In the Apple world right now, it’s all about USB-C. The company’s iPad lineup, which has moved from Lightning to USB-C since 2018, is expected to complete that transition later this year; and the iPhone range will begin its own switchover in 2023. Lightning’s days seem numbered.
But the Lightning stand isn’t limited to the iPhone and iPad, and doubts remain about Apple’s plans for the port on certain accessories, such as the AirPods charging case. Every AirPods case released to date has a Lightning port, but that could change soon, according to Ming-Chi Kuo. In a tweet posted yesterday, the renowned analyst predicts that all AirPods models will receive cases with a USB-C charging port by 2023.
What he is less sure about is the second-generation AirPods Pro, which is expected to hit the market before the end of 2022. That could be too soon for the USB-C switchover, Kuo warns; his tweet implies that Apple may launch a new USB-C case for the Pros next year, but the question is whether customers buying this year will be willing to pay more next year for a case that isn’t particularly different functionally.
So much for the AirPods charging cases. But this raises further questions about a member of Apple’s wireless headphone line that charges directly rather than through a case: the AirPods Max.
These have a Lightning charging port built into one of the earcups – a port which in our review is partially covered by the ill-fitting case, by the way – and only charge through this, rather than having the option like other recent AirPods models to charge through. a MagSafe wireless connection. We suspect Apple will replace this Lightning port with USB-C if and when it releases a second-generation version of the AirPods Max, but right now we don’t know when that will happen, or if it’s already happening.
Mark Gurman has predicted that Apple will launch new Max colors this fall, whether that’s alongside the iPhone 14 in September or at a separate Mac/iPad event next month, but it’s unclear if that will come with any new features. or the kind of broader redesign that could include a move to USB-C.