It’ll likely be a few years before everyone in the Apple ecosystem can ditch their Lightning cables, but AirPods Pro owners can do it right now without buying a new pair.
Specifically, owners of the 2023 second-gen AirPods Pro can buy a new USB-C charging case directly from Apple’s online storefront. It looks and operates the same as the one that came with your AirPods Pro over the summer, but as you might’ve guessed already, it uses USB-C for charging instead of Lightning.
Get one of these, and an iPhone 15 Pro, and you can kiss Lightning goodbye.
There’s just one tiny little problem: The case, by itself, without AirPods Pro earbuds, costs $100.
This isn’t a huge surprise, given the Apple Tax you have to pay to get any iDevice. The case also does a little more than just charge AirPods, as it has precision location tracking — and even the ability to play sounds if it gets lost. But $100 still feels like a lot considering AirPods Pro (including the case) are $250.
Oh well. If you want USB-C, this is what you have to do.
