If you have held on from getting a new pair of AirPods due to the ongoing rumours of the AirPods Pro, you are in for some bad news. Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has had a reliable track record with Apple predictions and leaks, confirms no new AirPods Pro for this year. The rumoured AirPods Pro 2 isn’t going to come this year but there’s positive news on that front.
Kuo says that Apple has now delayed the AirPods Pro 2nd gen to 2022. Again, there’s no official date given on that front but we can expect these new AirPods to break cover in the March event, as was the case with the last AirPods Pro launch. The delay in launch is said to be due to lower demand for earbuds in the market.
AirPods Pro Gen 2 not happening this year
Kuo says that Apple has overestimated the demand for its wireless earbuds in 2021. The company originally expected to sell between 75-85 million units of these earbuds. However, the lower demand has made Apple revise its sales forecast to 70-75 million units.
Apple AirPods Pro were launched in 2019.
This prediction aligns with what Bloomberg had predicted a while ago. The original report had mentioned that Apple isn’t planning any successor to the AirPods Pro this year. However, the AirPods 3, or whatever Apple ends up calling the AirPods successor, will be released later this year.
Apart from the usual performance upgrades, rumours have suggested a stem-less design on the new AirPods Pro. Hence, the design is more likely to resemble the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro. The AirPods 3 is itself expected to draw resources from the current AirPods Pro. This means the standard AirPods will have a shorter stem, a new charging case, and support for Apple’s Spatial Audio.
Currently, Apple sells two versions of the standard AirPods and keeps the AirPods Pro as the pricier option. The base model with a simple charging case costs Rs 14,900 whereas the one with wireless charging costs Rs 18,900. The AirPods Pro costs Rs 24,900 and brings in noise cancellation as well as spatial audio. The recently launched Beat Studio Buds hasn’t come to India yet.
