Earlier this month, we heard a rumor that Apple was preparing the launch of a new high-fidelity music service alongside a new pair of AirPods that could arrive sometime before WWDC. Now a new rumor supplies a possible date: May 18.
After Apple-centric YouTuber Luke Miani tweeted a cryptic “May 18” on Thursday afternoon, Internal Store followed up with the following tweet:
AirPods 3.
— Internal Store (@InternalStore) May 14, 2021
Music+.
May 18th.
Press Release.
6:00 AM (PST).
That’s pretty confident. We’re a little skeptical that Apple would announce a new product during the same week that a bunch of new products is shipping, but on the other hand, new AirPods and an enhanced Apple Music+ pair nicely with the new iPad Pro and 24-inch iMac.
As previously rumored, the third-generation AirPods were a last-minute scratch at Apple’s Spring Loaded event. They are expected to look more like the AirPods Pro with shorter stems but probably won’t bring noise-cancelation. The Apple Music+ service will reportedly up the quality from the current bitrate of 256kbps to more than a thousand kilobits per second, which should make a huge difference in streaming quality, especially when using AirPods or a HomePod speaker.
