After a slightly underpowered first half of 2021 for Apple fans, this autumn is shaping up to be a blockbuster. The Taiwanese industry news site DigiTimes has predicted that the long-awaited third-gen AirPods will be launched in September, probably alongside Apple’s iPhone 13.
The latest analyst report claims the new iPhones will be unveiled on 14 September, so that date is now doubly worthy of a place in your diary.
But is the report dependable? DigiTimes says its prediction is based on “industry sources at the upstream supply chain of the AirPods”, which sounds good, but the site, while prolific, isn’t always reliable. It’s rated as just 63.5% accurate (at time of writing) on AppleTrack’s source leaderboard.
In terms of likely upgrades on the new device, some features that were previously confined to the AirPods Pro are likely to drop down to the standard AirPods, such as the removable ear tips. But active noise cancellation is unlikely to be among them. The price will probably be roughly the same as that of the second-generation AirPods.
As for the second-gen AirPods Pro, their launch looks to be delayed until after the turn of the year. In addition to new motion sensors, these may lose the shafts on each earbud, a design already seen on the Beats Studio Buds.
You can catch up with the latest rumours in our new AirPods hub. If you don’t want to wait until September, pick up a bargain on the current range with our roundup of the best AirPods deals.
This article originally appeared on Macworld Sweden. Translation and additional reporting by David Price. Main image courtesy of 52audio.