Call them AirPods 3, AirPods Pro Lite, or even AirPods 2020, but according to Digitimes, the next revision of the iconic AirPods is coming soon.

In fact, the Taiwanese electronics trade paper claims that production will begin in early or mid-April, with a launch expected in the second quarter of 2020. If true, the launch of Apple's wireless earbuds may coincide with the AirPods X, which are said to be the first over-ear headphones manufactured by Cupertino outside the Beats brand.

MacRumors has obtained a paid report claiming that "chip and component suppliers are gearing up to produce the new AirPods."

Digitime has confirmed that these devices (which may resemble AirPods, though, no active noise-canceling feature), calling them AirPods Pro Lite. But that doesn't make much sense. [because Apple already has "AirPods Pro Lite" and they are called AirPods.

It makes sense for Apple to have AirPods and AirPods Pro, just as Apple has MacBook and MacBook Pro, iPhone and iPhone Pro, iMac and iMac Pro. It only makes sense for Apple to have AirPods, AirPods Pro Lite, and AirPods Pro. If anything,

I can only imagine Apple mirroring the iPhone naming scheme and having AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Pro Max (which, incidentally, might be the name of the headphones). It's an exaggeration, but it makes more sense than adding Lite to the Pro name.

What makes sense is for Apple to standardize around a single hardware design. There are two reasons. The first is economies of scale. Apple only needs to maintain a single production mold, and most of the electronics in the low-end models will be the same. The only difference is that the AirPods Pro will have active noise reduction; the second reason is to add a new feature to the AirPods: passive noise reduction.

So I note that after the second generation AirPods release in March 2019, it is time for Apple to release the AirPods 3, and this AirPods Pro Lite may be just that. Of course, Apple will not call it AirPods 3, just as it did not call the 2019 AirPods AirPods 2. Incidentally, this is the name Digitimes cited when it reported on that model in January 2019 (remember well that Digitimes does not have the best track record - so take all this with the inevitable spoonful of salt).