Apple AirPods Pro 2 expected to release this year with Lightning rather than USB-C

The AirPods Pro 2 is expected to be released later this year, but there may be one little flaw in this massive overhaul: a Lightning port rather than USB-C.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has spoken out about the company’s upcoming second-generation high-end headphones. He describes some of what he’s heard about the Apple AirPods over many tweets.

The AirPods will go into mass production in Vietnam in the second half of 2022, according to Kuo. Currently, Vietnam appears to offer a superior production environment than China.

The interesting part of Kuo’s tweet thread comes at the conclusion. He believes that the AirPods charging case will be powered by Lightning rather than USB-C.

According to recent reports, the iPhone 15 will make the conversion to USB-C in 2023. While the AirPods Pro 2 is expected to arrive a year early, Apple’s premium earphones have a significantly longer development cycle. In October, the AirPods Pro will have been on the market for three years.

For the next two years, this might make the AirPods feel a little out of date.

It’s a shame, considering the AirPods is shaping up to be a significant upgrade to Apple’s true wireless earphones champion. According to reports, the new ‘buds will be completely redesigned, with the iconic stems gone.

Improved noise cancellation, support for high-resolution audio via a new audio codec, and new health tracking tools are all possibilities.