Apple Inc. will release a range of new products in the year ahead, including updated AirPod earphones, Macs and iPhones with hole-punch displays, according to some of the best-known Apple watchers.

Leading the pack is famed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. His first prediction of the year is the latest AirPods release. Kuo predicts that Apple will launch AirPods Pro 2 in the fourth quarter with a new form factor. The new release will include support for the Apple Lossless format and a charging case that can emit a sound for users to track it.

Kuo is optimistic about the demand for AirPods Pro 2 and estimates shipments will reach 18 million to 20 million units in 2022.

Mark Gurman at Bloomberg makes a longer list of predictions for Apple in the year ahead, including new iPhones, new Mac laptops and desktops, AirPods and potentially a virtual reality headset.

That new iPhones are coming later this year is a given. Gurman predicts that at least some iPhone 14 models launching later this year will include a hole-punch display design, the same prediction made by Kuo in September. The hole-punch display has become a standard feature in a wide variety of Android phones, whereas Apple has stuck so far with a more dated notch design at the top of the screen.

Gurman predicts that Apple is planning a resigned MacBook Air with what he describes as the biggest redesign in the product’s history, a new entry-level MacBook Pro and a new iPad Pro with wireless charging. Whether these devices will see the debut of the M2 chip is unknown, with Gurman noting that he wonders if Apple will stick with the M1 or wait for the M2.

Also predicted is a small Apple silicon version of the Mac Pro desktop tower with up to a 40-core CPU and a 128-core GPU.

Gurman added that the Holy Grail for Apple in 2022 would be a virtual headset but notes that the timeline for the product has slipped before. Kuo is more optimistic that the VR headset will debut this year, predicting in November that it will launch in late 2022.

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