Apple Releases Limited Edition AirPods 4 for Year of the Snake

Friday January 3, 2025 9:30 am PST by Juli Clover

To celebrate the Lunar New Year that starts on January 29, Apple is releasing limited edition AirPods 4 that are engraved with a special Year of the Snake icon.

year of the snake airpods
Apple's Year of the Snake ‌AirPods 4‌ are available for purchase in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore at the current time.

The AirPods are identical to the standard ‌AirPods 4‌ with Active Noise Cancellation and are available for the same price, but there is a unique engraving on the USB-C case of the device. Released earlier this year, the ‌AirPods 4‌ are Apple's first earbuds that offer Active Noise Cancellation without silicone ear tips. The ‌AirPods 4‌ feature adaptive audio, transparency mode, support for spatial audio, and more.

Customers can place orders for the special edition ‌AirPods 4‌ as of today, with deliveries set to begin on January 8. Apple is limiting each customer to two of the Year of the Snake AirPods.

Creating special edition AirPods is a tradition for Apple, though in past years, Apple has customized AirPods Pro rather than standard AirPods. There have been limited edition AirPods to celebrate the Year of the Dragon, Year of the Ox, Year of the Tiger, and Year of the Rabbit.

Along with special edition AirPods, Apple is holding a New Year sale in China, dropping the price of the iPhone 16 models by 500 yuan, and discounting other devices like the AirPods, Macs, iPads, and accessories. Apple is also offering Year of the Snake themed Today at Apple sessions from January 4 to February 14.

Popular Stories

apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

Apple Plans to Expand iPhone Driver's Licenses to These 7 U.S. States

Thursday January 2, 2025 6:45 am PST by Joe Rossignol

In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Below, we outline which U.S. states and territories offer the feature, and additional states that have committed to rolling it out in...

• 127 comments

New MacBook Air Models Coming Soon With These Rumored Features

Thursday January 2, 2025 6:42 am PST by Joe Rossignol

One of Apple's first product announcements of 2025 will likely be updated 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models with the M4 chip. Below, we recap rumors about the next MacBook Air models. New Features Expected The new MacBook Air models are expected to be equipped with Apple's already-released M4 chip, which has a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU. Apple already updated the MacBook...

• 67 comments

Apple Vision Pro May Now Be Out of Production

Tuesday December 31, 2024 2:00 pm PST by Hartley Charlton

Apple's first-generation Vision Pro headset may have now ceased production, following reports of reduced demand and production cuts earlier in the year. In October, The Information's Wayne Ma reported that Apple had abruptly reduced production of the Vision Pro headset ahead of potential plans to stop making the current version of the device completely by the end of 2024. With the year now...

• 354 comments

Apple Broke a 13-Year Hardware Streak in 2024

Wednesday January 1, 2025 1:00 am PST by Hartley Charlton

For over a decade, Apple has consistently announced all-new hardware product lines, from the iPad in 2010 to the Vision Pro in 2023. But for the first time in 14 years, Apple failed to announce any major new hardware products in 2024, focusing solely on updates and refinements to its existing product lines. While Apple unveiled a large number of significant hardware refreshes in 2024, such...

• 112 comments

'iPhone SE 4' Rumored to Be Named 'iPhone 16E'

Wednesday January 1, 2025 8:31 am PST by Joe Rossignol

Apple is expected to release a fourth-generation iPhone SE in March, but it has been rumored that the device will have a different name. The device succeeding the third-generation iPhone SE will be named the iPhone 16E, according to a December 13 post from Fixed Focus Digital, an account with over two million followers on Chinese social media platform Weibo. On December 31, another leaker...

• 134 comments

iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 1 Redux

iPhone 17 Air's Thickness and Price Range Revealed in New Report

Friday January 3, 2025 7:16 am PST by Joe Rossignol

Apple is widely rumored to be planning an ultra-thin iPhone 17 model for release later this year, and a new report offers a few purported details. South Korea's Sisa Journal today reported that Apple is aiming for the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" to be 6.25mm thick. If that measurement ends up being accurate, the device would become the thinnest iPhone ever, topping the current 6.9mm record set ...

• 221 comments

RIP, CarPlay 2?

Sunday December 29, 2024 7:32 am PST by MacRumors Staff

Apple's website continues to state that the first vehicle models with next-generation CarPlay will "arrive in 2024." With less than three days remaining in the year, however, that timeframe is looking more and more unlikely. It would not be entirely Apple's fault if the stated 2024 target is missed, given that it is ultimately up to automakers to roll out the software in vehicles, but it is...

Apple Shares Special Wallpaper and Watch Face to Celebrate New Store

Wednesday January 1, 2025 8:59 am PST by Joe Rossignol

Apple recently announced it will be opening a new retail store at the MixC Hefei shopping mall in Hefei, China on January 18 at 10 a.m. local time. To celebrate the store's upcoming grand opening, Apple has shared both a special wallpaper and Apple Watch face featuring a custom-designed Apple logo. The wallpaper is available for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Ahead of the Chinese New Year...

• 26 comments

Top Rated Comments

GermanSuplex

1 day ago at 09:34 am

Clearly a lot of thought and effort went into that one.

Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)

sw1tcher

1 day ago at 09:38 am

Along with special edition AirPods, Apple is holding a New Year sale in China, dropping the price of the iPhone 16 models by 500 yuan, and discounting other devices like the AirPods, Macs, iPads, and accessories. Apple is also offering Year of the Snake themed Today at Apple sessions from January 4 to February 14.

I don't see how a $68.00 USD discount is going to help turn around iPhone sales.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/03/foreign-phone-sales-plunge-47percent-in-china-spelling-trouble-for-apple.html

Sales of foreign phone brands in China plunged in November, according to official data released Friday, underscoring further pressure on Apple, the biggest international handset vendor in the country.

In November, foreign mobile phone shipments in China stood at 3.04 million units, according to CNBC calculations based on data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, or CAICT.

That’s a fall of 47.4% from November 2023, and a 51% drop from October last year.

CAICT does not break down figures for individual brands, however Apple accounts for the majority of foreign mobile phone shipments in China with competitors like Samsung forming only a tiny part of the market.

I predict another trip to China for Tim Cook in the very near future.

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

vertsix

1 day ago at 09:56 am

Thissss issss awessssome.

Just kidding, I will get them for cheaper on Amazon. Thank you very much Apple.

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

barkomatic

22 hours ago at 11:27 am

I wish Apple would release more special edition products in other markets as well. Special Apple cases or iPhone colors, or graphics

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

SanderEvers

23 hours ago at 10:00 am

Mine* is also unique, because it has my name engraved on it. But it's cool to have 'special' editions of the engravings.

(* mine are pro 2s with USB-C though)

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Zwhaler

23 hours ago at 10:08 am

Clearly a lot of thought and effort went into that one.

Haha read my mind.

Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Read All Comments