Apple's Plan to Introduce New AirPods Later This Year Reportedly Delayed

[MacRumors]

Apple's plan to release an updated version of AirPods later this year has been delayed due to the global health crisis, according to the Nikkei Asian Review.

This lines up with a recent report from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who said that mass production of third-generation AirPods will begin in the first half of 2021, followed by mass production of second-generation AirPods Pro between the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. Kuo also expects Apple's rumored high-end over-ear headphones to enter mass production at some point in mid-2020.

Kuo did acknowledge rumors of new AirPods coming in the second half of 2020, but he said they are "more likely to be the new Beats model." Last month, leaker Jon Prosser claimed that Apple was planning to release so-called "AirPods X" around September or October with a BeatsX-like design for sports and running.

Apple's second-generation AirPods launched in March 2019, while the AirPods Pro were released at the end of October.

Article Link: Apple's Plan to Introduce New AirPods Later This Year Reportedly Delayed

 

[roland.g]

My AirPods are 2 years old. Bought them for my wife for Mother’s Day along with a Watch which she loves but she never used the AirPods. After 6 months in a drawer I started using them and have for 18 months or so. Because the mic on traditional wired headphones was on the right ear bud, I use that one for all my calls and rarely listen to music with them. Mostly just for calls and music on the occasional workout. After 18 months of use the right AirPod won’t hold much of a charge at all. The left is ok but not fantastic. Do I buy a replacement right AirPod to get a new battery or wait until a next generation. It is unfortunate these devices have a fairly short life span because of the inherent problem of a high use device relying on a tiny battery. Only so many charge cycles it can handle.

 

[TheIguana]

Ah the continuing of the most ultraminor iterative update year. I just don't get why we need "v2.0" of AirPod Pros yet but alas.

 

[Nadir98]

My AirPods are 2 years old. Bought them for my wife for Mother’s Day along with a Watch which she loves but she never used the AirPods. After 6 months in a drawer I started using them and have for 18 months or so. Because the mic on traditional wired headphones was on the right ear bud, I use that one for all my calls and rarely listen to music with them. Mostly just for calls and music on the occasional workout. After 18 months of use the right AirPod won’t hold much of a charge at all. The left is ok but not fantastic. Do I buy a replacement right AirPod to get a new battery or wait until a next generation. It is unfortunate these devices have a fairly short life span because of the inherent problem of a high use device relying on a tiny battery. Only so many charge cycles it can handle.

Assuming the AirPods were in the drawer with full battery, the battery capacity might have degraded slightly since they weren't used at all. " Conversely, if you store it fully charged for an extended period of time, the battery may lose some capacity, leading to shorter battery life." from: https://www.apple.com/hk/en/batteries/maximizing-performance/

 

[pldelisle]

Wasn't a dude on twitter saying new AirPods were ready to ship ......... ? 🤦‍♂️

 

[Yr Blues]

My AirPods are 2 years old. Bought them for my wife for Mother’s Day along with a Watch which she loves but she never used the AirPods. After 6 months in a drawer I started using them and have for 18 months or so. Because the mic on traditional wired headphones was on the right ear bud, I use that one for all my calls and rarely listen to music with them. Mostly just for calls and music on the occasional workout. After 18 months of use the right AirPod won’t hold much of a charge at all. The left is ok but not fantastic. Do I buy a replacement right AirPod to get a new battery or wait until a next generation. It is unfortunate these devices have a fairly short life span because of the inherent problem of a high use device relying on a tiny battery. Only so many charge cycles it can handle.

Would be nice to have user replaceable battery. Unscrew the cap, stick one in. It's 2020. Must be the financial department still running things.

Companies don't really support renewable products. Planned obsolescence is still a thing.

 

[roland.g]

Assuming the AirPods were in the drawer with full battery, the battery capacity might have degraded slightly since they weren't used at all. " Conversely, if you store it fully charged for an extended period of time, the battery may lose some capacity, leading to shorter battery life." from: https://www.apple.com/hk/en/batteries/maximizing-performance/

Fairly common knowledge that AirPods are not living past 18-24 months. Some are getting longer but not the hoped for 4-5 years.

 

[macfan90]

they are over priced ear buds, big deal. Apple seems to generate more news on accessories than actual product. Where's that iMac ? c'cmon

 

[nvmls]

Pipeline too cluttered Timo?

 

[sub150]

After 2 solid years of AirPods usage + a third year of okay performance, the battery life was so bad I just want back to wired buds and it's fine. Don't have to deal with battery life, connection issues, etc...it just words 100% of the time. The WFH aspect has killed the usage of them I'm sure as well.

 

[joesegh]

My BeatsX are 2.5 years old and still going strong, but their battery is, uh, not great anymore. Would be curious to see what updates Apple puts in to a new model. Debating getting a v2 of those or maybe some AirPods Pro for my next set, probably sometime next year.

 

[Gorms]

Anyone remember a while back a rumour about AirPods which also had thermometer included for tracking body temps? Seems to me that in the current climate that would be a really useful aid for a couple of things.

