Apple is kicking off the new year with a fun limited-edition pair of AirPods, but you might find yourself in trouble. As spotted by MacRumors on Friday, Apple is selling the Snake 4 Special Edition AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation in celebration of the Chinese New Year (or Spring Festival) on January 29, 2025.
Currently, the AirPods 4 theme is only available in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore, so you can’t buy them directly from Apple anywhere in North America or Europe.
In the area where these AirPods are available, they cost the same as the standard model. They also offer all the same features – the only difference is the snake engraving on the AirPods 4 wireless charging case (and the red snake on the packaging).
Plus, these are the same AirPods 4 that were awarded 4.5 stars in last year’s review. As I said at the time, there’s a lot of competition in this price range when it comes to wireless headphones, but the AirPods 4 are “a worthwhile upgrade over the base AirPods 4, considering the addition of wireless charging and ANC.”
MacRumors explains that releasing special edition AirPods is a tradition for Apple. The company has previously released AirPods to celebrate the Year of the Dragon, the Year of the Ox, the Year of the Tiger, and the Year of the Rabbit, but all of them are AirPods Pro.
Apple’s Year of the Snake AirPods 4 are now on sale and start shipping on January 8.
