AirPods SE: Apple reportedly working on new $99 AirPods to launch alongside the AirPods 4 and AirPods Max 2

After releasing the AirPods Pro 2 last year alongside the iPhone 14 series, it appears Apple has no AirPods planned for release this year. Instead, they may arrive sometime in 2024, with the source also claiming Apple could be working on some budget AirPods for the masses.

As revealed by insider Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple's next AirPods, the AirPods 4, are slated to arrive either in the second half of 2024, or in the first half of 2025. Seeing as the second-gen AirPods are the only AirPods model to have been released in the first half of a year, it seems more likely that the next AirPods will arrive in late 2024, likely at the same launch event as the iPhone 16 series. This is corroborated by Mark Gurman, who claims Apple is unlikely to release any "updates of note" for the AirPods this year.

In addition, Ming-Chi Kuo claims that Apple has new budget AirPods in the works. Supposedly, the Cupertino-based company is targeting a US$99 MSRP for said AirPods. While the source doesn't provide any potential monikers for the product, the existence of the iPhone SE and Apple Watch SE point towards the US$99 AirPods potentially being branded as the AirPods SE. In any case, this tentative AirPods SE is expected to arrive in H2 2024—or H1 2025—alongside the AirPods 4 and AirPods Max 2. Likely, the AirPods Pro 3 will debut sometime in 2025.

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