Apple said to launch noise-cancelling 'AirPods Pro' in October

AppleInsider · October 18, 2019 9:48AM

A report claims that Apple is set to introduce its third iteration of the wireless headphones as 'AirPods Pro,' which will be noise-cancelling and released at the end of October.

Apple's current AirPods in their changing case

According to the China Economic Daily, Apple is to release a new version of its AirPods under the name "AirPods Pro" by the end of this month, which would presumably mean having them in stores for the Christmas period.

Based on unnamed sources within the supply chain, the publication also claims that these AirPods Pro will retail for at least $260.

The reports do fit with previous claims from more consistently reliable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Back in April, he said that Apple would be releasing two new variations of the AirPods, with one at the end of 2019 and the other in early 2020.

One of his two reported models is expected to retain the form and also price of the current model. However, the other is believed to have an entirely new design and come at a higher price.

More recently, an icon discovered in the beta of iOS 13.2 appears to show that noise-cancelling is coming to the AirPods.

The Chinese-language China Economic Daily is a generally accurate source of information on Apple's supply chain. It has a notably worse track record when talking about Apple's product plans or launch dates.

hentaiboy · October 18, 2019 10:22AM

Because noise cancelling is such a “Pro” feature...

The Pencil will be next.

/s

monstrosity · October 18, 2019 11:08AM

hentaiboy said:

Because noise cancelling is such a “Pro” feature...

The Pencil will be next.

/s

It kinda is. Well, it all depends on the quality of the algorithm, which we don't know anything about at it hasn't come out yet. Most noise-canceling headphones are diabolical.

You have to pay good money for 'pro' quality noise-cancelation.

macapfel · October 18, 2019 11:49AM

Plus, Pro, Family, ... What else is more, cost extra, etc? What I usually really appreciated with Apple was simplicity and simple choice. This seems to fade away. I even have iTunes Match and higher iCloud subscriptions! Where are we going with all these little extras? I sincerely hope Apple soon starts bundling paid services one way or the other, e.g., 2 or 3 price choices, and adding to the these price tagged baskets whatever services you like.

edited October 2019

urahara · October 18, 2019 11:53AM

macapfel said:

Plus, Pro, Family, ... What else is more, cost extra, etc? What I usually really appreciated with Apple was simplicity and simple choice. This seems to fade away. I even have iTunes Match and higher iCloud subscriptions! Where are we going with all these little extras? I sincerely hope Apple soon starts bundling paid services one way or the other, e.g., 2 or 3 price choices, and adding to the these price tagged baskets whatever services you like.

And I hope they won't bundle the services, because it would make for me more expensive. But If they would still leave the un-bundled versions this would complicate, by your own words, the offer.

urahara · October 18, 2019 11:55AM

hentaiboy said:

Because noise cancelling is such a “Pro” feature...

The Pencil will be next.

/s

Of course, it's not a pro feature. What is a 'pro' feature? Please tell us. (My guess is that you just like to complain without offering any solutions). By the way good noise canceling headphones cost around 300 EUR (USD).

urahara · October 18, 2019 11:57AM

I have just received yesterday 5 pairs of different headphones I ordered to try. (Because my previous has died on me after I have exchanged them on guarantee already). They have only passive noise cancellation, but it is already so much better than what currently Apple offers (without any noise cancellation). Can't' wait to see what Apple has to offer.

edited October 2019

daalseth · October 18, 2019 12:02PM

Well, they'd better hurry. October is rapidly running out.

hentaiboy said:
The Pencil will be next.
/s

Ah yes the Apple Pencil Pro. The big difference is that it comes with replaceable "Crunch Pads" so you can chew on it like a real pencil. LOL

avon b7 · October 18, 2019 12:09PM

urahara said:

hentaiboy said:

Because noise cancelling is such a “Pro” feature...

The Pencil will be next.

/s

Of course, it's not a pro feature. What is a 'pro' feature? Please tell us. (My guess is that you just like to complain without offering any solutions). By the way good noise canceling headphones cost around 300 EUR (USD).

I think the effectiveness of any noise cancellation will be directly related to whether they are closed or open fit.

Closed fit would have the advantage of probably fitting more ear types.

foljs · October 18, 2019 12:49PM

hentaiboy said:

Because noise cancelling is such a “Pro” feature...

The Pencil will be next.

/s

Well, professionals are the ones who mostly use/need ANC. That was true even back in the day when NC was passive, and the pros that used it where jackhammer operators, airport staff and the like.

ANC is mostly for workers in noisy offices, frequent work-related airplane flights, etc.

The average Joe can go on their once a year or so flight for vacations or whatever without ANC...

edited October 2019

foljs · October 18, 2019 12:54PM

DAalseth said:

Well, they'd better hurry. October is rapidly running out.

hentaiboy said:
The Pencil will be next.
/s

Ah yes the Apple Pencil Pro. The big difference is that it comes with replaceable "Crunch Pads" so you can chew on it like a real pencil. LOL

Well, such pencils (with similar pressure sensitivity, rotation sensor, etc) started as a very pro market for professional artists, designers, animators, etc, where the tablet cost $1000 or so, and the pencil cost a a good $100 or so itself (and with worse performance than the Apple Pencil, and more limited feature set/cpu than the iPad -- heck, I paid $600 for a non-graphics Wacom tablet alone back in 2010 or so).

smaffei · October 18, 2019 1:08PM

With less than 2 weeks left in October, my hopes of an October Apple event are quickly dwindling.

