A year after Apple Inc.’s AirPods went on sale, a new report from renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims the company will unveil the second generation of the wireless earbuds in 2018.

Details are lacking of what can be expected from the next version of AirPods, but Kuo did report that the updated earbuds will contain a smaller quartz component. Taiwanese manufacturer Inventec Corp. will continue to assemble the AirPods, according to Kuo, with individual components supplied by fellow Taiwanese companies.

Media reports this week have highlighted the lack of AirPods stock at most big online retailers ahead of the holiday season. Amazon.com, Best Buy, Target, Walmart and Apple’s own site are out of stock and are reporting an expected shipping date of early January. Last-minute shoppers could still find them on eBay.

Prior to these supply constraints, Apple had managed to get shipment dates down to one to three days on its online store, thanks to the addition of another assembler, Luxshare Precision Industry Co. Ltd. The main supply chain bottleneck now, according to Kuo, is the RF printed-circuit boards.

Kuo also reiterated his earlier reports that Apple AirPod shipments will double in 2018, equating to shipments in the range of 26 million to 28 million units.  

Rumors ahead of the iPhone X launch suggested Apple might unveil new AirPods at the September event, but that didn’t happen. The company did, however, introduce a second-generation AirPods case that offers support for wireless charging and will work with the upcoming AirPower charging mat also unveiled at the event. The AirPower charging mat will allow for the simultaneous charging of the AirPods in their new case, Apple Watch Series 3 and iPhone X or iPhone 8.

Both the new AirPods case and the AirPower charging mat, which will reportedly cost $200, will be released in 2018.

Patents filed by Apple suggest a future generation of AirPods will see significant improvements, including built-in electrocardiogram and heart rate monitors and improved sound quality. But the filing of a patent doesn’t necessarily indicate that these features will make it into future Apple AirPods.

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