14 DAY TRIAL // Bloomberg's Mark Gurman is reporting today that Apple is working on new and improved AirPods earbuds that are water resistant and come with deeper Siri integration.
According to Bloomberg, Apple CFO Luca Maestri said that the AirPods had helped the company to boost its wearables revenue to almost 70 percent last year, that's why Apple now plans to release the second-generation of AirPods headphones this year, most probably along with two new iPad models and new iPhone devices.
Gurman says that Apple's second-gen AirPods will have a new Bluetooth chip that should improve the stability and reliability of connectivity with Apple's devices, as well as the battery life of the earbuds. They might also come with a more powerful chip, the same that's available in the Apple Watch.
Siri on-demand coming to the AirPods
Another interesting feature that Apple plans to implement in the next generation of its AirPods headphones is Siri on-demand or always-on, which will let Apple's intelligent assistant respond to "Hey Siri" without you touching the earbuds, similar to how it works on the latest generation of iPhone and Apple Watch devices.
Bloomberg's report claims that Apple will release the second-generation AirPods with deeper Siri integration and a new, more powerful and energy-friendly Bluetooth chip later this year. Also, they said that Apple plans third-generation AirPods earbuds for 2019 with water and splash resistance.
Apple also plans to release an upgrade case for the new AirPods that charges wirelessly, like the iPhone 8 and iPhone X devices, said Gurman in his report. The new AirPods are apparently known internally as B288, but no one found any reference to this model at the moment of writing.
Whichever will be the case, we bet Apple fans are impatiently waiting for the company to release a new version of its AirPods. Hopefully, Apple also decided to change the design of the AirPods a little bit to make them supportable for all people and not fall from the ear so often.