Like the EarPods, which came from the hand of the iPod, they became an icon of the company, AirPods were a huge boost to the wireless headphone market. Once again, Apple was not the first, but it did know how to turn the market around with its particular proposal. Thus, once again, we have seen how many other manufacturers adopted the design and characteristics of Apple headphones to use them in their own devices.
Since the launch of the first generation of AirPods, back in 2016, two new generations have been produced, the second was released in 2019, while the third debuted in 2021. This tells us that we must wait for the arrival of the fourth generation. two or three years after the current one, that is, sometime in 2023 or in 2024. At the moment there are no rumors or leaks about it, so everything indicates that we will still have to wait a while.
As for its design, if we base ourselves on the history and Apple’s policies in this regard, it is quite likely that there will not be any major changes compared to the third-generation AirPods, a design that in turn drinks a bit from the design of the AirPods Pro. It is still early to say for sure, but in the first instance It does not seem that the fourth generation is going to be a great leap compared to the previous one.
The fifth, however, could be quite revolutionary, if we take into account the patent detected by Patently Apple, a document that indicates that Apple has designed AirPods with a touch screen in its case. According to said patent, which was filed by Apple in the United States Patent and Trademark Office in September 2021, said screen would offer information and control over the content that is being played with the AirPods at that moment.
The text of the patent makes the concept quite clear: «Audio output device cases are commonly passive devices used to charge audio output devices […] The utility of a headset cover can be enhanced and user control over a user’s wireless headset can be enhanced by configuring a headset cover with an interactive user interface to allow user control of operations associated with the wireless headset.«.
Thus, this hypothetical case with a screen for AirPods could be a substantial improvement over current cases, since it would make them become a kind of remote control, in which we could also see additional information, such as the charge level, the content that is being played, etc. Turning the case into something more than a case seems to me quite a success, and something that I am looking forward to seeing in the real world, and not in a patent.
