Apple said to be readying suppliers for AirPods Pro 2 launch later this year

AirPods Pro (Image credit: Daniel Bader / iMore)

What you need to know

Apple suppliers are reportedly readying themselves for the launch of refreshed AirPods Pro later this year.
The new AirPods Pro are said to have support for lossless audio but it isn't yet clear how that will be achieved.
A new Wireless Charging Case with a built-in speaker will support Find My for easier locating.

Apple's refreshed AirPods Pro high-end earbuds are expected to be announced in the second half of 2022. Now, a new report claims that Apple's suppliers are getting ready to produce the earbuds ready for sales to begin.

According to a new DigiTimes report, Apple's suppliers are getting ready to churn out the new AirPods Pro product ready for them to hit store shelves, although we still don't have a firm release window behind the second half of the year.

AirPods Pro are some of the best iPhone earbuds around right now but the next iteration is expected to bring yet more advanced features. At the top of the list is support for lossless audio, something that is currently impossible due to the bandwidth offered by Bluetooth. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently suggested that lossless support is coming while also pointing to a new Wireless Charging Case, too. That new case will reportedly feature a speaker for Find My support, allowing owners to have it emit an alert for easier spotting.

Airpods Pro 2 Speaker Holes (Image credit: MacRumors)

MacRumors had previously received an image that claimed to show a new AirPods Pro case with holes that would presumably be used for that aforementioned speaker. While it;s impossible to know whether the image is legit, it definitely ties in with Kuo's recent claims.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.