Apple Updates AirPods Pro with USB-C Case and Improved Dust Resistance
Alongside the new iPhone 15 and Apple Watch models, Apple announced updated second-generation AirPods Pro that support USB-C and include a few internal changes that don’t warrant a generation update:
- USB-C Charging Case: Apple swapped the case’s Lightning charging port for a USB-C port. The case can also still charge using an Apple Watch, MagSafe, or Qi charger.
- Dust resistance: Previously, the AirPods Pro and their case had an IP4 rating, which is protection against splashes of water. The updated AirPods Pro have an IP54 rating, which specifies limited protection against dust.
- Lossless Audio with Vision Pro: The updated AirPods Pro will support Lossless Audio with ultra-low latency when used with the Apple Vision Pro headset slated for release early in 2024.
The price for the updated AirPods Pro remains the same at $249. Apple isn’t selling the USB-C charging case separately, so the only way to get it is with a new pair of AirPods Pro.
In its ongoing effort to ground Lightning, Apple now sells a USB-C version of the wired EarPods for $19.
“to ground Lightning” Hehe.
Well played, Sir.
In my own personal crusade to rid my home and office of Lightning, I’ve also added a set of replacement Air Pods Pro to my iPhone 15 order. My original APP were a hand-me-down from my wife who didn’t like the pressure. They were ordered right after launch so the battery health there too had declined. The new ones will restore that.
To my surprise, both APP and iPhone 15 were still scheduled to arrive by next Fri, my baseball engraving personalization notwithstanding. 
Holy cow. Both were just charged to my CC. And Apple Store status went to preparing to ship. This is moving a lot faster than I expected.
Edit: I see this is happening on a much broader scale actually. Kudos.
“ IP4”? Is that the same thing as IPx4? Cos IP codes should have two digits (where x is a placeholder for an unevaluated property).
“IP4” = IPx4, yes.
They are IP54, to be pedantic.
I agree with Simon—I was perturbed by the single digit as well in the move from IP4 to IP54, but as far as I can tell, when there’s only a single digit, it means water resistance.
There’s a good chart of IP codes here. The first location is for dust resistance. ‘x’ means that it wasn’t tested; ‘5’ is the 2nd highest rating for ingress protection, loosely called ‘dust-resistant’.