This time last year, Apple released a special, super-cute Year of the Ox edition of AirPods Pro. Now, as we are about to begin the Year of the Tiger, another limited-edition version is upon us, as reported by Joe Rossignol at MacRumors. And, like last year, there’s one big problem with this adorable specialty: it’s not available everywhere.
Last year’s Year of the Ox was a set of AirPods Pro which on the front showed an Animoji of a bull (or cow) with its head exploding and a smaller bovine creature popping out of the top, winking an eye.
Something similarly surreal is on offer this time. Well, perhaps whimsical it a better word. You see, this year the AirPods Pro case features an Animoji in a tiger costume. That makes sense, of course, but look more closely and you’ll see that the dear creature wearing the tiger outfit is, yes, a tiger!
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It looks great, and to be honest, I’m rather charmed by the idea of a tiger dressing up as its own species to celebrate new year.
The AirPods Pro case has this delightful image on the front, just below the light that shows the case is charging, for instance. It’s represented in an understated dark gray image. On the box, however, the Apple logo on the side is now in bright red, as is the writing AirPods Pro MagSafe Charging Case (words that have never appeared in this color before, because MagSafe charging was only added a few months ago). There’s also a bright red version of the tiger on the left side of the box.
Please note that there’s no difference in the performance of these earbuds. They don’t get louder when you play Eye of the Tiger or selected sections of The Jungle Book or anything like that. Ah well.
So, how much does all this customization cost? Nothing. Like last year, Apple’s special edition is on sale for the same price as the regular AirPods Pro, that is, RMB 1,999 in mainland China, for instance, and HK$1999 in Hong Kong.
The special-edition AirPods Pro have another cool extra: according to the Weibo page of ifanr, buyers receive a set of Chinese Zodiac Red Packets, made up of a set of 12 red envelopes, each with a different Zodiac sign, illustrated by, that’s right, an Animoji wearing a tiger costume.
Last week, to celebrate new year in Japan, a special AirTag with a tiger on it was released.
That also looked great and, again, the only downside is that it’s not available more widely.