Apple just unveiled 'Pro' AirPods that cost almost $100 more and have a brand-new design

Apple

• Apple just unveiled a new version of its ubiquitous wireless headphones: AirPods Pro costs $250 and are scheduled to arrive on October 30.
• In addition to a higher price, the AirPods Pro come with active noise-cancelling tech, are water-resistant, and have a new form factor.
• The stem on the AirPods Pro also enables users to interact with their iPhone through touch.
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Apple's ubiquitous AirPods wireless headphones are getting a major update with the AirPods Pro: a smaller set of headphones with water resistance, active noise cancellation, and new touch functionality that enables users to interact with their phone through the headphones.

The cost? $250 - a $90 jump over the base price of AirPods.

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Apple

There are a few main features of the new AirPods Pro that make them better than their predecessors:

• A major new design: The headphones now have shorter stems, and rubber tips for helping the headphones stay in your ears.
• The stems now have touch functionality, called a "force sensor": "The force sensor," Apple says, "makes it easy to play, pause or skip tracks, and answer or hang up phone calls."
• Noise cancellation: Apple calls it "Active Noise Cancellation," because the headphones aren't just sealing out the outside world - they're also actively pushing back. "Noise cancellation continuously adapts the sound signal 200 times per second," Apple says of the functionality.
• Water resistance: Apple says that "AirPods Pro are sweat- and water-resistant for non-water sports and exercise and have a rating of IPX4 under IEC standard 60529."

AirPods Pro have been repeatedly rumored across the past year, and the revamp comes as Apple faces increasing competition in the wireless-earbuds market that it has, until now, largely had to itself. Earlier this year, Amazon unveiled its $130 Echo Buds, and more recently Microsoft announced the Surface Earbuds, which will cost $249.

Apple's new AirPods Pro are scheduled to arrive on October 30 for $250, and are already available for preorder on Apple's website.