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In 2024, Apple will reportedly launch AirPods 4th generation, drop a long-awaited AirPods Max refresh, and, no doubt, add further speculation to an increasing swell of rumours about what’s next for AirPods Pro.
I don’t think there’s any doubt that Apple has plans for its earbuds and headphones next year. But if you’re expecting big changes from AirPods 4th generation, I wouldn’t get too excited. There’s also one glaring omission from the current set of rumours about the AirPods family which is rather bothersome.
Despite this, if you’ve been holding onto a pair of EarPods for the love of that white cable and uninterrupted connectivity (I’m a big fan of that level of loyalty, by the way) but know that the time to go all-in on AirPods is fast approaching, 2024 might be the best time to do so.
For the love of AirPods
A lot has been said and written about the ‘magic’ Apple somehow injects into its products.
Like or loathe Apple, you can’t deny that there’s something about the stuff that comes out of Cupertino which is immediately magnetic. The iPhone remains the most desirable of premium smartphones. MacBooks always look better than their Windows counterparts in coffee shops. The iPad is eminently touchable and captivating – despite being nothing more than a big iPhone. They know exactly how to create aspirational products – and that is a very difficult thing to do with such consistency.
I’d argue, however, that no other Apple product that has been launched within the last seven years has quite as much Apple Magic as AirPods.
They just work. They just make total sense. They spawned copycat designs and approaches to earbuds from pretty much every other manufacturer on the planet. The charging case, the instant connectivity, the synchronisation with your iCloud account, and the tight integration with all of Apple’s operating systems – AirPods are the glue holding everything together. And they are ridiculously easy to live with.
Throw in Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos support, and we have one of Apple’s greatest triumphs. AirPods are right up there with the original Macintosh and the iPhone, in my book.
That leaves a lot riding on AirPods 4th generation, though, doesn’t it?
AirPods 4th Generation price and features
The AirPods 4th generation are expected to come in two different flavours, according to Bloomberg. They’ll likely replace the 2nd and 3rd generation, both of which will be swiped from the Apple Store to make way for the new versions. We can expect to see them in the latter half of 2024, although the pricing is currently unknown, obviously. However, it’s a safe bet that they’ll be priced roughly the same as the outgoing models.
For those who have forgotten or aren’t aware, AirPods 2nd generation feature the long stem design and tall charging case of the original AirPods, whereas the 3rd generation resemble a cut-down version of AirPods Pro. Neither feature replaceable tips or noise cancelling, although the 3rd generation does benefit from Spatial Audio support.
If the rumours are to be believed, the two flavours of AirPods 4th generation will feature a design similar to the outgoing 3rd generation. That means shorter stems than the 2nd generation, and design cues taken from AirPods Pro. This is good news – standardising that design across the board makes total sense.
The entry-level AirPods 4th generation are unlikely to come with replaceable tips, but it’s unclear as to whether or not the premium model will feature them. However, the latter will, according to the rumour mill, offer noise-cancelling and an enhanced charging case featuring a speaker for better Find My support.
Confused? Me too. The entry-level tweaks make sense; it’s time for the long stem design of AirPods 2nd generation to make way for the path set by AirPods Pro, but the premium version sounds awfully like… AirPods Pro, don’t it?
The good news is that both versions will come with USB-C, rather than Lightning. Because of course they should. And if, like me, you’re wondering where this leaves AirPods Pro, whispers suggest that we’re going to see an updated version in 2025 with a faster chip, new design, and some hearing health features. That should help differentiate them from AirPods 4th generation, eh?
Time for AirPods Max 2!
December 2020. That’s when AirPods Max dropped, as the kids say.
That’s three years ago.
Since then, the rumours about AirPods Max 2nd generation have been very thin on the ground. So thin, in fact, that yours truly had reached the conclusion that the current pair are a one-off – an experiment that, ultimately, didn’t work for Tim Cook.
Then, I visited New York in June this year and changed my mind – because everyone seemed to have a pair of AirPods Max on their head in that city. I’ve noticed the same trend in London, now that I’m looking for it. There’s a market for AirPods Max, clearly, which is why a new version is probably a dead cert.
One does wonder why it has taken Apple so long, though – particularly when the rumours about the second generation are so tepid.
Ready? According to Bloomberg and chums, the next version of AirPods Max will feature USB-C charging, and new colours, and that’s it. They’ll land towards the end of 2024.
No mention of a redesigned case. No design tweaks. Not a whiff of high-res audio support.
I’ll just pack away the party poppers, shall I?
The most concerning thing for me is the lack of high-res stuff. There has been talk of Apple working hard on a brand-new audio codec that’s capable of delivering lossless audio wirelessly. If you’re going to launch that with aplomb, surely you’d do so by chucking it into your super-expensive, premium over-ear noise-cancelling headphones. Wouldn’t you?
Maybe Apple will surprise us and, once again, demonstrate that they’re feeding the rumour mill utter rubbish to throw that wilting industry off the scent.
I hope so.
AirPods 4th Generation Wrap up
I’m a huge AirPods fan. There’s little to pick fault with across the lineup (although I know I’ve thrown plenty of shade at AirPods Max over the last three years). That can’t be said for Apple’s other product lines.
These aren’t the cheapest buds on the market – nor are they the best sounding, most comfortable, or the most capable in terms of audio codec support. But they do just work and they are, arguably, Apple’s only truly ‘magical’ modern-day product.
Are you excited about AirPods 4th generation? Or were you expecting bigger things? Let me know below, please!
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