New AirPods Pro with improved features & better battery life debut

The second generation of AirPods Pro have been announced with improved battery life, and a dramatically better charging case.

"AirPods revolutionized the wireless headphone category with an innovative design and incredible sound quality," Bob Borchers, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, said in a statement. "With the new AirPods Pro, Apple raises the bar once again."

"The new AirPods Pro deliver even better sound quality, a more immersive listening experience with Personalized Spatial Audio, and transformative audio features like Adaptive Transparency," he continued. "With up to double the noise-cancelling power of their predecessor, the world's bestselling wireless headphones just got even better."

Apple has not made many visible changes to the design of AirPods Pro 2 — however, the speaker grills, stem, and other minor aspects were altered slightly.

The charging case has been revised to include a lanyard, plus it can now be charged using the Apple Watch charger. It also features a larger speaker for when the case is being searched for with Find My.

That charging case can now be engraved with Memoji and is also sweat and water-resistant.

AirPods Pro (Second Generation)

Although the AirPods feature the same basic stem design, they now come with new ear tips. And the stems now include touch controls.

Those touch controls include media playback, volume selection, and the ability to answer phone calls with a tap. The stems feature improved skin-detection sensors to respond more accurately to touch and deliver better battery life.

Apple says that improvements such as this mean the new AirPods Pro brings extended battery life, enabling up to six hours on a single charge. That's an additional 90 minutes of battery life, and the charging case now enables up to 30 hours of use.

The revised charging case can now be charged by the Apple Watch charger

The new AirPods Pro has an updated processor for advanced audio processing, which Apple says provides twice the Active Noise Cancellation of the previous model and improved audio quality. It also features Transparency Mode, music reproduction, and 48kHz audio specifically for SharePlay.

AirPods Pro cost $249 and will be available in stores starting on September 23. Preorders begin September 9.