AirPods Pro 2: USB-C unlikely for Apple's upcoming premium earbuds as production details surface
While most of Apple's current devices, from its tablets to notebooks, now use USB-C, the company has remained reluctant to make the switch completely. It appears that will continue this year as well, with information now indicating that the upcoming AirPods Pro 2 will remain equipped with Apple's proprietary Lightning port.
According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the AirPods Pro 2 are unlikely to offer a USB-C port. To be exact, the source does not construe that as concrete information; it's only a personal prediction, albeit from a typically reliable source. Previously, Kuo claimed that Apple was testing USB-C on the iPhone 15 series, so it's more likely that the company makes the switch next year instead—perhaps with the AirPods 4.
Apple is apparently also shifting production of the AirPods Pro's successor even further from China to Vietnam, with Kuo citing "the relatively not complicated supply chain and Vietnam's better production environment" as a reason versus other countries. Supposedly, the AirPods Pro 2 will enter production in the second half of the year, likely with a view on a September release alongside the iPhone 14 series.
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— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) May 24, 2022
5. For Chinese companies, Luxshare ICT and Goertek, who are AirPods series assemblers, setting up facilities in Vietnam instead of India can also reduce potential geopolitical risks.
6. I predict the charging case of AirPods Pro 2 will still support Lightning, not USB-C.
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