AirPods 5 Include ANC as Standard, Pricier Variant Now Gatekeeps Wireless Charging Instead

Wednesday September 9, 2026 1:36 pm PDT by Hartley Charlton

Apple no longer charges extra for Active Noise Cancellation on AirPods, folding it into the $129 AirPods 5 instead of reserving it for the higher-end model.

airpods 5 stem touch volume controls
Apple today announced the ‌AirPods 5‌. ANC now comes standard on the base model rather than being exclusive to its pricier variant, as it was with the outgoing AirPods 4, which cost $129 without ANC and $179 with it.

There is still a pricier version of the ‌AirPods 5‌, called "‌AirPods 5‌ with Wireless Charging Case." This model starts at $149 and includes a force sensor with swiping volume controls, an hour of additional battery life with ANC enabled, and wireless charging. The AirPods 4 with ANC were priced at $179.

‌AirPods 5‌ are available for pre-order starting today, with both the $129 and $149 models arriving in stores on Friday, September 18.

Related Roundup: AirPods 5

Tags: September 2026 Apple Event, Wireless Charging

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Top Rated Comments

emulajavi

6 weeks ago

Just for $20 they couldn’t release a single variant with all at $129??

Or even just selling a single variant with all for $139… which normally at retailers would sell at $129 or less

Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)

leon44

6 weeks ago

“Pricier Variant Gatekeeps”
Slightly unnatural LLM phrasing, AI loves to put verbs after inanimate nouns.

Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Tyler O'Bannon

6 weeks ago

Honestly all of that for $20 is odd. It's just so close together..... i'm sure there's a reason. But just seems like AirPods could just be AirPods, not decision to make. Just all the latest and greatest stuff

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Ferrandix

6 weeks ago

So confused about the need to segmentate this product on 2 silly options. As said before. they could sell the wireless charging option for 139$ and forget the other one.

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)