AirPods 3 won’t be coming anytime soon, says analyst

Apple's next generation AirPods, tipped as AirPods 3 have been leaked in several images in the past week. However, amidst all these leaks and speculations Apple analyst, Ming Chi-Kuo, in a new report, has said that these AirPods will not enter mass production until the third quarter of this year.

This also means that they won't be launching in the next couple of months and may arrive alongside the new iPhones.

It is also worth mentioning that several leakers and tipsters on the web have suggested that Apple might hold an event on March 23 where it may launch the new AirPods. However, this date has not been confirmed yet by the company and it still remains to be seen what products will Apple launch if only it holds the event.

In addition, Kuo has predicted (via 9to5 Mac) that Apple may see a decline in headphones shipments this year as it faces increasing competition from rivals. He added that the company shipped around 90 million AirPods in 2020. However, this year, that number may fall to some 78 million.

Also read: Apple pushes out AirPods Max firmware update to deal with battery drain issues

Also added is that Apple may keep second-generation AirPods on the market when it launches the much anticipated AirPods 3.

As for the headphones AirPods Max, Kuo says that it has a limited impact on shipments and Apple might just sell only 1 million units through the entire year.

Talking about AirPods Max, the company recently released a new firmware update for the headphones. While Apple has not provided too many details about what this new update exactly brings in, it does make the over-ear headphones go to version 3C39.

As 9to5Mac reports, there are no release notes for the AirPods Max firmware updates, however, since this comes in at a point in time when many users have been complaining about battery drain issues on the headphones and without the included smart case. Some users have also been reporting issues when the AirPods Max are connected to a Mac.