AirPods 2 to be released next year with support for wireless charging

AirPods have perhaps been the most successful accessory by Apple in recent times. Although its launch was a bit controversial due to its price point, once consumers started using this product, there has been nothing but praise for this product. AirPod’s success lies in their seamless integration with iPhone, iPad, and MacBook. Due to its immense success, Apple has decided to release a second iteration of the AirPods dubbed as AirPods 2.

Industry’s most reputable and top Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently updated his predictions for the AirPods. According to Kuo, AirPods 2 will come with “wireless charging support”, a possible Bluetooth upgrade to Bluetooth 5.0 and an upgraded W-series chip. Kuo also mentioned that a design overhaul was also expected in the year 2020, furthermore, Kuo predicted that the AirPods will witness a dramatic growth with units increasing from 16 million (2017) to 100 million and over by 2020.

The new AirPods are expected to come with a rigid-flex body and internal grades which will amount to a higher price due to more expensive manufacturing. The hinge of the charging case will also be redesigned to support higher thermal requirements, which will eventually increase the cost by 60%. This shows that the new AirPods will not only be updated internally but will also have an updated case design.

Keeping this mind, Kuo also mentioned that about only 5% of Apple users own AirPods while over 1 Billion iPhones are being used worldwide which signals a huge untapped market and potential growth for the AirPods. While a decent 16 million and 28 million AirPods were sold in 2017 and 2018 respectively, Kuo predicts that around 55 million in 2019, 80 million in 2020 and 110 million in 2021 AirPods will be sold. Kuo, however, did not give any detail about the “all-new AirPods design” which might be released in 2020. The AirPods 2 is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2019.