In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reiterated his previous report that Apple will release the fourth generation of the standard AirPods later this year. Apple is said to have plans to replace the second- and third-generation AirPods with two fourth-gen AirPods models that fill those point points of the lineup.
Gurman originally reported back in December 2023 about Apple’s plans to update the AirPods. The higher-priced, standard AirPods will have new features, such as active noise cancellation, which is currently available only on the AirPods Pro. The new AirPods will have redesigned earbuds and charging cases–the case will also feature USB-C.
Read more about the new AirPods coming later in 2024, including the rumored AirPods Lite.
The second-generation AirPods were originally released in 2019 and are currently priced at $129. The third-generation AirPods were released in 2021 and cost $179. Prices for the fourth-generation AirPods are unknown.
The AirPods Pro will be updated at a later date, likely in 2025, according to Gurman. Gurman did not provide an update on the AirPods Max, which were released in 2020 and have not been updated since. In his Deccember 2023 report, Gurman stated that Apple could update the AirPods Max with USB-C and new colors.
Author: Roman Loyola, Senior Editor, Macworld
Roman is a Macworld Senior Editor with over 30 years of experience covering the tech industry, focusing on the Mac and other products in the Apple ecosystem. He is also the host of the Macworld Podcast. His career started at MacUser, where he received Apple certification as a repair technician (when Apple did that kind of thing). He's also worked for MacAddict, MacLife, and TechTV.