Apple would prepare a new version of the entry-level AirPods placed lower on the price scale, affirms the analyst Jeff Pu who also spoke on the next iPhone 15.
It doesn’t give much more detail, but Apple would like to compete with competing headphones that are more affordable than its current AirPods 2 sold for €159/$129 (excluding promotions).
Pu estimates that demand for AirPods might decline sharply in 2023, with 63 million units compared to 73 million last year. The AirPods 3 wouldn’t exactly be a sales driver, and the cheap competition is having an effect.
Whether these more accessible AirPods will simply be AirPods 2 for which Apple will have pulled costs from its suppliers or a technical review is still unclear.
On the Apple Watch side, Pu talks regarding the use for the first time of a small micro-LED screen rather than OLED, with a diagonal of 2.1 “and increased brightness. The only watch offering a diagonal close is the Ultra with its 1.92″ screen. But we would have to wait until 2024 to see this screen installed on an Apple Watch.