Speculation has emerged that Apple will unveil AirPods 5 at an event next week on Sept. 9, local time.

IT outlet NineToFiveMac said the new product could be announced alongside the iPhone 18 Pro, Apple Watch Ultra 4, Series 12 and iPhone Ultra.

The key for the new product lies in how the lineup is structured rather than whether it includes a camera. AirPods 5 is likely to launch without a camera and is expected to come in two models depending on whether it supports active noise cancelling (ANC). Mark Gurman said on X, formerly Twitter, that AirPods 5 will be released as two separate products: an "ANC-supported model" and an "ANC-unsupported model."

Camera-equipped AirPods that drew market attention are unlikely to be included in the event. Expectations for an early launch rose after a video leaked showing a camera-equipped model working in Apple software, but Gurman said via Bloomberg that AirPods with a camera would not come out until 2027. As a result, this year's AirPods strategy may place more weight on refining the existing wireless earbud lineup than on experimental hardware.

By timing alone, this generational update does not significantly depart from Apple's existing cycle. AirPods first came out in 2016, with the second generation in 2019, the third in 2021 and the fourth in 2024. Given that the gap between generations has been 2 to 3 years, AirPods 5 appearing in 2026 can be seen as a natural progression on the schedule.

Even so, there is less information about the new product than expected. Recent leaks and forecasts related to AirPods have mostly focused on the camera-equipped model, while detailed specifications for the standard AirPods 5 remain limited. For that reason, more weight is placed on the fact that little information has been disclosed so far, rather than on an interpretation that Apple is tightly concealing details until just before the event.

On the feature side, health management and improvements in audio performance are points to watch. Gurman said he does not expect the heart-rate sensor included in AirPods Pro 3 to be applied to AirPods 5. He also said Apple wants to add more health functions to AirPods over time, and added that this includes temperature measurement. It has not been confirmed whether it will be included, but the direction of expanding AirPods from a listening device into a personal health device appears to be continuing.

Changes to the chipset are another variable. Gurman mentioned that Apple is developing an H3 chip aimed at lower latency and better sound quality. It is unclear, however, whether AirPods 5 will include this chip right away. In the past, Apple first applied the H2 chip to the AirPods Pro line when it was introduced. That leaves open the possibility that H3 will be installed in higher-end models first before expanding to the standard AirPods.

Against this backdrop, AirPods 5 is likely to focus more on splitting the lineup and making some functional improvements than on major design experimentation. Apple could still unveil unexpected specifications on the day of the event, as it did when it introduced AirPods Max 2 earlier this year, but based on what has been confirmed so far, AirPods 5's key bet appears to lie in price ranges and feature differentiation rather than radical changes such as a camera. Details of specifications and included functions are expected to be confirmed at the Sept. 9 event.