Unfortunately, the MagSafe case was not sold on a standalone basis, and it's unclear if the USB-C case will be sold separately.

The current version of the AirPods Pro charging case features a built-in speaker that can play a sound when the case is misplaced, an opening to attach a lanyard, a U1 chip for Find My support, and newly added compatibility with the Apple Watch charger.

All four iPhone 15 models coming later this year are expected to be equipped with a USB-C port, so it makes sense for the AirPods Pro charging case to switch to USB-C as well. Apple already switched the Apple TV's Siri Remote from Lightning to USB-C last year and other accessories like the MagSafe Battery Pack are rumored to follow eventually.

Kuo added that Apple currently has no plans to release USB-C charging cases for the second-generation or third-generation AirPods. This suggests the standard AirPods may not have a USB-C charging case until a fourth-generation pair are released. Apple released the third-generation AirPods in October 2021.

Related Roundup: AirPods Pro 3
Buyer's Guide: AirPods Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: AirPods

Popular Stories

iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
iPhone 17 Pro USB C Port

iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C Charging Speeds Tested With Apple Chargers

Monday September 22, 2025 7:29 am PDT by
The website ChargerLAB has tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W. The device reached a peak charging speed of around 36W with the following Apple chargers:40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max 61W USB-C Power Adapter 67W USB-C Power Adapter 70W USB-C Power Adapter 96W USB-C Power Adapter 140W USB-C Power AdapterFor...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iPhone 17 Pro Colors

Skipped the iPhone 17 Pro? Here's What is Rumored for iPhone 18 Pro

Tuesday September 23, 2025 8:55 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still a year away, there are already a few rumors about the devices that offer an early look ahead. Below, we have recapped some of the early iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far. This story was published previously, and it has been updated to reflect the latest rumors. Many early rumors prove to be true, but nothing is confirmed yet, and Apple's...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds First Betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1

Monday September 22, 2025 10:05 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with the first betas of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The new betas are the first updates to the iOS, iPadOS, macOS 26, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS releases that came out last week. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going...

Top Rated Comments

letsGoOn2 Avatar
33 months ago

People feel their Magical and Amazing Apple products are less "special" if they use the same charging/data port that everyone else gets to use. Lightning is technically inferior in every possible way, but it's unique, and that's absolutely an emotional draw to a certain subset of the population. But we can't blame people—Apple has shaped it that way.

We don't get a standard connector, we get Apple's proprietary connector that Apple then abandons at some point in the future in order to churn adoption of some other "magical" advancement—Apple had to think fast due to the EU forcing their hand, so the rumors say we're getting spurious MFI USB-C cables. Those new to the ecosystem, or only iOS owners, won't realize that Apple has been pulling this nonsense since the 680x0 Mac days—never missing an opportunity to squeeze profit from users through proprietary connectors or, even worse, non-standard signaling across otherwise standards-compliant connectivity, then marketing that difference as a benefit. It is a marketing conceit wrapped in technological hand-waving designed to increase high-margin ancillary purchases and it's utterly shameless.

The side effect of the cognitive dissonance of people having to abandon this shaping suddenly, as in the case of Lightning versus USB-C, is strenuously telling us how they "...only use wireless charging anyway." Super looking forward to that for the next year.
I personally think the lightning connector was necessary when it was introduced some 11 years ago now. It replaced the apple 30-pin connector, which was big and hard to fit on smaller devices.

The USB connector at the time lighting was introduced was USB-A, which was also fairly large and somewhat fussy in that it had to be inserted in the correct orientation. USB went on to add "mini" and "micro" connectors, but they were still single-orientation connectors that were prone to wear and damage, and the sheer number of similar, incompatible connectors was confusing. If USB-C existed back then it would have made sense for Apple to adopt it, but I think Apple did well to avoid USB in that era.

The lighting connector is easy to plug in even when you aren't looking at it, and other than occasional debris accumulation in the port the connector has been fairly reliable for a decade or so. USB-C has reached parity with lighting in terms of size, ease of use, and durability, and so I think the time is right for Apple to finally adopt the universal standard.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bLackjackj Avatar
33 months ago
How about black Apple??? ...just give me black and I'll buy! I cannot believe its 2023 and only available in 1 colour.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iamgalt Avatar
33 months ago

How about black Apple??? ...just give me black and I'll buy! I cannot believe its 2023 and only available in 1 colour.
Apple offers AirPods in your favorite color. As long as your favorite color is white.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tuckerjj Avatar
33 months ago
And this is why I didn’t buy the new AirPods Pro yet - it was clear that these were coming sooner rather than later.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
msackey Avatar
33 months ago

It's sad that Apple gave in on this without a fight. Makes you wonder what other government demands they will kowtow to.
Interesting thought. But what is there to fight? Is USB C worse than Lightning? I can't think of any significant disadvantages going from Lightning to USB C. More and more devices use USB C which means it's easier to find a cable and also power adapter that allows for USB C cables.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rychiar Avatar
33 months ago
meh, i wireless charge thelse always anyways
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)