Apple AirPods 4: Release date, price, features, rumors, and more

The Apple AirPods are some of the most popular earphones around, and Apple’s shown no signs of slowing down. Industry experts and enthusiasts are clambering to see what the Apple AirPods 4 will be like. All signs indicate a more affordable price for the next stemmed pods.

Here’s everything we know about the AirPods (4th generation).

We will see the AirPods (4th generation) come to fruition. Apple has sunk a lot of energy into its AirPods, and the efforts have paid off. Apple’s Wearables Home and Accessories category outpaced its Mac and iPad categories’ sales in Q2 of 2023.

Additionally, Ming-Chi Kuo, a reliable industry analyst, shared that Hong Teng may take over AirPods assembly from GoerTek. Regardless of who assembles Apple’s earbuds, it seems guaranteed that Apple will release the AirPods 4. Analyst Jeff Pu shared with 9to5Mac that the next-gen AirPods will be called the AirPods Lite. Both analysts report that the AirPods 4 will be more affordable than previous generations.

Due to changes in manufacturing partners, Kuo believes that the AirPods 4 may not ship until the second half of 2024. We may even have to wait until the first half of 2025. This may seem like a long time, but there were two years, three months between the AirPods 1 and AirPods 2 release dates and two years, seven months between the AirPods 2 and AirPods 3. If Apple follows this schedule, announcing the AirPods 4 in late spring 2024 would make sense.

That said, my optimistic take is that Apple might announce the AirPods 4 at its September 2022 Apple Event. After all, Apple habitually releases its earbuds during the fall.

A lower price point for the AirPods 4 would yield a more spartan feature set than the AirPods 3. Based on this knowledge and Apple’s usual trends, here’s what we’ve pieced together about the AirPods 4.

Design and sound quality

Like other AirPods, the AirPods 4 will come in white and have an unsealed fit with contoured stems. We should see force-sensor controls for adjusting playback and fielding calls.

If Apple goes the more affordable route, it could forgo premium tricks like automatic ear detection and head tracking for spatial audio. Automatic ear detection pauses content when you remove the AirPods and resumes it when you insert them. Head tracking enhances Apple’s Spatial Audio, adjusting the surround sound effect as you move your head. This can make movies sound more immersive, but I’ve never considered it a central selling point of any AirPods.

We may also see Apple ditch wireless charging from the AirPods 4 to accommodate a lower price. Regardless, the company should swap out the case’s Lightning port for a USB-C charging port. The EU declared that all applicable electronics must have a USB-C charging port by December 28, 2024.

No matter the price of the AirPods 4, the earbuds should retain the same IPX4 water-resistant rating as the AirPods 3 before them. This rating is essential for athletes and daily listening — you never know when a spring shower will start. Ideally, the AirPods 4 case will keep its IPX4 rating, but this seems like a toss-up if Apple takes cost-cutting measures.

Software features

Nobody loves a tightly controlled ecosystem more than Apple, so we bet the AirPods 4 will have some Apple exclusives like auto-switching between devices under the same iCloud account. Battery optimization and Find My access should make an appearance too.

There’s a chance the AirPods 4 house the newer H2 chip instead of the older H1 chip. If so, we could see improvements like greater energy efficiency and processing power for some features Apple unveiled during WWDC 2023. The H2 chip could power Personalized Volume on the AirPods 4. Personalized Volume will learn your listening habits based on the volume levels you manually enable in specific environmental settings. Once it knows your preferences, the earbuds will make the appropriate adjustments on the fly.

Apple also mentioned Conversational Awareness and Adaptive Audio at WWDC. We don’t expect to see these on the AirPods 4 because they are features that augment noise canceling, which the standard AirPods don’t have.

Sound and call quality.

Since the AirPods 4 will have an unsealed fit, we expect they will under-deliver on sub-bass frequencies, like the AirPods 3. The AirPods have never been the earbuds to buy for the best sound quality. However, Apple’s Adaptive EQ should reappear on the AirPods 4, which adjusts the low and midrange frequencies in real-time to account for an inconsistent fit. Adaptive EQ works at all times, regardless of the operating system.

If Apple wants to remain budget-friendly, it’s unlikely that the AirPods 4 microphone quality will be better than the AirPods 3. Most TWS earphones in the $100 range have mics that sound alright in quiet environments but fail to suppress background noise well. To get an idea of how the AirPods 4 mics may sound, listen to our AirPods 3 demos below.

Apple AirPods (3rd generation) microphone demo (Ideal conditions):

According to Ming-Chi Kuo, the AirPods 4 could be the most affordable AirPods yet and cost $99. Jeff Pu concurs that the AirPods 4 (aka AirPods Lite) could compete with more affordable earphones.

This would be a big changeup for Apple as its most inexpensive AirPods debuted at $159, which for most people is not cheap. Today, you can grab the AirPod 2 with Charging Case (Lightning only) for on the product’s website. The AirPods 3 ($195 at Amazon) and AirPods Pro 2 ($225 at Amazon) regularly fluctuate in price.

Knowing the AirPods 4 will be Apple’s first budget wireless earbuds, we’re adjusting our expectations. Here’s what we hope to see included with the next AirPods.

Longer battery life

Even if Apple cuts the price of the AirPods 4, we’re still hoping for better battery life. The AirPods 3 have an official battery life of six hours with Spatial Audio off, and the AirPods 3 exceeded this in our testing. For our standard test, we play constant music peaking at 75dB(SPL) until the batteries fully deplete. Under these conditions, AirPods 3 lasted six hours, 21 minutes. It seems within reason that the AirPods 4 may last closer to seven hours with Spatial Audio disabled.

USB-C charging

Apple could skate by with a Lightning charging port on the AirPods 4 case if the buds hit the shelves before December 28, 2024. However, we hope Apple gets ahead of the curve and adds USB-C charging to its next-gen AirPods (including the AirPods Max 2). This would make the most sense as Apple’s iPads have sported USB-C ports for years, and the move is inevitable anyway. Plus, USB-C charging may get Android users to consider the AirPods 4 seriously.

Improved durability

A greater IP rating will push the AirPods 4 ahead of other budget-friendly earphones. Ideally, I’d like dust resistance incorporated into the next AirPods — something Apple’s never done with its wireless buds. Upgrading the AirPods 4 with a dust-resistant build would make them more appealing to active listeners who chalk up their hands before exercising or live in desert climes.