In a report from Bloomberg we’ve discovered that Apple may be planing on upgrading its wireless headphones as early as this year. With other hardware upgrades planned, one of the star features would be the ability to invoke Siri hands-free using the “Hey Siri” command. This would eliminate the need to double tap the AirPods every time.
Siri would nw be accessible hand-free the same way as on iPhone, iPad, and the company’s newest speaker, HomePod. In addition to new hands-free Siri command, we are also likely to see an upgraded Apple-designed wireless chip for managing Bluetooth connections. Currently, AirPods feature the W1 chip inside and Apple released the W2 with the Apple Watch late last year.
The report also mentioned that we could see a subsequent model next year that will bring water resistance to the wearable. It’s noted in the report that they likely won’t be designed to be submerged in water, but will be able to withstand splashes as well as rain.
The report appears to be brought in part by an unnamed source that wished to remain anonymous and as usual Apple declined to comment.