AirPods Pro Were Almost Named AirPods Extreme

In the months leading up to Apple announcing the AirPods Pro in October 2019, the company considered changing the name of the wireless headphones to AirPods Extreme, according to internal information obtained by MacRumors.

airpods pro 2
The name AirPods Extreme was floated by at least one member of Apple's leadership team, but the company ultimately decided to move forward with AirPods Pro branding after many employees objected to the change, we have learned.

Apple has used "Extreme" branding in the past for its discontinued AirPort Extreme router and wireless card for Macs, first released in 2003.

In the end, the name AirPods Pro is more consistent with Apple's branding for several product lines. In addition to AirPods, Apple offers both regular and Pro versions of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and there will likely be a regular version of the Apple Vision Pro headset in the future. Nevertheless, Apple has used a few other suffixes for higher-end products over the years, such as the AirPods Max and the Apple Watch Ultra.

Apple went on to release second-generation AirPods Pro in September 2022, and it updated the headphones with a USB-C charging case and a few other features a year later. Third-generation AirPods Pro are rumored to be released in 2025.

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

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Top Rated Comments

LoveToMacRumors Avatar
21 months ago
iPhone Extreme, iPad Extreme, Apple Watch Extreme, Apple Pencil Extreme, Apple Polishing Cloth Extreme
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JPack Avatar
21 months ago
Seems out of place, even for the Beats lineup. Why would Apple pull a name from 20 years ago? Sounds more like a canary trap.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
krell100 Avatar
21 months ago
Because clearly a pair of wireless Bluetooth ear buds are Professional.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
k1121j Avatar
21 months ago

You and I are the only people in this world with a notion of what an AirPort Extreme is in the year of our lord 2024
? Anyways if they did that the reqular earbuds could be the AirPods Express
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zakarhino Avatar
21 months ago
AirPods Extreme should still be a thing but it should be a model above the Pro with substantially better audio quality. Apple offering lossless wireless earbuds with quality that rivals kilobuck (~$1000) IEM rivals from Thieaudio, 64Audio, etc. would be a hit but it would have to be in the $500-$700 range. A good traditional IEM set can last a long time so the price is worth it, but once you add a battery suddenly you have something that has a quick decay rate.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maternidad Avatar
21 months ago
Which member of the leadership was it, MacRumors? Please don’t keep this information to yourselves.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)