You’ll hardly have an AirPods update in 2019. In March, Apple made a simple update – increased connectivity and talk time, increased Hey Siri support and wireless charging options – designed before the AirPods Pro came out in October and brought new features, improved audio and active noise reduction.We are still recovering from all the excitement associated with the earplugs, but the pace of progress remains undiminished. What’s Apple got for us next? Will the AirPods be discontinued, or will they be used with the Pro model in 2020?In this article, we summarize the latest rumors about the launch of AirPods in 2020: new features covering release dates, prices, specifications, design changes, and next-generation AirPods models.We expect the new AirPods to be available in the fall of 2020.It’s hard to draw too many conclusions from it – a big gap, then a lot of releases; the sample size is too small to infer a trend – but we definitely want Apple to keep AirPods and AirPods Pro on two separate production lines.The third version of the vanilla-flavored AirPods may be available in the spring of 2020, but it seems unlikely to be so after the Pro model has generated excitement. We think the most logical way is for Apple to wait until the fall of 2020 and then update both the Standard and Pro AirPods models.The question here is whether Apple will overhaul the design of standard AirPods. We don’t feel like we’re going to; we’ve made improved designs on the AirPods Pro, but Apple doesn’t want to take away the proprietary properties that make those more expensive devices value for money.As a result, we are more likely to see small incremental changes in the baseline model. It’s best to get a second color choice, on the one hand (most likely dark space gray, and the second in red), although this only happens if Apple uses both standard and Pro AirPods, so this feature is available for both. It would be strange and annoying for Pro owners if the Pro owner missed some of the features offered by the Swamp Standard Model.As for the AirPods Pro, they have only a generation of newer designs, so they are unlikely to see major changes. By the way, despite our reservations about charging cases, we are a big fan of this design: it’s harder to get the Pros out of the market than previous models, and the slating is less robust. (The hinges are placed along longer edges because the Pro model is shorter and wider than before.) Perhaps Apple could adjust the shell design to replace major changes in the earbuds themselves.Let’s divide it into two parts: we expect to move from the Pro Series to the basic AirPods, and we expect new features (or at least new features for Apple) that we expect to appear in the Pro Series.Pros have only been available since October 2019; for Apple, it’s surprising that apple sits only a year later, when we expect the next release, to allow many of its proprietary features to appear on the benchmark AirPods. For example, Active Noise Reduction (ANC) is actually pro’s signature feature, and there is little chance of appearing on standard AirPods – except for the fact that we need to redesign and we don’t want to do that. This is the same transparent mode used by ANC.However, improved water resistance may have become mainstream. The Pro is IPX4, which Apple calls “water-resistant, but not waterproof or sweat-resistant”; AirPods in early 2019 simply don’t claim to be waterproof. By 2020, the situation is likely to improve.What new features might Apple consider for the Pro? Well, although we’re still in terms of water resistance, there’s still plenty of room for improvement in the IPX4 rating.RHA TrueConnect and Creative Outlier Air headsets are the top two choices in our best wireless earbud sylph overview, both rated as IPX5; JBL UA’s true wireless flash budget was rated ‘Anti-Trump’ IPX7.Optical heart rate sensors have always made us feel unnecessary and uncomfortable, but some sports users swear to them, and some competitors’ earbuds will give you that feeling. This is a long-term goal, but not impossible – especially if Apple can deliver them in stylish packaging.
