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AirPods, AirPods Pro shortages could worsen due to coronavirus outbreak

By Simon Cohen Published April 25, 2023

Apple’s AirPods Pro have been under constant demand since their debut in late 2019. It all started with a two-week back-order after they sold out on Black Friday, and the situation has only gotten worse since. Now, that back-order period could grow longer and even start to affect the regular AirPod, if a recent report from Asian Nikkei Report is accurate. “Luxshare Precision Industry, also known as Luxshare-ICT, Goertek and Inventec, the three key manufacturers of the AirPods, have halted the majority of production,” it said.

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The production stoppage is mostly due to a lack of key parts that are used to assemble Apple’s true wireless earbuds. “The three companies now have at most two weeks’ worth of materials and components needed for AirPods assembly, and must wait for component makers across China to restart operations in order to receive fresh supplies,” the report said.

Currently, Apple.com is showing delivery times of just a few days for its AirPods and AirPods with the wireless charging case. Wait times for the AirPods Pro, however, are considerably longer and now stand at about a month: If you were to order them today, Apple is committing to a March 9 delivery date.

Suppliers and manufacturers are expected to return to work on Monday, but it’s still unknown how the disruption will ultimately affect the availability of the three AirPods models. “Because of the virus outbreak, it has already been about two weeks since the assemblers have shipped any new AirPods series,” a source told Asian Nikkei Report.

Digital Trends reached out to both Apple and Luxshare Precision Industry for comment, but neither responded by the time of publication. We will update this article when we hear back.

Recently, Apple’s AirPods Pro were affected by a firmware update that reportedly reduced the effectiveness of one of its best features — active noise cancellation.

If you’ve grown tired of waiting for the AirPods Pro, or you’re concerned that the delay could grow even longer, we’ve assembled a list of the best AirPods Pro alternatives. It’s possible that the situation affecting the production of Apple’s AirPods could hit these true wireless earbuds too, but for the moment, they’re much easier to come by.

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Contributing Editor, A/V

Simon Cohen is a contributing editor to Digital Trends' Audio/Video section, where he obsesses over the latest wireless…

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Apple might arm AirPods with live translation facility this year

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Apple has lately focused on giving the AirPods more of a wellness-focused makeover than hawking them as plain wireless earbuds. Late last year, the AirPods Pro 2 landed a Loud Sound Reduction feature, alongside a hearing test system and hearing aid facility.
Now, the company is reportedly eyeing a conversational upgrade for them. According to Bloomberg, Apple plans to bring a real-time translation facility to the AirPods later this year. The focus is on removing the language barrier for in-person conversations.
The feature is said to be in active development and might be rolled out via a software update later this year, tied to the iOS 19 bundle. It’s going to be a two-way translation system where the AirPods and iPhone play an equal role.

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Unless you've been hiding under a rock, it's been impossible to escape the headlines around the new tariffs imposed on Canadian, Mexican, and Chinese imports to the U.S. (or the many retaliatory tariffs that these countries have imposed on U.S. products). The expectation is that these tariffs will make certain goods more expensive, regardless where you live. But in a bizarre twist of timing, tariffs, and currency exchange rates, one particularly popular Apple product is cheaper in Canada than in the U.S.: the AirPods Pro 2.

Apple sells the AirPods Pro 2 in the U.S. for $249 and $329 ($CAD) in Canada. A quick look at current currency conversion rates shows that despite the higher number in Canada, that's actually the cheaper of the two prices. According to RBC Bank's currency calculator, if you hold U.S. dollars right now, you can buy $329 CAD for just $236 USD -- a $13-dollar savings.

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Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 could launch on this date with a few surprises

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Back in September last year, Beats shared a short teaser featuring MLB hotshot Shohei Ohtani wearing the upcoming hook-style wireless earbuds. Golf stars Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy were also spotted wearing the earbuds in the TGL golf league recently.