AirPods 4 — these are the upgrades we want to see

The AirPods 2 are old. Take a guess as to when they were first released — just a quick one, and promise not to cheat. Or read ahead.

No, before that.

The AirPods 2 were first released in 2019, over five years ago. That makes them one of the oldest products in the Apple Store, with most products that old being outdated by something fresh and new fairly quickly. Let’s put it this way. In 2019, if you went into the Apple Store to buy yourself a MacBook, it would have still been powered by an Intel chip, and it’d have ‘Retina’ in the name. Heck, the iPhone at the time was the iPhone 11 — a whole five iterations behind the iPhone 16 models we’re expecting during the Glowtime event on September 9th .

We’re also expecting an update to those five-year-old AirPods during the event, and while there are rumors and news snippets that give us an idea of the kind of things we can expect, we're still not entirely sure about what they're going to look like. But what do we want? Pie-in-the-sky thinking, sprinkled with a dash of realism to keep us grounded — here are the things we’d like to see from the AirPods 4 , Apple’s next iteration of the best wireless earbuds .

Noise-canceling

The AirPods Pro 2 are great. They are, in fact my favorite true wireless earbuds, bringing some epic noise canceling to the table. But what if noise canceling came to the budget AirPods? It wouldn’t have to come with all the features that make the AirPods Pro models more premium, like the transparency modes or the different levels of cancelation, but some form of noise-negation would be a massive boon for the budget buds.

Thankfully, it looks like our wish is going to come true, although, to some degree, the monkey’s paw has curled. Instead of releasing one pair of AirPods with noise canceling, it looks like there are going to be two different models , one more expensive, and one less so. The less expensive ones are going to feature no form of noise canceling, while the costlier pair are likely to receive some form of outside-world silencing tech. It’s disappointing that noise canceling will be out of reach for the most budget users, but we can take encouragement that you no longer will have to pay $249 for the AirPods Pro 2 to make your commute more tolerable.

• Is it likely? Yes, there is likely to be noise canceling with the AirPods 4 — you’ll just have to pay more to get it.

Hi-res Lossless playback

My first pie in the sky thinking here — and something not likely to happen at all. It’s not completely impossible, however, with the AirPods Pro 2 receiving the functionality with an update and the Vision Pro . Admittedly, it is slightly restricted; you have to be using Apple’s mixed reality headset at the same time for it to work, and the only pair of AirPods that are going to work are the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C . Once all the requisite requirements are in place, however, you can enjoy hi-res lossless playback wirelessly with your AirPods.

Imagine, then, if that tech was brought to the next iPhone models, and all future AirPods. Your AirPods are never going to be too far from your iPhone after all, and it would make a great reason to choose an iPhone and a pair of AirPods over the competition. It would likely only work with Apple Music as well, given that’s the only music streaming service that offers the feature in Vision Pro, but that’s no great problem. Apple Music is, after all, great.

Will it happen? I’m going to go out on a limb and say ‘probably not’ — but we can always hope, glancing jealously at the little ‘lossless streaming’ logo under the now playing bar in Apple Music.

• Is it likely? That’s a big no, but it would be nice.

More comfortable fit

The fit of the AirPods 2, and even the AirPods 3 to some extent, are a sticking point for some users — namely me. I don’t like the way they struggle to stay in my ears, and crucially, that they constantly work their way free. Headbanging is specifically banned while using the AirPods 2, lest they fly out of my head and hit a poor unsuspecting bystander in the back of the head during a particularly animated listening session on the bus. Let's make the next version of the AirPods a more secure and comfortable fit, please.

I’m not saying they need to be equipped with silicon ear tips, a la AirPods Pro, but some form of fit adjustment would be good. You could even still retain that less invasive earbud design, but provide different shaped options so that I can make sure they’re going to stay in my ears without issue.

Thankfully, it looks like some of my earbud fit desires are going to be fulfilled by the AirPods 4, thanks to rumors that the new design of both models are going to be more comfortable. Whether they’ll stay in my ears or not remains to be seen of course, and it's more unlikely that they going to be adjustable at all — and it's all but confirmed that they won’t get silicon ear tips. Rest assured, I will be doing the inaugural headbang test to make sure they don’t pop out the moment Dave Grohl shouts: “There goes my hero”.

• Is it likely? In part — it looks like there will be a more comfortable fit, but you’re likely not going to be able to adjust them in any way.

More battery life

The AirPods 2 provide you with 4-5 hours of battery life, extended to 24 hours when you pop them back in the charging case. Considering that other options out there now last for a whole lot longer (the Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 , for example, last a total of 52 hours with the ANC off) the AirPods 2 battery life simply doesn’t cut in 2024. I’d like to see the battery life of the buds improved with the latest version of the budget AirPods, so that you can use them for longer journeys without having to pop them back in the charging case.

According to rumors, it’s likely that there will be some improvement to the battery life. There’s no news about how much extra staying power they’re going to get, but any increase would be welcome.

• Is it likely? Yes! And no caveats either — there are likely to be some good improvements to the battery life.

USB-C charging

This one doesn’t need loads of explaining — my iPhone 15 Pro Max has a USB-C port to charge, my MacBook Pro has USB-C ports, and my Apple Watch Ultra 2 charging puck connects over USB-C. It’s high time, therefore, that the AirPods 4 should connect over USB-C as well.

Given that the EU mandated that Apple ditch the lightning cable for USB-C , this is perhaps the most predictable of all the updates to the wants and needs of the new AirPods. We’re expecting the USB-C port to make an appearance at the Glowtime event, attached to the AirPods 4.

• Is it likely? Yes, it’s literally legally mandated that Apple use USB-C now.

Some different colors

The AirPods line has become known for a certain look — shiny white plastic. While this is no great issue, and makes sure they stand out in a sea of black, gray, and other assorted earbud shades, it also makes them annoying to keep clean. I’d like to see even just one extra color option for the in-ear buds beyond the shiny white finish, even if its just a black colorway.

Is there a good chance of colors coming to the AirPods 4? There have been rumors for some time about different shades for the AirPods, but there are with every new iteration so it’s something worth taking with a heaped tablespoon of salt. The AirPods Max have come in different colors since their launch in 2020, however, so we can still hold out hope for some hot pink AirPods.

• Is it likely? That’s most likely a no — but we can always hope.

More from Tom's Guide

• AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 3 just tipped to arrive at Apple's Glowtime event
• AirPods 4 leak just revealed all the new features — and two models are on the way
• The new AirPods 4 is reportedly coming soon in two versions