With scientists and researchers still working hard to stop the spread of the coronavirus, the epidemic is having a tangible impact on manufacturing in China. While some companies have been actively looking to shift manufacturing resources to Taiwan, overall production across a range of products is expected to take a hit.
As it pertains to Apple, a new report from DigiTimes relays that the coronavirus might see Apple release its rumored AirPods Pro Lite a little bit later than initially anticipated. Word of Apple’s potentially releasing a more wallet-friendly version of its popular AirPods Pro first surfaced last week, though we haven’t seen any details regarding how much it might cost or what features it might leave out as to differentiate it from Apple’s AirPods Pro.
In any event, the Digitimes report claims that AirPods Pro Lite production will not commence sometime during the second quarter as initially planned. The report doesn’t shed any light as to when production might begin or when Apple is planning to introduce its low-cost wireless earbuds to the market.
All that said, the actual AirPods Pro Lite rumor should be taken with a grain of salt. The rumor first surfaced via Digitimes which has a somewhat spotty track record when it comes to Apple rumors. And as alluded to above, it’s not entirely clear how a cheaper AirPods Pro product would fit into Apple’s product line.
To this point, Apple’s AirPods Pro are currently priced at $249 while regular AirPods with a wireless charging case retails for $199. Meanwhile, regular AirPods with a regular charging case will set you back $159. In light of that, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of room for a new AirPods Pro model in Apple’s product lineup.
