AirPods 3 Release Date Tipped Just Before WWDC

Today AirPods 3 were tipped for a release inside the first half of the year 2021 with a design similar to that of AirPods Pro. This would essentially negate the need for future AirPods Pro units, unless a significant set of upgrades were implemented in the next several years. It'll be a strange time, if both the AirPods Pro and AirPods were in stores at the same time, and the Pro units are... not quite as advanced as the non-Pro.

In a note to investors relayed by 9to5Mac, TF Securities anaylyst Ming Chi-Kuo suggested that Apple will continue to sell second-generation AirPods right up through the end of the year. This is the same set of AirPods that were released in the first quarter of the year 2019.

It might also be that the next AirPods will look a bit more like AirPods Pro, but will not have the full set of features given to the AirPods Pro lineup. Apple's two-tiered strategy (two or more, that is), generally has two or more versions of a device available at any given time. The highest-end version has all the newest tech, the lowest-end version looks and feels similar to the far more expensive version – but costs far less.

It is unlikely that we'll see much AirPods action this week during WWDC 2020. This entirely streamed, remote event is generally an in-person event held in California. For the viewers at home, and everyone who'd otherwise be unable to attend the in-person developer event, the results are... pretty much the same.

The only big difference here is in Apple's decision to reveal hardware (or not) because of COVID-19, global pandemic, and continued social distancing. Stay tuned as we cover the whole series of events in real time – here in SlashGear's main news feed.