It’s September, there’s an Apple event and the AirPods Pro (2022) have been announced.
It’s been three years since Apple released the original AirPods Pro, and if you ask us, it’s about time for an update. Here are all the details uncovered from the event.
In terms of pricing, the AirPods Pro 2 or AirPods Pro 2nd Generation will cost $249 / £249 / €299 / CA$329 / AUS$399 with pre-orders starting on September 9th and availability beginning September 23rd.
Rumours ahead of the event suggest that Apple could go in two directions: a tweaked redesign of the older model or an all-new stemless design. In the end they tweaked design of the original. Apple claims they’ve optimised the ear-tips for better passive noise isolation to keep external sounds at bay, and there’s a new XS size for smaller ears.
The MagSafe charging case received an update with a built-in speaker to help locate the charging case if you lose it (as well as indicate battery life levels) and a lanyard loop to keep the case on your person.
One of the biggest selling points of the original AirPods Pro over the standard model was the addition of active noise cancellation (ANC) and Transparency Mode. The earbuds were also updated to support Spatial Audio and Auto-switching.
All of that is incorporated with the new bud, with Spatial Audio boosted to Personalised Spatial Audio that optimises the 3D experience for each person’s ears. The headline feature is the new H2 chip, which Apple says allows for higher bandwidth connectivity (but did not go into detail what that meant exactly).
The internals of earbuds tweaked and along with the advanced computational audio of the new H2 chip, Apple says the ANC performance has been doubled for a more suppressive performance.
The Transparency mode has been changed to what is being referred to as Adaptive Transparency. This changes the strength of the transparency mode to react to sudden high decibel noises (like roadworks) in order to shield the wearer from unwanted noise.
In terms of the design, the force sensor stays but it’s now gained a capacitive touch sensing layer to adjust the volume with a swipe. The AirPod Pro 2 have slightly longer battery life, boosted by 33% to six hours per earbud and up to 30 hours with the charging case.
As mentioned previously, the AirPods Pro 2 cost $ $249 / £249 / €299 / CA$329 / AUS$399 with pre-orders starting on September 9th and general availability on September 23rd. You can see read how they compare with their predecessor in the AirPods Pro 2 vs AirPods Pro guide.
AirPods Pro 2 specs
You might like…
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
