Suppliers start shipping components for AirPods 3, expected this year
The new developments reported by DigiTimes seem to confirm without a doubt that we’ll be seeing the AirPods 3 (or rather, the successor to the 2nd gen AirPods, whatever you call them) later this year.
Suppliers such as Semco, LG Innotek, Kinsus, Unimicron, Nan Ya, Zhen Ding and AT&S have all launched their BT substrate shipments for Apple’s next generation products including Apple Watch, AirPods and iPhone. , which all adopt SiP modules. —DigiTimes
An earlier Bloomberg report already told us to expect the third generation of AirPods at the end of 2021, although Apple has only left us guessing in its Sprint Loaded and WWDC events this year. Now, it is essentially certain that the industrial sources of DigiTimes are reliable.
And while some early design renderings showed silicone tips present on the AirPods 3, the latest live photos from audio tech site 52Audio showed an in-ear design just like the first and second generation AirPods.
There won’t be active noise cancellation, just like 1st and 2nd generation AirPods, but that was to be expected – Apple is keeping this for AirPods Pro, it seems. (Apple is also working on integrating fitness tracking into next year’s AirPods Pro.)
The third-generation AirPods charging case retains its very compact form factor, but will be short and wide, more like that of the AirPods Pro.
