AirPods 3 has been in development for a long time now. Apple's third-generation true wireless earbuds were supposed to arrive in the first half of this year, but after the spring event ended without the AirPods 3, we gave up waiting until late 2021.

And now the AirPods 3 will be announced at Monday's "Unleashed" Apple event, along with redesigned MacBook Pro 14-inch and MacBook Pro 16-inch for 2021.

In a Wedbush investor note shared with MacRumors, analyst Dan Ives claims that AirPods 3 is likely to appear at the event. According to the report, a check of the supply chain indicates that the new earbuds are already in production and ready to go, and availability will be almost immediate.

For obvious reasons, checking the supply chain tends to be an accurate way to gauge when a company is ready for a full release. But if you want a second opinion, on Weibo, leaker @PandaIsBald also claims that the AirPods 3 will be announced next week.

Unlike the iPhone, AirPods updates are not annual, and this is the first change to the entry-level earphones since the AirPods 2 launched in 2019. The second generation brought Siri integration, lower latency, a longer battery, and an optional wireless charging case.

This time around, biver changes are expected: the AirPods 3 will apparently feature the shorter stem found on the AirPods Pro, which will certainly please some people. We have also heard rumors of active noise cancellation, but it is unclear how the AirPods Pro will stand out at that point.

Apple is reportedly planning to introduce a fitness tracking feature to the AirPods Pro 2, but there doesn't seem to be a release date for that earphone anytime soon.

Apple's event will take place on Monday from 1:00 PM ET-10:00 PM ET.