An alleged photo of the AirPods 2 charging case reveals it has essentially the same design, with speaker holes at the bottom presumably for Find My functionality. There’s also another metal loop in the case for attaching a strap to it.
As for the AirPods Pro 2 design shown in the photos, they contradict what we have heard so far about them. Rumors have claimed the AirPods Pro 2 will feature a shorter stem to make them more compact, but in the images, the AirPods Pro 2 seems to have a design that’s very similar to the ongoing model. The source also claimed that the rumors are incorrect and Apple won’t do away with the stem design on the AirPods Pro refresh.
As for the speaker holes in the case, the source claims they are being introduced because with iOS 16, Apple will offer separate Find My functionality for the case and the earbuds.
The images were sent to MacRumors by a new source, so it isn’t easy to verify their authenticity. The source, however, does claim that they obtained the images from an “Apple internal source.” No other reputed Apple analyst or leaker has verified the authenticity of these images so far.
Apple is expected to refresh the AirPods Pro in late Q1 or early Q2 next year. At this point, it is better to take the leaked photos with a pinch of salt. Apple could make some functional and battery life improvements to the AirPods Pro 2, as it did with the AirPods 2/3, but this is something that only time will tell.
[Via MacRumors]