New AirPods

Most of the rumours earlier this year that we would see new AirPods, or at least new Beats, this fall, seem to have died down, and analysts are generally agreeing that Apple will be holding off on all of these until at least early next year.

At that point, Apple will likely only release its third-generation AirPods, which are expected to feature a design similar to the AirPods Pro, but without Active Noise Cancelling features. Instead, the in-ear design and tips will offer more passive noise isolation, which should already be a nice upgrade.

Second-generation AirPods Pro are more of a question mark right now, but many reports suggest that they’ll arrive even later next year, which makes some sense considering Apple’s 2019 timeline for both products, so a fall 2021 release of those wouldn’t be entirely surprising. Either way, Apple’s really in no hurry as the current AirPods and AirPods Pro are still selling like hotcakes, and Apple has also just given them a really nice boost with the addition of Spatial Audio in iOS 14.