AirPods 2 Features and Release date, price and specs rumours
Apple AirPods 2 Features and Release Date : Apple launched its AirPods Bluetooth wireless earbuds in September 2016 alongside the iPhone 7. They made a big splash at the time – “sound quality is excellent, the auto play/pause function is great, the accuracy of the Siri controls is a pleasant surprise and call quality is impressive,” said our reviewer – but more than a year later, we’re keen to see what Apple’s got as a follow-up Apple AirPods 2 Features and Release Date.
Due to the small form factor of AirPod earbuds, noise cancelling is very unlikely to rival bigger cans with active noise cancellation like the Beats Studio 3. However, Barclays suggests that there will be design changes and improvements over the current AirPods.
Last month, I reported on a rumor that a “second-generation version of Apple’s splendid in-ear smart headphones”, the AirPods, were on their way.
In the last few days, the rumor mill has been grinding harder and faster, with an analyst report from Barclays, suggesting that the new tiny smart cans will arrive next year, with active noise cancelation and waterproofing, plus design changes.
Well, that’s in contrast to previous rumors that AirPods 2 would be with us this year, and only the third-generation of AirPods, considered likely for 2018, would have the noise cancelation and waterproofing features.
AirPods 2 new Improvements
A new chip might improve the stickability of this connection to make it even more reliable. Currently, Apple uses the W1 chip in its AirPods, while some other gadgets, like the most recent Apple Watch, have a different wireless chip, W2, on board in the New AirPods 2 Release .
The second improvement that’s been suggested is a hands-free connection to Siri. Right now, to invoke the virtual personal assistant, you tap the AirPods. This is no great problem, but the improved user experience iPhone users when the ability to wake the assistant just by saying ‘Hey, Siri’ would be welcomed on AirPods as well. And after all, it’s there on the newly released HomePod, so why not?
Release date
The first AirPods launch took place in Sept 2016. Plenty of Apple watchers expected new versions the following autumn, but it’s something of a myth that the company updates its products on a dependable yearly basis: that only really applies to the iPhone now, with even the iPad falling into a less predictable pattern.
Nevertheless, with a year and a half gone since the launch, it is becoming more and more likely that the AirPods 2 are imminent. And Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, citing “people familiar with the matter”, says we should expect the new product – which already has an internal designation, B288 – in 2018. If not in the spring, the AirPods 2 should be announced at WWDC 2018 in June.
AirPods 2 New features to be seen
Features are the main factor dividing minor iterative upgrades from the real blockbuster events. Has Apple got an appealing new flagship feature to dazzle us with?
- Hey Siri
- Noise Cancellation
- wireless charging
- Water resistance
Hey Siri!
You activate Siri on the AirPods by tapping them, but the new model will allow the hands-free Hey Siri voice activation currently available on iPhone, iPad and HomePod, according to Bloomberg’s sources.
Noise cancellation
The Barclays report mentioned above (predicting a delay until 2019 for the AirPods 2 launch) names noise cancellation as the flagship feature for the new headphones. This will be achieved via changes to the physical design, rather than active noise cancellation.
Wireless charging
It’s been confirmed that Apple’s upcoming AirPower wireless charging pad will work with a new case for the AirPods.
Water resistance
Bloomberg also predicts that the third-gen AirPods (the ones speculatively slated for a 2019 launch) will be water-resistant. Not waterproof – “they likely won’t be designed to be submerged in water” – but fine in the rain.