Apple has a Mac-focused event coming up on Monday, but don't expect to see anything like AirPods; tech reporter Mark Garman, who has contacts at Bloomberg, unveiled Apple's roadmap for wireless earbuds and headphones

The report states.

The main detail of the report focuses on entry-level earbuds, which will last be upgraded with AirPods 3 in 2021. Apple sells these alongside the AirPods 2 starting in 2019 for $169 and continues to sell them at the lower price point of $129.

Garman writes that this consumer choice has backfired somewhat for Apple, with the AirPods 3 struggling. Buyers are either saving a few dollars on the AirPods 2 or paying an extra $80 for the AirPods Pro 2, and with that in mind, Apple intends to replace both sets of entry-level earphones in 2024.

The least expensive model is functionally quite similar, but the enhanced version blurs the lines between the tiers by inheriting some Pro-specific features, such as active noise cancellation (ANC) and a charging case with a speaker for alert search. Both are said to have a stem and look "like a blend of the 3rd generation AirPods and the Pro model," but it is "unlikely" that interchangeable chips will be part of the package.

This is not at all surprising. If Apple is considering keeping the price at the same level, there must be an obvious reason for people to be upselling to the $249 AirPods Pro 2. Sound quality and ANC are probably better on the top-of-the-line model, but that's a bit abstract compared to the easily recognizable design differences.

Speaking of the AirPods Pro, according to Gurman, the current model will last until 2024; the AirPods Pro 3 is expected to arrive in 2025 with a "new design and chip," Gurman wrote, and may include hearing-related health features He reiterates his earlier prediction that.

That leaves the AirPods Max, Apple's $550 over-ear headphones first announced in 2021, with the second generation yet to arrive. That update is set for "late next year," Garman says, but it won't be particularly dramatic: "The headphones will be in a new color, but we won't see many other changes," he writes.

Next year is going to be a big year for Apple, with Garman previously predicting the iPad Pro's "first major product update since 2018" and the first mixed reality headset, Vision Pro, officially confirmed. The latter is particularly risky given the starting price of $3,500 and its as yet unproven utility. Therefore, the proven sales success of AirPods will be relied upon, which will surely please shareholders who are skeptical that mixed reality is really the future.