Apple, one of the largest consumer electronics brand, could bring a new generation of AirPods under Rs 10,000. If this happens, it would make these AirPods the most affordable AirPods ever. Apple is reportedly working on these new AirPods for capturing a larger market share in the audio segment and could launch it in the second half of 2024. Currently, the most affordable AirPods in the marker are AirPods Gen 2, which cost Rs 14,900. Then you have got the AirPods Gen 3 at Rs 19,900 and the AirPods Pro at upwards of Rs 25000+. Apple also sells AirPods Max, which costs Rs 59,900.
According to Kuo, a popular Apple analyst, Apple is not only working on affordable AirPods, but also on a new generation of AirPods Max. The company is also reportedly looking to change the suppliers of AirPods. A Foxconn subsidiary will take over from the current supplier Goertek.
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The reason why Apple is going for more affordable AirPods is because the third generation AirPods aren't performing well in the market. The affordable AirPods, are expected to be priced $99 which is roughly Rs 8000 in India. This could potentially boost the sales of AirPods all over the world.
But one thing is for sure, you won't get ANC (active noise cancellation) feature on the affordable AirPods. Apple has only kept the ANC feature for the AirPods Pro series. Even though the AirPods Gen 2 and Gen 3 cost quite a lot, they don't come with ANC. Meanwhile, if you look at other affordable TWS earbuds in the market, you will find that most come with ANC.
The new affordable AirPods that might launch in the second half of 2024 could also lack support for wireless charging. Basically, Apple would ship these AirPods with the least amount of features it can. It would be definitely interesting to see how Apple goes about the new affordable AirPods.
