AirPods 2

The AirPods (2nd generation) cost $159 and looked exactly like the pair they replaced, with every change inside the shell. The H1 chip was designed specifically for headphones and handled the pairing, the switching between devices and the voice work.

Hands-free “Hey Siri” was introduced on this generation. Until then reaching Siri meant double tapping an earbud, so a hand had to come out of a pocket to change a song or answer a call.

Talk time went up by half, from two hours to three. Listening time stayed at five hours, with more than twenty four hours in total from the case, and fifteen minutes in the case gave another three hours of listening.

Apple sold the AirPods (2nd generation) in two versions on the same day. One came with the standard case at $159 and the other with a case that charged wirelessly at $199, and the wireless case could be bought on its own for $79 by anyone who already owned the first generation. Free engraving on the case was offered at checkout.

It was announced on 20 March 2019 by press release rather than at an event, five days before Apple’s ‘It’s show time’ keynote. Orders opened the same day, while the earbuds reached Apple Stores the following week on 26 March, priced from $159.

Read about the AirPods (1st generation) that came before.