Usually, by now, we hear murmurs of a press invite soon going out. So far, nothing…

robjn · October 18, 2019 1:26PM

“More recently, an icon discovered in the beta of iOS 13.2 appears to show that noise-cancelling is coming to the AirPods.”

The icon only shows a new design that may have a more air tight seal in the ear. It is a line of code in the beta that pointed to noise cancelling.

The code refers to a “focus mode” and this implies at least one new mode. Evidently, the user will be able to switch modes depending on whether they want ambient sounds to pass through (allowing awareness of surroundings) or whether they want those sounds to be canceled out in order to focus entirely on the audio.

schlack · October 18, 2019 1:33PM

$260 seems like a good price if they’re very high quality and stand above above the competition. I paid $325 for my Bose QC35. Sony’s equally good headphones cost $350. But both of these are significantly better than the current AirPods.

razorpit · October 18, 2019 2:05PM

macapfel said:

Plus, Pro, Family, ... What else is more, cost extra, etc? What I usually really appreciated with Apple was simplicity and simple choice. This seems to fade away. I even have iTunes Match and higher iCloud subscriptions! Where are we going with all these little extras? I sincerely hope Apple soon starts bundling paid services one way or the other, e.g., 2 or 3 price choices, and adding to the these price tagged baskets whatever services you like.

Well at least we don't have to pay $100 + annually for OS X updates like we use to.

I hope they figured out a way to do the noise cancelling without sacrificing battery life. There is a lot of processing going on in the background with "Pro" level noise cancelling headsets.

tjwolf · October 18, 2019 2:12PM

If these are, indeed, AirPods - i.e. buds that just sit in your ear, not over your ears, nor sealed-off in any way - I wonder how they'd achieve active noise cancellation. Seems like a very difficult problem. From what I understand, noise cancelling headphones basically try to generate an "opposite" wave of all the external sounds that make it to your ear. That's easier when some of the sounds are already muffled or eliminated by either sealing the earbuds in the ear canal or by essentially putting 'bowls' over the ears.

And all that has to be done in these tiny buds. Pretty impressive, if it can be done. Sign me up. I have these Bose QC-15 collecting dust in a drawer since the AirPods came out. Loved their noise cancellation capability, but they're not exactly portable (and are wired). Just took a quick look and it seems like the sealing foam is starting to fall apart :-( Oh well - not using them anyway.

maestro64 · October 18, 2019 2:54PM

tjwolf said:

If these are, indeed, AirPods - i.e. buds that just sit in your ear, not over your ears, nor sealed-off in any way - I wonder how they'd achieve active noise cancellation. Seems like a very difficult problem. From what I understand, noise cancelling headphones basically try to generate an "opposite" wave of all the external sounds that make it to your ear. That's easier when some of the sounds are already muffled or eliminated by either sealing the earbuds in the ear canal or by essentially putting 'bowls' over the ears.

And all that has to be done in these tiny buds. Pretty impressive, if it can be done. Sign me up. I have these Bose QC-15 collecting dust in a drawer since the AirPods came out. Loved their noise cancellation capability, but they're not exactly portable (and are wired). Just took a quick look and it seems like the sealing foam is starting to fall apart :-( Oh well - not using them anyway.

I was thinking the exact same thing, all the noise cancelling headphone I have used required your ears to be isolated as best as it can from surrounding environment. One the great things about Airpods is the fact it does not isolate you from the surrounding environment. You can still have conversation with people around you and not have it sound like you're underwater. Even the best noise canceling headphones still can not cancel all the ambient sound, it just reduces the amplitude of what gets to your ears. I would like to see how Apple accomplish this and not seal the ear.

edited October 2019

georgebmac · October 18, 2019 3:45PM

schlack said:

$260 seems like a good price if they’re very high quality and stand above above the competition. I paid $325 for my Bose QC35. Sony’s equally good headphones cost $350. But both of these are significantly better than the current AirPods.

Yeh, that has been exactly my experience as well: The AirPods sound great. The Bose QC35 sounds GREATER!!! (And the difference seems related to the noise cancellation)

edited October 2019

nicholfd · October 18, 2019 3:56PM

I bet they are not noise cancelling, but have an additional mode that listens with the microphone, and plays ambient sounds through the AirPods...

You "heard" it here first!

avon b7 · October 18, 2019 4:10PM

tjwolf said:

If these are, indeed, AirPods - i.e. buds that just sit in your ear, not over your ears, nor sealed-off in any way - I wonder how they'd achieve active noise cancellation. Seems like a very difficult problem. From what I understand, noise cancelling headphones basically try to generate an "opposite" wave of all the external sounds that make it to your ear. That's easier when some of the sounds are already muffled or eliminated by either sealing the earbuds in the ear canal or by essentially putting 'bowls' over the ears.

And all that has to be done in these tiny buds. Pretty impressive, if it can be done. Sign me up. I have these Bose QC-15 collecting dust in a drawer since the AirPods came out. Loved their noise cancellation capability, but they're not exactly portable (and are wired). Just took a quick look and it seems like the sealing foam is starting to fall apart :-( Oh well - not using them anyway.

Here is an example of something similar to what might be coming:

https://www.engadget.com/2019/09/06/huawei-freebuds-3-noise-canceling-airpods-hands-on/

In that case, which is also an open fit solution, there are physical design changes to better isolate voice, reduce wind interference and what seems to be selective ANC up to 15 decibels. Improved audio processor and new, low latency, high bandwidth HD Bluetooth.

appleish · October 18, 2019 5:23PM

There will be no October event. How often do they have a November event?

Apple said to launch noise-cancelling 'AirPods Pro' in October

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