I don't think this musing has any crossover with the article, beyond wishful thinking that maybe that was put to one side as a feature and has now been added back into the plans, aka the delay. But I wouldn't be surprised to see *something* in the wearables category measuring body temps before the year is out.

 

[HiVolt]

My AirPods are 2 years old. Bought them for my wife for Mother’s Day along with a Watch which she loves but she never used the AirPods. After 6 months in a drawer I started using them and have for 18 months or so. Because the mic on traditional wired headphones was on the right ear bud, I use that one for all my calls and rarely listen to music with them. Mostly just for calls and music on the occasional workout. After 18 months of use the right AirPod won’t hold much of a charge at all. The left is ok but not fantastic. Do I buy a replacement right AirPod to get a new battery or wait until a next generation. It is unfortunate these devices have a fairly short life span because of the inherent problem of a high use device relying on a tiny battery. Only so many charge cycles it can handle.

My airpods are 2 years old, always used as a pair, and when one of them gets into the red with under 10%, the other still has 39-40%. The difference was already there maybe 15-20% when they weren't a year old, I went to Apple and they said it was "within spec". Bullshizzle if you ask me.

But yeah, such is life with expensive disposable products, because the headphone jack was so bad.

 

[johannnn]

Ah the continuing of the most ultraminor iterative update year. I just don't get why we need "v2.0" of AirPod Pros yet but alas.

Just because you don’t want new updates doesn’t mean that other people don’t want them.

I don’t get it, why shouldn’t a company continuously improve their products? It’s not like people’s existing products stop working just because a new one shows up.

And the current rumor is not AirPods Pro v2, but AirPods Pro Lite, which looks like AirPods Pro but don’t have noise cancellation.

 

[Mdracer]

Would be nice to have user replaceable battery. Unscrew the cap, stick one in. It's 2020. Must be the financial department still running things.

Companies don't really support renewable products. Planned obsolescence is still a thing.

This would really be a game changer. even if they were the ones that produce the batteries. I would pay a handsome amount to be able to extend my usage of AirPods. The battery really is the only thing that makes most oof our current products die... oh and software updates.

 

[zhenya]

Ah the continuing of the most ultraminor iterative update year. I just don't get why we need "v2.0" of AirPod Pros yet but alas.

If the dates in this rumor turn out to be correct, that will be over two years between updates for the AirPods Pros. Seems totally reasonable to me.

 

[roland.g]

My airpods are 2 years old, always used as a pair, and when one of them gets into the red with under 10%, the other still has 39-40%. The difference was already there maybe 15-20% when they weren't a year old, I went to Apple and they said it was "within spec". Bullshizzle if you ask me.

But yeah, such is life with expensive disposable products, because the headphone jack was so bad.

I agree but I don’t have an issue with the headphone jack. Use the lighting buds in my opinion if you will suffer wired. I’m not a walk around with Bluetooth in my ear kind of person but I have been using some sort of wireless or CarPlay or car Bluetooth for years. Bought the Dash by Bragi which were the first AirPods style wireless earbuds out and used them till I took over my wife’s AirPods. I just can’t stand pulling a tangled set of headphones out and I don’t want to hold the phone during calls. Usually I am talking and need my hands free or simply prefer the comfort of it.

 

[Baymowe335]

Pipeline too cluttered Timo?

Yeah, he’s probably really worried with all these speculative reports.

Tim actually has a clue what’s going on at Apple.

 

[pacalis]

Wish they would just release more colors of these.

 

[nvmls]

Yeah, he’s probably really worried with all these speculative reports.

Tim actually has a clue what’s going on at Apple.

Baymooo so long... thought you ignored us! Speaks well of you, although, you likely thought about it right? 🏓

 

[Baymowe335]

Baymooo so long... thought you ignored us! Speaks well of you, although, you likely thought about it right? 🏓

Product launch speculation timelines are a waste of time.

 

[vikingjunior]

Until they figure out how to get 15 hours of battery life I’ll stick to my Powerbeats 4.

 

[reubs]

Fairly common knowledge that AirPods are not living past 18-24 months. Some are getting longer but not the hoped for 4-5 years.

And I don't know how long they are supposed to last, but I'm lucky to keep mine up for the length of an album or an hour long conference call.

 

[44267547]

Product launch speculation timelines are a waste of time.

That’s not true at all. Retailers and analysts use speculation timelines for products in terms of how to prepare for liquidation of prior models in way of making a path for new product launches, finalizing sale prices and pre-staged marketing. If Anything, product speculation for Apple has a strong following because of how popular their products are, if it wasn’t for analyst(s) like Ming-Kuo/John Prosser, A lot of retailer/online operators would be ‘completely in the dark’.

Product delays are a commonality in the ‘tech world’, and product speculation creates a timeline of what to expect and likely when. It’s completely necessary, and Apple feeds into this as well.

 

[roland.g]

And I don't know how long they are supposed to last, but I'm lucky to keep mine up for the length of an album or an hour long conference call.

Supposed to get 5 hours audio or 3 hours talk time on a single charge. Certainly not as little as 30-75 minutes.