Rare translucent prototype AirPods pictured

They look an awful like Nothing’s earbuds…

What you need to know

A rare prototype of AirPods have surfaced online.
Pictures reveal a pair of AirPods with a translucent design.

A pair of rare prototype AirPods have surfaced online revealing a cool translucent design.

As shared by Giulio Zompetti:

#AirPods, translucent prototype earbuds pic.twitter.com/zE4dt47H0J

— Giulio Zompetti (@1nsane_dev) November 30, 2021

The AirPods reveal a striking translucent design for the stem of Apple’s AirPods, complete with a white in-ear section. Given the long nature of the stem which was updated with AirPods 3, these clearly depict some of the earliest designs of the AirPods, and may even date to before 2016 and their original release.

It isn’t clear from the photo whether the translucent design was an intentional design possibility or if they were left transparent for the purposes of testing, or to save money during testing. Regardless they look an awful lot like Nothing’s ear (1) earbuds which embrace the translucent design to stand out.

Apple recently updated AirPods with its third-generation of the regular buds in October, from Apple:

Apple today announced the third generation of AirPods featuring spatial audio, delivering advanced features and a magical experience in a new contoured design. By combining the power of the H1 chip with an Apple-designed acoustic system, the new AirPods use computational audio to deliver breakthrough sound with Adaptive EQ. Users can enjoy spatial audio featuring Dolby Atmos in Apple Music, movies, and tv shows, along with dynamic head tracking, across Apple devices. The new AirPods are resistant to sweat and water, and feature a force sensor for easy and intuitive control of music and phone calls.