AirPods that connect to a turntable and offer custom sound-mixing using a touchscreen case? Apple’s thinking about it, but don’t expect it on AirPods Pro 3

• Patent describes AirPods case as a wireless audio transmitter
• Touchscreen with both finger and Apple Pencil input
• Sound-mixing and control options also included

As the famous tagline put it, Apple likes to Think Different – and its most different thinking tends to pop up in patents, like this new one for the ultimate AirPods case, spotted by Patently Apple.

Apple has been filing interesting AirPods patents for ages, and as Patently Apple notes, it filed one design featuring a touchscreen display back in 2023. And now there's a newly published patent application that takes the idea much further.

What's in the latest Apple AirPods patent?

The newly published patent describes the AirPods case as a hub for wearable audio devices, with a large square touchscreen on the front. That screen is ...