Apple filed a patent in 2021 for a possible upcoming AirPod design with a touchscreen display on the case to control audio operations, quick settings, and show battery percentage on it.
Apple has sold more than 58 million AirPods in 2021 itself, with more than 10 million AirPods being sold per quarter, and with Apple having more than 30% market share in the TWS industry in the third quarter of 2022, It is clear that AirPods are a success.
Following this success, apple filed a patent ( application number 17/948083 )for a touchscreen display, stating that “There is a need for a headphone case device that can control operations that are traditionally associated with headphones (e.g., playback controls, changing audio sources, changing audio output modes, etc.). There is a further need for a headphone case that can also convey information to a user, through haptics and/or display devices”.
This design is similar to JBL’s Tour Pro 2, which also has a touchscreen display.
Since its release, Apple has improved the functionality of the case and the AirPods itself. With the introduction of MagSafe wireless charging, U1 chip, Built-in speaker for the case, and increasing the battery for each generation, AirPods have improved a lot compared to the first model.
However, the display is unlikely to be available in this year’s AirPod case.
