Apple AirPods Pro 2 arrive with improved ANC, touch control and boosted battery

Apple has unveiled the second generation of its flagship wireless earbuds, the AirPods Pro 2.

Announced during the company’s ‘Far Out’ event in Cupertino, the new earbuds come with a new H2 chip, improved ANC performance, boosted battery life and tweaks to the charging case.

AirPods Pro 2 will be available to pre-order on 9 September for $249, and will be shipping from 23 September.

Replacing the hugely popular original AirPods Pro, the new iteration provides a ton of minor improvements across the board – though the design itself doesn’t appear to have changed much besides the addition of a touch control panel.

Apple indicates the new H2 chip is paired with a new low-distortion audio driver and a custom amplifier that powers your audio, while Spatial Audio (with the help of iOS 16) is getting a boost with personalized profiles.

When it comes to the actual listening experience, Apple suggests the ANC performance of AirPods Pro 2 is twice as effective (though, of course, it’s not actually clear what that means), while battery life has also been improved.

Users now get six hours of listening time from a single charge, which is 33% over the original buds, while, with the help of the charging case, up to 30 hours of listening is available – an increase of six hours.

Speaking of, that charging case is also seeing a few sizeable improvements. It now has a speaker to indicate low battery and pairing, as well as to ping out an SOS with the help of Find My for those who’ve misplaced it. A handy lanyard loop has also been added, and you can now also charge using an Apple Watch charger.

Details are still emerging regarding the AirPods Pro 2, so we’ll continue to update this story with more information as we get it.