Via Bloomberg, Apple might not be ready to transition all of its iPhone headphone accessories in sync when Apple announces the iPhone 15 next week, which will replace the Lightning port with USB-C.
A USB-C case for AirPods Pro is expected to be available this fall, but a USB-C case for Apple’s lower-end AirPods is not due until 2024. Equally disappointing is the fact that Bloomberg says Apple’s high-end $549 AirPods Max will also become more out of date for a few months, as they are also not expected to be updated with USB-C charging until sometime next year.
The AirPods Pro update will likely feature no differences other than the new case, which will feature USB-C port and allow iPhone 15 customers to charge their phone and their headphones with the same wire. iOS 17 brings some new software features for AirPods Pro — like Adaptive Audio and Personalized Volume — but no other hardware changes to the earbuds themselves are expected.
Nevertheless, that’s still more attention than what the AirPods Max and lower-end AirPods are getting this year.
Having not been updated since they debuted in 2019, AirPods Max have been lagging in spec for a while, so add no USB-C to the pile of reasons not to buy the headphones until Apple is ready with a gen-2 revision. (Presumably, USB-C support for AirPods Max would mean changing the physical charging port on the headphones themselves.)
But the base model AirPods are big sellers, and it is somewhat surprising that Apple isn’t able to simply have a USB-C case ready alongside the iPhone 15 debut, just like they will have for AirPods Pro.
The company is certainly not afraid of shipping multiple SKUs with different case variants: Apple already sells two versions of AirPods (3rd-generation), one with a Lightning Charging case and one with a wireless-charging enabled MagSafe Charging Case.
The wireless charging case is also already sold separately on the Apple Store, so it doesn’t feel like too much of an ask for that to be revised with a USB-C port on the bottom instead of Lightning. But Bloomberg’s reporting indicates that it simply won’t be ready to ship until 2024.
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