In the months before Apple released AirPods Pro in October 2019, the company considered renaming the wireless headphones AirPods Extreme. We understand that at least one member of Apple’s leadership team proposed the name AirPods Extreme, but after many employees objected, the company ultimately decided to use the AirPods Pro brand.
Apple has used the "Extreme" brand in the past for its discontinued AirPort Extreme routers and Mac wireless cards, which were first released in 2003.
The name AirPodsPro is more in line with the brand positioning of Apple's multiple product lines. In addition to AirPods, Apple also offers regular and Pro versions of iPhone, iPad and Mac, and may also launch regular versions of Apple Vision Pro headphones in the future. However, Apple has used some other suffixes for high-end products over the years, such as AirPods Max and Apple Watch Ultra.
In September 2022, Apple released the second-generation AirPodsPro, and updated the headphones a year later, adding a USB-C charging box and other features. It is rumored that the third generation AirPods Pro will be released in 2025.