One of the briefest mentions in Apple’s keynote was for an updated pair of AirPods Pro. The second-generation AirPods Pro have been redesigned so that the charging case now takes a USB-C cable instead of Lightning cable, a move that brings it in line with the new iPhone 15 series. But if you thought that was the only difference, there’s much more, including a couple of features exclusive to the new model.
USB-C
The advent of the new charging connector brings several benefits. Obviously, it means it’s the same charging connector as most other gadgets, including iPads and MacBooks. But it also means bi-directional charging. This is something that never happened with Lightning.
Now, you can plug your AirPods Pro into an iPhone 15 and charge the buds from the iPhone.
IP Rating
IP, as you’ll know, means ingress protection and where the previous AirPods Pro second generation only revealed water resistance—IPX4—this new version specifies dust protection as well. The new metric is IP54.
Apple Vision Pro
This is the big difference. Although it looks near-identical to the previous AirPods Pro case, there are hidden hardware differences because the new model has improved acoustic architecture. Though the H2 chip is the same as before, there are physical differences which permit a big change.
With something like Apple Vision Pro, to seamlessly blend the real world with the virtual one, audio is crucial.
When you’re listening to audio on the Apple Vision Pro when it arrives next year, AirPods Pro will be able to support lossless audio. This is something AirPods Pro haven’t managed to do before.
In a press release, Apple said, “The H2 chip in the latest AirPods Pro and Apple Vision Pro, combined with a groundbreaking wireless audio protocol, unlocks powerful 20-bit, 48 kHz Lossless Audio with a massive reduction in audio latency.”
As well as changing the acoustic architecture, Apple has created a whole new wireless audio protocol. In other words, it’s not done by Bluetooth. Apple goes on, “When Apple Vision Pro is available early next year in the U.S., customers will be able to enjoy the most advanced wireless audio experience in the industry with the new AirPods Pro for exceptional entertainment, gaming, FaceTime calls, and so much more.”
There are no other known changes. For sure, the introduction of USB-C has not changed the charging speed or battery life, for instance.
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