At any Apple event, new AirPods are never a given. The earbuds have been around nearly as long as the Apple Watch, but the company has only released three generations of the baseline model — until today. Three years after their predecessors hit the market, the AirPods 4 have debuted at Monday’s “It’s Glowtime” event.
The new AirPods are part of “significant updates across the entire lineup,” according to the company. The new model present a forking in the popular headphone line, with the addition of “AirPods 4 with Active Noise Canceling.” The premium mid-tier model runs an extra $50. They also feature wireless charging and a built-in speaker for Find My functionality.
Apple says it used “advanced modeling tools” to analyze “thousands of ears” for a new, more comfortable design. The new AirPods are powered by the H2 chip, which brings improvements to playback and call sound quality.
The AirPods 4 finally bring USB-C to the base model case across both tiers, which the company notes will offer 30 hours on a charge.
The AirPods 4 are available for preorder starting Monday. They’ll start shipping on September 20. The base model runs $129, with the ANC models hitting $179. The new models are joined by a long-awaited update to the AirPods Max, as well as new hearing health-related features for the AirPods Pro.
