Apple AirPods 2 release date, news and rumors

Whats new with the AirPods 2019

Apple hasn’t changed much in terms of design in its latest update to the AirPods – instead, the next-gen improvements seem to be largely under-the-hood.

Inside the buds there’s a newly-designed H1 chip which Apple has built specifically for the headphones. It improves connectivity pairing times, the efficiency of the battery life, and allows for hands-free ‘Hey Siri’ functionality.

New for the AirPods 2019 is the wireless charging case for the earbuds, which means you can use Qi-compatible charging mats to power the case without having to stick a cable in. 

As for sound quality, the 2019 upgraded AirPods are no different from the ones you could get in 2016. 

AirPods (2019) (Image credit: Apple)

Apple AirPods (2019) vs Apple AirPods: what’s the difference?

AirPods 2 price and availability

Our best guess is that the AirPods 2 will be priced similarly to the current AirPods, which cost $159 / £159 / AU$249 / AED679 with the standard charging case, and $199 / £199 / AU$319 / AED829 with the new Wireless Charging Case bundled in. 

It’s possible that the AirPods 2 will be more expensive than their predecessors, but we’d be very surprised if they exceed $200. 

The final price will likely come down to the features that the new AirPods 2 sport. Before we go into the features we’re expecting from the AirPods 2 in 2020, let’s take a look at what’s new with the current AirPods…

Can’t wait? Here are the best true wireless AirPod alternatives on sale now

Apple AirPods 2 what we want to see

Noise-cancelation

Only a couple of years ago, companies were struggling just to get true wireless earbuds working, but now the goalposts have already shifted to packing more and more functionality into their shells. 

The stunning Sony WF-1000XM3 manage to include noise-cancelation technology inside their diminutive shells, and we were hoping see similar functionality make it to the second generation of AirPods. 

Apple’s fancy ambient noise technology outlined above suggested the company is thinking along these lines, and as it didn’t make the cut for the 2019 upgrade, we’re expecting to see noise-cancelation in the AirPods 2.

Better audio quality

Companies like Sony and more recently, Cambridge Audio, have proven that true wireless earbuds can sound just as good as their wired, and even their over-ear counterparts.

If Apple can harness the audio quality offered by the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 true wireless earbuds, as well as keeping the cost down, the company could be on to a real winner.

The Sony WF-1000X feature noise-cancellation technology (Image credit: Sony)

More physical controls

Apple isn’t much of a fan of buttons, but there are some cases where they save you a lot of time and effort, and headphones are one of these instances. 

On-board controls have become an almost essential feature in headphones in recent years, allowing us to control music playback and volume without having to struggle to get our phones out of our pockets. 

Now the 2016 AirPods did allow you to control music in a sense, but they relied entirely on Siri, Apple’s voice assistant. 

New to the 2019 upgraded AirPods is the ability to double tap the right earbud to start your music up if it’s paused or skip to the next track if you’re currently playing a track…and that’s it. 

We’d like to see the AirPods 2 take this further, allowing you to skip backwards and forwards more easily. What would be really great, would be to put those long stems to use and add in some swipe volume controls. 

The B&O Beoplay E8 feature touch-sensitive controls to allow you to control your music (Image credit: TechRadar)

Changeable ear tips

Apple likes to rely wholly on sleek white plastic, but we aren’t a fan of the lack of rubber tips on the AirPods, especially when there’s no cable to catch them if they fall.

We want any true wireless earbuds to feel nice and secure in the ears, and including a number of changeable ear tips so we can select those that perfectly fit our ears would be the ideal way of achieving this. 

One individual in the TechRadar office even went to the length of fixing some rubber tips from an alternative pair of headphones onto their AirPods to make them feel more secure. 

We weren’t expecting Apple to change it’s rather rigid design aesthetic with the 2019 update, but here’s hoping it will for the AirPods 2. 

Better Android pairing

Given that Apple likes to ensure all its products are designed to work as a family this has little chance of happening, but we’d love to see the AirPods play slightly nicer with Android phones. 

On iPhones, pairing is a dream. You simply hold the AirPods near your phone and they connect more or less automatically. 

However with Android the process is a lot more complicated and involving jumping into settings menus to select the AirPods manually. We’d love to see Apple simplify this process for the AirPods 2, though we’re not holding our breath.

Beats’Solo 3 Wireless come in a number of flashy colors other than white (Image Credit: Beats)

Different designs and colors 

We get it, Apple likes white things. But in an era where iPhones and iPads are available in a range of different colors we’d love to see this same courtesy extended to the AirPods. 

We just want our headphones to match our phone and our Apple Watch; is that so much to ask?

