Photos of semi transparent AirPods have surfaced, appearing to be prototypes of early versions of popular earplugs. On Tuesday, Giulio Zompetti posted an image of AirPods on Twitter, showing that the unsold models have a basically transparent shell, with only the head that fits the ears made of opaque white plastic. Except for the top disc section, all other structures can be seen inside the earrings, including electrical connections and batteries used in the components. According to Apple prototype hardware collector Zompetti, the displayed model is a 'semi transparent prototype earplug', but no other information is provided about this mysterious earring. Given Zompetti's record in sharing authentic products and Apple's tendency towards pre production hardware design, it is likely to be a genuine prototype. For example, the Macintosh prototype that emerged in 2020 once again used transparent plastic shells instead of opaque materials. The use of transparent materials provides multiple uses, including displaying internal gaps during the development process. On November 23rd, Zompetti shared images of the 29 watt Apple charger prototype, which once again used a transparent plastic large head shell.

Although Apple will not consider selling it, the AirPods prototype suggests at least one way for Apple to adopt hardware color options, rather than just sticking to pure white.