Apple Now Sells USB-C Charging Case for AirPods Pro for $99

After Apple released 2nd-gen AirPods Pro with a USB-C charging case in September, the company is now making the MagSafe charging case available as a standalone purchase (via The Verge). The new USB-C case will cost you $99, which is quite expensive, though the AirPods Pro with the charging case included come at $249.

If you purchased the 2nd-gen AirPods Pro with the original Lightning charging case, upgrading to the USB-C version is now a possibility. And for convenience, you may have a good incentive to do so if you recently purchased an iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Pro with a USB-C charging port.

The 2nd-gen AirPods Pro with USB-C that Apple released in September also came with other upgrades, however: There’s additional dust resistance with and improved IP54 rating for the earbuds and case, and Apple also added Lossless Audio support for its upcoming Vision Pro headset.

While Apple is still selling older iPhones, iPads, and accessories with its proprietary Lightning port, a full transition to USB-C is set to happen eventually. We’ve recently seen Apple release a new Apple Pencil with USB-C port in October, and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that 4th Gen AirPods and AirPods Max With USB-C in 2024 would be coming in 2024.

That was quite an oddity, but Apple didn’t use the launch of its new 24-inch iMac with an M3 chip last month to refresh its Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Keyboard with USB-C ports. We’ll see if these Mac accessories will finally ditch their Lightning ports next year.