As a lot of you guys know, we’re expecting a very exciting Apple event next week on
Tuesday the 23rd, and according to some leaks and rumors, Apple might
actually release the new AirPods 3 which many people were waiting for for a long time!
However, there is also some bad news that I wanna discuss as well,
but before I get into my thoughts on when they’ll actually be getting released,
I want to first go through a quick history of the leaks and rumors surrounding the AirPods 3.
Over a year ago, it was reported that Apple was working on AirPods Pro Lite, which basically look
like the Pros but lack the noise cancellation features, which could actually be the AirPods 3.
And then in April, Digitimes basically reported the same thing,
the new AirPods 3 simply having a similar design to the Pros, and once again in June,
exactly the same thing, but this time coming from the reliable analyst Ming-chi Kuo.
And he believes that they’re gonna launch in the first half of 2021, as well as Digitimes
with some unnamed sources in the vietnamese supply chain, where they will apparently be manufactured.
But a few months later, Kuo claimed that the AirPods 3 will have a hybrid design,
somewhere between the AirPods 2 and the AirPods Pro,
but he said that they’re likely delayed until April, May or June.
And then after that point, we got our very first look at a leaked pair of AirPods 3
from 52audio, where they look kinda like the AirPod Pros, but without the silicon tip.
And just by looking at these renders,
it seems like this could actually be something that Apple would put out!
And by the way, if you don't know who 52audio is,
that’s the website which successfully leaked the design of the AirPods Pro
before they were released, so they definitely have a good track record.
According to the Elec, the AirPods 3 may cost $199
and come with an H1 chip inside, once again coming in the first half of 2021.
So those right there were some of the older leaks and rumors that we discussed in our last AirPods
leak video, but since then, a massive amount of things have changed, so let’s get right into it.
Of course, the March event has been all but confirmed to be happening on the 23rd,
so because of that, many people are expecting the AirPods 3 to be released at the event.
However, in February, Jon Prosser said that he’s only heard about iPads and
AirTags being released at the March event, so it’s possible that AirPods will be released later.
But on the other hand, 52audio started releasing more images of the new AirPods 3,
and Jon Prosser ended up saying that these new leaks are legitimate!
And just after that, he tweeted again,
now finally adding AirPods into the products that he expects to come at the event on the 23rd.
And just within the last few days, we started to get some VERY interesting new leaks and rumors.
GizmoChina released some brand new renders of the AirPods 3,
and they look basically identical to the ones that 52audio previously showed.
And Sam from AppleTrack.org said that the AirPods 3 releasing at the March event is
a safe bet due to all of these leaks popping up recently.
We then got even more images of the AirPods 3 from 52audio,
which are beginning to become much more convincing, and I now personally believe
that these right here are 100% legit leaks, and they’re exactly what we should expect.
And this time, 52audio added that the price tag will most likely be around $150,
which would be awesome since the first price tag rumor
pointed to a $200 price, which was a bit pricey for non-pro AirPods.
And then here is where it got very exciting, the most accurate Apple leaker of all time,
Kang, with a 97.8% accuracy rating,
said that the new AirPods are ready to ship and could launch basically any time.
This is basically so bullish that it points to them literally being released
next week at Apple’s event, which is extremely exciting!
But wait.. Don’t get too excited because I have to admit something.. So far,
this entire video has been the good news.. And now it’s finally time to get into the bad news.
Ming Chi Kuo just came out with a new report claiming that AirPods 3
mass production will begin in Quarter 3 of this year, which basically begins in July.
Yep, he’s saying that the AirPods 3 will NOT be released at Apple’s March event,
basically going against everyone else, so yeh.. That’s definitely some bad news.
And what basically makes it worse is that he initially thought they would launch between
April and June, but now they won’t even begin production until July at the soonest,
pointing to a launch in the Fall.
However, Kuo believes that the AirPods 3 will be so good that they’ll account
for 40% of the total AirPods shipments in 2021, even with them coming later.
Now here’s what is weird.. We have Kuo saying that they won’t begin production until the 3rd
quarter of 2021.. But at the same time.. You also have the absolute most reliable leaker,
Kang, saying that they’re ready to ship.
So with that said.. Let me get into what I personally
believe is gonna happen with the AirPods 3.
Due to his track record, I’d personally bet on Kang being correct, but keep in mind that he
didn’t say they’re arriving at the March event, he simply said that they’re ready, and on top
of that, it’s intriguing that Kuo totally went against Kang even though he’s been so reliable.
On top of that, the fact that 52audio has been showing actual
photos of the AirPods 3 points to them actually being ready to ship right now.
And if you follow 52audio’s track record, they leaked the AirPods Pro at the beginning of October
in 2019, and Apple officially released them less than a month later on October 30th.
So based on that, I believe that there’s a good chance we could
actually see the AirPods 3 get released at the event next week,
or if not, April is definitely a possibility since there was a report from Mac Otakara
claiming that the new AirPods Pro are coming in April alongside a new iPhone SE.
But then again, what if the new AirPods Pro are releasing soon, and it’s actually the AirPods 3
that end up coming later this year, matching up to what Kuo is saying, but I personally think the
regular model is coming sooner because in 2019, Apple actually released the AirPods 2 in March.
But they didn’t announce them during their March event,
they actually released them 6 days before, on March 20th, through a press release.
So what if Apple does the same thing this year, releasing the AirPods 3
before the event next week, which means that we could actually see them getting released
on Wednesday the 17th, which would of course, be the best case scenario!
And this would in turn give them more time during the event
to focus on other new products, like the iPad Pro, the AirTags, the Apple TV, and apparently,
maybe even the redesigned iMac, so we’ll just have to see!
With all of that said, I believe that the new AirPods 3 are gonna be a huge deal
since it’s been a while since we’ve got new AirPods, literally two full years.
Because of that, I believe there are a lot of people waiting to upgrade,
and even despite the lack of new products, AirPods sales are still up 22%
year over year, so I feel like these AirPods 3 will sell like hot cakes!
So there you guys go, hopefully you enjoy this video,
and if you disagree with my personal speculations, go ahead and comment your thoughts down below.
Thanks for watching and we’ll see you in the next video!