Over the last several months, there’s been a lot chatter about Apple releasing two — and possibly even three — new AirPods models alongside the new iPhone 16 series at its annual fall iPhone event. Well, now it’s official: Apple has unveiled two AirPods 4, both of which feature an open design and are the successor to the AirPods 3. The step-up model has active noise canceling, a feature not typically found in open earbuds.
The AirPods 4 are available for pre-order now for $129 and $179, respectively, and ship on Sept 20.
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Trying out the AirPods 4’s noise canceling feature in the noisy demo room at the Apple iPhone 16 event.
The AirPods 4 have been slightly redesigned to fit more ears securely — they’re slightly smaller than the AiPods 3 but slightly bigger than the AirPods 2 (they fit my ears well but I didn’t get a chance to do anything active with them in my ears). The case is also slightly smaller than the AirPods 3’s case.
They’re equipped with USB-C charging and Apple’s more advanced H2 chip. That same chip powers the AirPods Pro 2 and enables such features as Conversation Awareness 2, Siri Interactions, Adaptive Audio, Head Gestures and Voice Isolation that are coming with iOS 18. However, only the higher-end AirPods 4 with noise canceling will support Adaptive Audio and Conversation Awareness because noise canceling and transparency modes are required to support those features. It’s also worth noting that the higher-end AirPods 4 have the same microphones as the AirPods Pro 2.
Watch this: Apple Announces AirPods 4 and New AirPods Max
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