Apple's most affordable TWS right now is the second-generation AirPods that were launched in March 2019 and sell for RM629. Then if you want something more modern with MagSafe support, the third generation AirPods are sold at a price of RM879.
When compared to competitors, Apple's offering is actually still expensive and the audio quality is also average because it focuses more on the ecosystem such as fast tethering support to all Apple devices. There is a report from analyst Jeff Pu of Haitong Intl Tech Research, claiming that Apple may come with more affordable AirPods.
Although AirPods are one of Apple's best-selling accessories, the demand in 2022 was 73 million and is expected to decrease to 63 million in 2023. The demand for the third generation AirPods is also said to be not great enough and maybe for this reason, Apple wants to come with a more capable version belonging to what Jeff Pu calls AirPods Lite.
If it is true that this AirPods Lite will exist, the selling price may be below the selling price of the Lightning version of AirPods 3, RM829. In our monitoring, the original AirPods Pro can already be purchased at a price of around RM800 in some stores if there is a promotion. This indirectly makes not many people interested in AirPods 3. Are you one of the owners of AirPods, if so which model are you using now?