Apple is said have an update for its Airpods available sometime this year; and a third version in development for 2019. This year’s improvements are said to be centered on improving accessibility and usability, instead of actually introducing new features.
The Airpods may be equipped with the new W2 chip that was first introduced with the Apple Watch last year. It improves upon the W1 chip with a more reliable wireless connection; which should allow for faster pairing and an improvement to the rate at which the Airpod battery charge can be checked.
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Other than that, Apple is also said to be planning on making it easier for users to interact with Siri on the new Airpods. Currently, users have to tap on the side of the Airpod to activate Siri which is cumbersome. The supposed change suggests that users can just use the “Hey Siri” trigger words in the same way that it work on the iPhone.
Another tidbit that Bloomberg received is that another version of the Airpods is also in the planning process. That Airpods, scheduled to be release next year, will have a water-resistant feature built in. It probably won’t allow for the earbuds to be used while swimming, but could be aimed at making them more rain resistant..
Demand for the Airpods is surprisingly high. Apple states that its wearables offering is one of the company’s bright spot as it is the second-largest contributor to Apple’s revenue growth.
