It has been almost one year since Apple’s launch of their revolutionary AirPods, and many more products have since entered the market to compete with them (including the Bose SoundSport Free, which was released about two months ago). However, there are still some improvements that can be made to this product before it can really be considered the go-to Bluetooth audio device of the future. Here are five ways that next-generation AirPods Pro will benefit from Bluetooth LE audio technology.
1) Less expensive
Apple has been releasing some seriously affordable tech in recent years, and the company is showing no signs of slowing down. It’s possible that next-generation AirPods Pro could be even cheaper than their current first-generation predecessors, making them a must-buy for any budget-conscious Apple user.
Bluetooth headphones are also cheaper than those that connect to your device via wires. They’re easier to make and so they cost less to manufacture. The economies of scale would work in Apple’s favor as well, making them cheaper for consumers to buy over time. As Bluetooth technology becomes more ubiquitous, it will be even easier for Apple to reduce prices on their next-generation AirPods Pro products.
2) Smaller form factor
Next-generation AirPods Pro will leverage Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology, which will enable a much smaller form factor. Furthermore, BLE is a more energy-efficient option than RF that enables more battery life.
The use of BLE in AirPods Pro will enable a smaller size that is less noticeable to wearers. This will be especially beneficial when wearing glasses, hats or helmets that have limited room for additional hardware.
Further, BLE technology offers more efficient use of power. Since BLE devices can operate in low power mode at all times, they only require a Bluetooth connection when data is being sent or received. A low-energy connection will extend battery life to last up to 24 hours.
3) Better sound quality
In most cases, the sound quality of Bluetooth audio is limited to that which is compressed. But with Bluetooth LE, your AirPods Pro will have a more true-to-life sound with CD-quality streaming thanks to the reduced compression. That means for a cleaner, more immersive listening experience—no matter what kind of music you like to listen to.
That’s because you’ll be able to stream your music in CD quality, and better yet: there’s no extra battery drain. That means you can keep on listening all day, whether you choose wired or wireless. Plus, if a call comes in, it will interrupt your music but not cut it off completely.
4) Ease of use
With Bluetooth, our phone will be able to connect wirelessly to these future AirPods as soon as they are in range. This removes the need for turning on Bluetooth on our device and enables an easy connection between devices through a wireless connection. It also negates the need for physical pairing, since we can do this wirelessly. This would make things easier if one of your paired devices is not readily available at a given time since you can still simply connect with your device once it enters into range.
The next-generation AirPods will also feature voice control, so we won’t have to open our phone to interact with it if we want to find out what song is playing or turn up the volume. Instead, we can just speak to these new next-generation AirPods Pro.
5) Easier to replace when needed
Keeping your earbuds safe and protected is something we all want, which is why having the ability to replace one of the two buds when needed is so important. With Apple’s new next-generation wireless AirPods Pro headphones, Bluetooth will be utilized. This means that you’ll be able to connect both earbuds with your device wirelessly and easily replace one bud if necessary.
6) Improved audio quality
Bluetooth technology has come a long way, and while it’s still not capable of truly comparable audio quality to that of wired devices, Bluetooth LE audio is able to provide substantially improved fidelity in comparison to older generations. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the upcoming next-generation of wireless AirPods Pro, which will feature new chipsets for Bluetooth connectivity with dramatically improved capacity for high-quality wireless audio data transmission.
7) Longer battery life
Wireless headphones are no longer a costly novelty but a standard for most, meaning Bluetooth LE will play an important role in the next generation of wireless audio. In particular, the next generation of Apple’s premium wireless earbuds – AirPods Pro – will benefit heavily from it.
First, the battery life on these new earbuds is going to be much better than in past iterations due to improvements in Bluetooth connectivity and battery life across devices.
8) Multi-stream audio
Next-generation AirPods Pro will support the latest Bluetooth audio protocol, Bluetooth LE Audio, for multi-stream stereo playback. This will allow for next-generation headphones and speakers to connect with them and deliver higher quality, more immersive listening experience. No longer would the wires have to be part of the equation, adding a level of simplicity that everyone would benefit from while driving down costs at the same time.
9) Multiple AirPods connectivity to an iPhone at once
Apple could have followed the same route it took with its second-generation Apple Watch, giving the headphones Bluetooth LE (as well as Wi-Fi and GPS) connectivity in addition to an accelerometer. This would enable users to connect multiple AirPods at once without having to constantly pair with one another. It would also allow the AirPods Pro to function like a set of wireless earbuds that are connected to an iPhone rather than as something that’s completely tethered by a wire.
10) Switching between iPhone and Mac is not required now
Until now, when I switched between my iPhone and Mac, I had to re-pair my Bluetooth device. This made it difficult to switch devices so often because I would either forget or miss the connection button on one of the devices. However, with Apple’s next generation of AirPods Pro, I will no longer have this problem! Instead of being constrained by two separate Bluetooth connections, my audio and conversation will be handled over a single link and switching devices won’t require re-pairing.
Final Words
AirPods are so advanced that it’s difficult to envision what the next iteration of this product could be. But new, smaller Bluetooth versions can take AirPods to the next level in functionality and adoption. That’s because Bluetooth devices are increasing in their ability and decreasing in size, which means that they can be implanted into devices such as Apple’s tiny earbuds. So here are five ways next-generation AirPods Pro will benefit from Bluetooth LE audio