Well-connected Apple industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says Apple’s second-generation AirPods Pro will boast support for Lossless audio, as well as a charging case that will emit a sound for tracking purposes.
In a note to investors, shared by MacRumors, Kuo said the new AirPods Pro 2 will offer attractive new features, including support for Apple Lossless (ALAC) audio and a charging case that users can trigger a sound from to highlight its location.
Currently, none of Apple’s AirPods products, including the third-generation AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max, do not support Lossless audio. This is due to the Bluetooth connections used by AirPods play audio via Bluetooth, limiting them to the AAC codec. However, it is possible that Apple could develop an alternative solution.
The sound-emitting case could be integrated into the Find My app, which would work similarly to how users can currently emit a sound from their individual AirPods inside the case to help find them.
Kuo also said that Apple’s next-generation earbuds will feature a new design and launch in the fourth quarter of 2022. The analyst still believes that AirPods will eventually support health monitoring features. However, the analyst did not mention such features as being a part of the 2nd-generation AirPods Pro feature set.