Apple's 4th Generation AirPods, AirPods Max Could Arrive in Late 2024: Report

Bloomberg analyst Mark Gurman earlier reported that two different variants of the fourth-generation AirPods could debut in 2024.

Written by Akash Dutta, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 20 February 2024 21:13 IST

Apple's 4th Generation AirPods, AirPods Max Could Arrive in Late 2024: Report

Photo Credit: Unsplash/Akhil Yerabati

Apple’s third-generation AirPods were launched in October 2021

Highlights

Reportedly, a higher variant of 4th-generation AirPods could get ANC
The launches could be followed by a new AirPods Pro in 2025
The new AirPods are said to get design changes, audio quality upgrades

Apple is still expected to launch the fourth-generation AirPods and a new AirPods Max later this year, despite no new leaks, according to a report. The tech giant is going through a tough period as reports suggest that Apple Vision Pro buyers are returning the headset at an unusually high rate. However, this has not dented any of its long-term plans and the company is reportedly on schedule to unveil two different variants of new AirPods.

In his latest weekly Power On newsletter, Bloomberg analyst Mark Gurman shared that Apple is right on track to bring two new AirPods and a new AirPods Max to the market in late 2024. This information comes as a much-needed update to his older report in October 2023, which first mentioned the development. At the time, Gurman had said that the two variants of the truly wireless stereo (TWS) earphones would replace the second and third-generation AirPods.

The report suggested that the earphones could be entirely redesigned from top to bottom. It is said to sport a shorter stem, a new earbud design, and a new look for the charging case. Audio quality is also expected to witness an upgrade. Between the two variants, the base model could get a new earbud and charging case design but will miss out on Active Noise Cancellation (ANC).

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Meanwhile, the more expensive variant is said to feature ANC and a charging case speaker that can be triggered to play a sound via the Find My app's location tracking feature. That's not all as the report also mentions that a new AirPods Pro could be unveiled by Apple in 2025 with an updated chip, which can be the company's H3 chipset.

Alongside, Apple is also expected to refresh its top-of-the-line AirPods Max. Unlike the earphones, the headphones are not likely to get a major overhaul. As per Gurman, the new model could ditch the Lightning port in favour of the USB Type-C port and get a wired audio playback feature. Additionally, they might arrive in newer colour options. The current generation AirPods Max are available in Green, Pink, Silver, Sky Blue, and Space Grey.

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Apple AirPods Max Wireless Headphones

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design / Comfort
Audio Quality
Battery Life
Value For Money

Good
Beautiful, comfortable, and luxurious 
Best-in-class controls 
Seamless connectivity with Apple devices 
Very good ANC and Transparency modes 
Wide, spacious soundstage 
Excellent, flexible sound

Bad
No power button, unpredictable power consumption  
Below-par battery life 
Smart Case is a bit silly 
Lightning charging port 
No ANC level adjustment

Read detailed Apple AirPods Max Wireless Headphones review

Headphone Type Over-Ear

Microphone Yes

Connectivity Wireless

Type Headphones

More Apple Headphones & Headset

Apple AirPods (3rd generation) True Wireless Stereo (TWS) Earphones

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design / Comfort
Audio Quality
Battery Life
Value For Money

Good
Comfortable fit, good controls
MagSafe wireless charging
Works well with iOS, Siri, and Apple Music
Good battery life
Very good sound quality and performance on calls

Bad
Expensive
Lack of noise isolation can be bothersome
Full feature set needs an iOS device to use

Read detailed Apple AirPods (3rd generation) True Wireless Stereo (TWS) Earphones review

Colour White

Headphone Type In-Ear

Microphone Yes

Connectivity True Wireless Stereo (TWS)

Type Earphones

More Apple Headphones & Headset

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Further reading: AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, Apple

Akash Dutta Email Akash Dutta

Akash Dutta is a Senior Sub Editor at Gadgets 360. He is particularly interested in the social impact of technological developments and loves reading about emerging fields such as AI, metaverse, and fediverse. In his free time, he can be seen supporting his favourite football club - Chelsea, watching movies and anime, and sharing passionate opinions on food. More