According to another Apple analyst, the release of the AirPods Pro 3 could be delayed until 2026, extending previous rumors that predicted a release this year. The rumored delay comes from Apple analyst Jeff Pu, who confirms previous information from another analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo. If Pu and Kuo’s information is correct, it means that AirPods Pro 2 will be released three years before the next generation.
In today’s Apple time, three years is almost a century. In iPad time, it’s even longer – these guys can’t go 14 minutes without releasing a new iteration. And as for regular, non-Apple, human years, I think it’s a long time to wait for a new iteration of AirPods, although if rumors are to be believed, the update might be worth the wait. Apple is reportedly considering some major upgrades that include the addition of a health sensor and potentially – and this is very surprising – a single camera.
According to a previous report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, infrared cameras could be coming to the next pair of AirPods Pro, which sounds strange at first glance but makes sense when you start unpacking some of the potential use cases. First, the infrared cameras could enable new hand gestures, making them part earbuds and part wearable headphones – a move Apple is clearly interested in based on the rumored health sensor. Even more interesting, however, is the impact of cameras on artificial intelligence. According to Gurman’s report, the cameras will “feed data to artificial intelligence,” which could mean anything, but one thing is for sure: AirPods Pro will get some dose of artificial intelligence. This dose of AI could be a problem.
While we can’t say with certainty what exactly is delaying the release of Apple’s next-generation AirPods Pro, if I had to guess, Apple Intelligence has more to do with the delay than you might think. Wireless earbuds other than AirPods have been trending towards artificial intelligence for several years now. The Nothing’s Ear wireless headphones, for example, were the first wireless headphones to integrate with ChatGPT, which, as I wrote, is theoretically the perfect gadget for demonstrating AI. There is a possibility that Apple could go in this direction with its next pair of AirPods, which is interesting and potentially useful, but problematic given that Apple Intelligence – specifically, the AI-enhanced Siri update – hasn’t exactly gone off without a hitch. If Apple is really interested in infusing its AirPods Pro 3 with artificial intelligence, and this whole AI thing isn’t going well, then…
It’s hard to say exactly what’s causing the delay, but there’s only one thing Apple has been struggling with lately, and that’s AI. The fact that, according to Bloomberg, Siri AI won’t be available until next spring lends some credence to this theory. So, the timing may be perfect, but if the two products are linked, I wouldn’t hold my breath because, according to Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering Craig Federighi, Apple wants to “have [Siri] very much in hand” before starting to talk about dates for “obvious reasons.”
