Amid speculations of the new Apple Watch having a "smelling" function to detect poisonous gas in the atmosphere, rumours about two new models of the popular AirPods are just in. A report from Digitimes published on Wednesday suggests that the third-generation AirPod will be available in the market by the end of 2019.
Inventec, a Taiwan-based electronics maker, will reportedly be responsible for the assembly of the new AirPods. China's Luxshare Precision, one of the major players in the global standard for Type-C cables and connectors, is also set to obtain part of the orders for the new device. The report also states, "Apple and its supply chain partners are looking to raise the bar by adding new features to AirPods 3, including the noise cancellation function."
Noise cancelling technology in wireless headphones is a popular and critically-acclaimed integration, but truly wireless earphones haven't been able to utilise the technology fully. With Apple stepping into the game, there might be a possibility that the AirPods 3 will master the noise cancellation in truly wireless earphones.
Apple launched the latest AirPods 2 in March this year, which means an upgrade is not due for another year. Ming-Chi Kuo, a TF International Securities analyst reputed for accurate predictions of Apple's product launches, released a research note (obtained by MacRumors) which describes two models of AirPods to be released as early as Q4 this year or early 2020.
Kuo states that one of the models will have an all-new form factor and a higher price. The other one will have the same outlook and price as the current models, starting at $159 (approx. Rs.11,000). According to Kuo, both new models will have a new internal design factor for "improving assembly yield rates, saving internal space and reducing cost." These changes will hopefully resolve the battery issues that several users reportedly faced.
Indeed, this is a surprise for fans as the second generation of AirPods was released just last month. Apple is late in the noise-isolation segment, with the Jabra Elite 65T and Sony WF-SP700N already topping charts globally. With a new chip and a new form factor, will Apple conquer this market as well?
