AirPods 3 launching this year, AirPods Pro 2 arriving in 2022, report says

New AirPods coming this year, AirPods Pro in 2022, report says
(Image credit: Apple)

The AirPods 3 will launch this year, but we won't see the AirPods Pro 2 until 2022, a new report says.

According to Bloomberg, the new AirPods will sport a new design that mimics that of the AirPods Pro – namely a new case and shorter stems. This is in keeping with what we've heard previously.

The same article states the new AirPods Pro will have updated motion sensors for a greater focus on fitness tracking, which is again in line with previous rumours.

It's fair to say both pairs of true wireless earbuds are due an update. The second-gen AirPods launched in March 2019, while the AirPods Pro followed in October of that year. Since then the competition has heated up, with budget pairs like the Earfun Air Pro offering similar features at a fraction of the price, and the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus besting Apple for battery life.

We're also expecting the highly anticipated Sony WF-1000XM4 to launch any day now.

New AirPods aren't the only audio products Apple has in the pipeline. The firm is said to be working on a new HomePod speaker with a built-in screen. Apple recently retired the original – keeping the HomePod Mini – but the fact it has recently gained some new features suggests Apple could be planning more HomePod devices in future.

Apple's also announced an upgrade to Apple Music. Due to go live this month, Apple is adding support for hi-res audio, although the AirPods don't actually support hi-res.

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