Leaker Mr-white, who has in the past shared accurate details on Apple's product plans, today tweeted alleged images of internal hardware that will be used in the second-generation AirPods Pro earbuds expected to be released sometime in 2021.
In the photos below, the hardware on the right side of the image appears to be current AirPods Pro hardware, while the hardware on the left is designed for the next-generation AirPods Pro. The cables are in two different sizes, which Mr-white suggests is an indication that the AirPods Pro 2 could perhaps come in two sizes.
New AirPods Pro Mabey Two Sizes Still W2 Chips 🤨 pic.twitter.com/R5MpzUrUlg — Mr·white (@laobaiTD) December 29, 2020
Rumors from Bloomberg have suggested that the second-generation version of the AirPods Pro will feature a more compact design that eliminates the short stem that sticks out from the bottom. The AirPods Pro could feature a rounded shape more similar to earbuds from companies like Google and Samsung, and for this design, it could make sense to offer different sizes for a better fit.
Apple is said to be struggling to shrink the AirPods down to the appropriate size to eliminate the stem, so there's a chance that won't happen, and that could explain why the hardware designs shared by Mr-white appear to be similar in size to the current AirPods Pro hardware.
Rumors have also said that the AirPods Pro will feature a new wireless chip. Mr-white says the new AirPods Pro still have a "W2 chip," but it's unclear what that means. The current AirPods Pro use an H1 processor that does have a wireless chip that's a successor to the original W1 chip in the first-generation AirPods, so it's possible W2 here refers to the H1 and indicates no new wireless chip technology.
Mr-white has shared accurate Apple details in the past, but is not always correct. Earlier this year, Mr-white shared images of a braided cable said to be for the iPhone 12 lineup, but that did not pan out. He has also said that Apple is working on a black Apple Pencil, and that has yet to appear. He did, however, share early leaks of Apple's iPhone 12 casing and display unit, which were accurate.
There's no word yet on when exactly a refreshed version of the AirPods Pro will come out, but the updated earbuds are expected sometime in 2021.