Although Apple has experimented with different colors for its various devices, its earbuds have always stayed the same iconic white. Still, the AirPods 2 are rumored to be coming in a second black option as well. 

Prefer Samsung? Check out our Samsung Galaxy Buds review

Вердикт

На данный момент у вас есть возможность купить AirPods 2 с поддержкой беспроводной зарядки за 16 990 рублей, AirPods 2 с простым кейсом за 13 490 рублей и кейс с Qi за 6590 рублей, его можно использовать с наушниками первого поколения. Наушники второго поколения стоят столько же, сколько и первые AirPods, визуально их очень сложно отличить. Подозреваю, будет ещё путаница из-за нежелания Apple хотя бы сделать двойку на коробке (коробка вторых AirPods ничем не отличается от первой — только год другой, 2018).

Безусловно, мы имеем дело всё с тем же бестселлером, ставшим ещё лучше. Мне понравилась беспроводная зарядка, скорость во всех моментах использования наушников второго поколения. Быстрее подключение, быстрее переключение от устройства к устройству, быстрее ответ на вызов и передача голоса, лучше качество передачи речи.

Если вы меня спросите, стоит ли переходить на AirPods 2, имея первые AirPods — совершенно точно этого делать не следует: возможности базовой модели прекрасны. Купить для первого поколения чехол с беспроводной зарядкой — хорошая затея, если у вас Qi-коврики стоят везде. Например, я обложился ими со всех сторон: и дома, и в машине, и в офисе, так что потратил бы шесть тысяч, заплатил за удобство.

Ну а если у вас нет AirPods и вы планируете покупку, уточните сто раз у продавца и берите модель второго поколения, смотрите не перепутайте. Разница пусть и не драматична, но в случае с продуктами Apple всегда действует железное правило: чем вещь современней, тем она лучше.

P. S. Надеюсь, мы и правда скоро увидим Beats Powerbeats на базе чипа Apple H1. Всем, кто мечтает о больших наушниках компании, хочу лишь посочувствовать. Все эксперименты нас ждут в рамках линейки Beats, ну а в Apple продолжат продавать миллионные партии AirPods и рисковать не будут: слишком велика цена ошибки. Вот что может случиться, так это обновлённые Beats Studio и Beats Solo на базе Apple H1.

У нас есть много статей про AirPods, надеемся, они вам пригодятся в повседневной деятельности. Счастья вам, здоровья, любви и отличного настроения!

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Apple AirPods 2 rumors

Previous trademark filings suggest that the second generation AirPods would be a health and fitness device, in addition to being a pair of true wireless earbuds. Now we know that the updated AirPods don’t have these features, we think we will see them in the AirPods 2 in 2020. 

Back in July 2018 Apple filed a patent for biometric sensors, which would allow the AirPods 2 to take on fitness tracking capabilities like those seen in the Jabra Elite Wireless. This followed another patent filed in March, which further fueled the rumors.

We also heard separately that the AirPods 2 would come in black and white, be both waterproof and offer active noise-cancellation. Another patent from July suggested that Apple was working on some pretty nifty tech for how the earbuds handle outside noise as well as dissipating pressure from inside the ear canal. 

The patent outlined a valve system that would allow sound to escape your ear canal to avoid that weird reverberating effect that occurs when you speak with earbuds in your ears. 

It then goes on to describe how the earbuds would handle ambient noise, using a microphone to filter in noise from the outside world so that you can remain aware of your surroundings while still hearing your music.

One rumor that did prove to be accurate however was wireless charging and Bluetooth 5.0 — but instead of being an improved thanks to an updated W2 chip, Apple has designed a brand new H1 chip, which is made for headphones specifically.

Image credit: Apple

Apple AirPods 2 release date

Now that Apple has released an updated 2019 version of the original AirPods, we’re not expecting the AirPods 2 to be coming out any time soon. 

Kuo’s predictions have been pretty accurate, right down to the AirPods 2019 connectivity upgrade, so we’re betting on an early 2020 release for the AirPods 2. 

Of course, it is possible that we’ll see them sooner, with some suggesting they could coincide with the company’s new gaming service, Apple Arcade, which is coming this Fall (between September and November 2019). However, we think it’s possibly too soon after the release of the upgraded AirPods (2019). 

We originally expected the upgraded 2019 AirPods to be significantly different from their predecessors thanks to trademark and Bluetooth SIG filings, but we now know that’s not the case. 

That doesn’t mean we won’t ever see these features in the next version, however. We wouldn’t be surprised if Apple was saving features like biometric sensors, new color schemes, and waterproofing for the AirPods 2.

The original Apple AirPods and the AirPods (2019) (Image credit: Apple)