At its annual iPhone event last night, Apple introduced two new AirPods 5 models. The first bit of good news is that the cheaper model should cost the same as the AirPods 4 did when it launched in 2024. The bigger bit of good news is that the more expensive of the two will be slightly cheaper than its AirPods 4 counterpart.
ANC for the masses
With a starting price of $130 (R2,800 locally), we wouldn’t call the ‘entry-level’ AirPods 4 cheap. The more expensive model ($180, or R3,900 locally) only added active noise cancellation (ANC), which was a first for open-ear headphones.
Apple has changed things slightly with its new ‘Pods. Both models now feature ANC with the same open-ear design. The more expensive AirPods 5 get a wireless charging case, more battery life, and on-stem volume control. They should also be slightly cheaper, although that hasn’t been confirmed for South Africa just yet.
The Fruit Company says it has improved audio quality with a “new multiport acoustic architecture” that it cribbed from the AirPods Pro 3, and that the new ‘buds offer “best-in-class open‑ear Active Noise Cancellation.” We’ve heard that one before. Now, both AirPods 5 are said to remove “up to 50 percent more external noise compared to AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation.”
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Transparency mode should be more natural, and they should be smarter with access to the new Siri AI. You’ll have to wait for that, as it’s only rolling out in beta with iOS 27. You’ll also need to make sure you have an Apple Intelligence-supported iPhone (iPhone 15 Pro or newer). The new AirPods will also get the Live Translation feature, which Apple first showed off with the AirPods Pro 3 last year. Again, only with supported devices.
All the new features and ANC across the board seem to have taken a toll on battery life. The base AirPods 5 will supposedly last up to 4 hours on a charge (versus 5 hours from AirPods 4) and 20 hours with the case (versus 30 hours). The more expensive AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case only manage to add an extra two hours.
How badly do you want those two extra hours and on-stem volume control?
