Although the second-generation AirPods have the same appearance and sound, they have undergone some changes on the inside. They make use of a new custom-designed H1 chip, which Apple claims was "made exclusively for headphones" and allows for greater efficiency.
AirPods, which are powered by Apple's H1 headphone chip, provide a speedier and more reliable wireless connection to your devices, switching between active devices up to 2x faster.
For phone calls, there is a 1.5x improvement in connection time.
The H1 processor also powers Siri voice access and reduces game latency by up to 30%.
So you'll get better sound quality whether you're playing games, listening to music, or listening to podcasts.