AirPods 2 leak hints at Bluetooth 5.0 and new biometric sensors

The Apple AirPods 2 have been tough to pin down. Sure, we’ve seen a number of leaks over the last six months – including information around potential waterproofing and noise-cancellation features – but none that has originated from an official source.

That all changed today, when the Apple AirPods 2 passed SIG Bluetooth Certification, a requisite for any device that includes Bluetooth before it comes to market.

The listing on SIG's website was first noticed by MySmartPrice, an India-based tech publication, and it not only confirms the existence of Apple’s next-gen true wireless earbuds, but also gives us some key details.

The first of these major spoilers is that the Apple AirPods 2 will support Bluetooth 5.0 instead of the Bluetooth 4.2 version that was available on the original AirPods. Bluetooth 5.0 will mean that the second-gen earbuds will support a 50m wireless range and two times the amount of data transmission, plus a longer battery life overall.

The new earbuds are only identified by the model numbers A2031 and A2032 in the SIG document (potentially pointing to the left earbud and right earbud respectively), and that makes gleaning additional details difficult.

That's where an updated trademark filing with Hong Kong and Europe comes in.

Wellness sensors included

The updated trademark filings were spotted by Patently Apple, who specifically calls attention to the new Class 10 designation for the AirPods.

Class 10, for those who don't speak FTC filings, means that a device is intended to be a general wellness device, a category that typically includes "health, fitness, exercise, and wellness sensors, monitors, speakers and displays for measuring, displaying, tracking, reporting, monitoring, storing, and transmitting biometric data, heart rate, body movement, and calories burned."

That confirms our earlier suspicions that the second-gen AirPods will be more of a health-focused device that will likely be a sweat-proof gym companion.

The filing doesn't give any additional details other than the new class designation, but that, in and of itself, offers a bit more insight to Apple's otherwise MIA earbuds.