3 AirPods upgrades I want Apple to make in September

Scott Steln/CNET

Apple may have the new AirPods 3 ready for its rumored September event alongside the iPhone 13 and Apple Watch 7. Over the years, AirPods have become a practically essential tool. Lots of other excellent Bluetooth earbuds exist, but AirPods are still impressively instant and have really good microphones. Plus, being able to swap from one ear to another has helped me extend battery life by one-earing my way through long meetings.

The second-gen AirPods are almost two years old, while AirPods Pro are over a year old, and have continued to evolve. Apple added spatial audio in 2020, and the massively expensive AirPods Max arrived with a different proposition (I prefer small earbuds, not big headphones), so what will AirPods 3 bring? And what do I even want? For me, it's mostly about better connection.

AirPods Pro Lite buds could shift all AirPods to the Pro lookSome reports say that the third-gen AirPods will look like the Pros, minus the active noise cancellation and spatial audio features. Which means they'll have shorter stems and have replaceable ear tips in different sizes.

I appreciate the AirPod Pro design and its less visible look, but I have mixed feelings about the ear tips. The deeper in-ear feel sealed off for better noise-blocking, but I appreciate the easier and more pass-through-friendly design of the originals for casual call-monitoring. Maybe Apple will split the difference somehow.