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Kuo: AirPods Pro 2 to Feature Lossless Support and Sound-Emitting Charging Case

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Apple's second-generation AirPods Pro will feature support for Lossless audio and a charging case that can emit a sound for location tracking purposes, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

AirPods-Pro-Gen-3-Mock-Feature.jpg

In a note to investors, seen by MacRumors, Kuo explained that the second-generation AirPods Pro will feature new selling points that will lead to strong demand, including support for Apple Lossless (ALAC) audio and a charging case that users can trigger a sound from to highlight its location.

It seems likely that this sound-emitting charging case will integrate into the Find My app, similar to how users can currently emit a sound from their individual AirPods inside the case to help find them. This lines up with alleged leaked photos of the next-generation AirPods Pro, which showed a charging case with speaker holes to emit a sound for location tracking, allowing the earbuds and the case to be located separately.

All of Apple's current AirPods products, including the third-generation AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max, do not support Lossless audio. This is because AirPods play audio via Bluetooth, limiting them to the AAC codec. Higher quality Apple Lossless Audio Codec files may need to be streamed to AirPods directly to circumvent Bluetooth and enable a Lossless listening experience, but it is possible that Apple could develop an alternative solution.

Kuo also reiterated that the next-generation earbuds will feature a new design and launch in the fourth quarter of 2022, which is slightly later than the third-quarter prediction suggested by other rumors. Kuo still believes that AirPods may support health monitoring features in the future, but did not directly associate this rumor with the second-generation AirPods Pro.

Article Link: Kuo: AirPods Pro 2 to Feature Lossless Support and Sound-Emitting Charging Case
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/01/02/airpods-pro-2-lossless-and-sound-emitting-case/
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MayaUser

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"We expect Apple to launch AirPods Pro 2 in 4Q22 with new selling points, including a new form factor design, support for Apple Lossless (ALAC) format, and a charging case that can emit a sound for users to track. We are optimistic about the demand for AirPods Pro 2 and estimate shipments will reach 18–20mn units in 2022."
 
DFP1989

DFP1989

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MacRumors said:
Higher quality Apple Lossless Audio Codec files would presumably need to be streamed to AirPods directly to circumvent Bluetooth and enable a Lossless listening experience.
Click to expand...
This sentence doesn’t make any sense.

I would expect Apple is developing their own competitor to Qualcomm’s aptX Lossless to provide the required features over the Bluetooth connection.
 
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mrat93

mrat93

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I was really surprised when they actually updated the charging case to support MagSafe, but didn’t add any other features. My only guess would be iOS 16 supporting reverse MagSafe charging from iPhone to AirPods. God forbid they added Qi reverse wireless charging for older AirPods and non-Apple devices.

But yeah, they better add a sound-emitting case with U1.

The current Find My capabilities are basically useless and hardly work. I often get notifications that I left my AirPods behind when they’re actually still with me.
 
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Ralfi

Ralfi

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Ok first (dumb) question/s: Can we expect these second generation Pros to support Spotify's lossless audio variant (which will hopefully arrive by then)?

Asking for someone who discontinued their Apple Music sub this year & decided to stick with Spotify (me).I would expect Apple is developing their own competitor to Qualcomm’s aptX Lossless to provide the required features over the Bluetooth connection.

DFP1989 said:
I would expect Apple is developing their own competitor to Qualcomm’s aptX Lossless to provide the required features over the Bluetooth connection.
Click to expand...

I took it as Apple are planning to use something like AirPlay instead of Bluetooth for lossless audio playback?
 
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Nozuka

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I expect the sending device to also need an upgraded Bluetooth chip. Be prepared to replace all your apple devices for this :p (or at least the one you use the most for listening to music)
 
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Denzo

Denzo

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For a second I thought the charging case would double up as a speaker - I was like here we go something exciting and different. At least it’s something can finally play apple musics recent update to lossless because having no equipment capable of playing lossless was just a wtf moment for apple despite people glossing over this fact.
 
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ChromeCloud

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It’s pretty pointless to use a lossless codec in earbuds such as the AirPods Pro: the benefit is too small compared to the cost.

AAC 256 is pretty transparent and difficult to spot even when using high end speakers in a perfect listening environment (no background noise).

Lossless on AirPods will only achieve <1% better sound while consuming 20-50% more battery.
 
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ApplesAreSweet&Sour

ApplesAreSweet&Sour

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DFP1989 said:
This sentence doesn’t make any sense.

I would expect Apple is developing their own competitor to Qualcomm’s aptX Lossless to provide the required features over the Bluetooth connection.
Click to expand...
I’m pretty sure no Bluetooth will be involved if APP2 get to lossless.

Apple will do a new, custom Bluetooth chip or something not involving Bluetooth at all -Bluetooth just isn’t suitable for the high data transfer that lossless would require.
JPack said:
Seems that previous image leak was on the right track.


View attachment 1937723
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It would make sense to keep a lot from the original APP.

This leak predicted the speakers on the bottom even before Apple doubled down on FindMy features for AirPods.

I think this is definitely real even if it’s not going to be the final iteration.
 
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ApplesAreSweet&Sour

ApplesAreSweet&Sour

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ChromeCloud said:
It’s pretty pointless to use a lossless codec in earbuds such as the AirPods Pro: the benefit is too small compared to the cost.

AAC 256 is pretty transparent and difficult to spot even when using high end speakers in a perfect listening environment (no background noise).

Lossless on AirPods will only achieve <1% better sound while consuming 20-50% more battery.
Click to expand...
People are nuts for thinking there’s a massive and noticeable difference from 256kbps or 320kbps and up -Yes, there is an audible difference if you are listening on top of the line speakers or headphones. But not on small headsets.

The real, important difference is heard when going from 96kbps to 128kbps, 128 to 192, 192 to 256, etc.

I’ve seen several blind tests done with audio experts and most of them can’t even tell the difference, and those that can need a lot of time to decide what is lossless and what is not.
 
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