- iOS 26 modifies lighting on AirPods cases
- The new colors are green, yellow and orange
- We do not know exactly how these new lights will work
We obtained the great revelation of iOS 26 in June, and it is currently in public beta test, but Apple continues to add new features to the software – including the management of an extended lighting system on AirPods load cases.
As a minimal Nerd pointed out (via 9TO5GOOGLE), the fifth beta update of the iOS 26 developer – that specifically for application manufacturers – brings a change that “indicates more clearly the load status” on airpods cases, according to a graph which appears on the screen.
It seems that there will now be three lights in action: green for loaded, yellow to be loaded and orange to show that the case must be billed. One of these colors is new, but without any official word from Apple, it is not clear which.
The Apple support document which is currently live listed green and amber like the two colors that you will see during the load of your AirPods and their case, it therefore seems that we will get two different variations in Amber in the future.
Lights, load, action
It’s new in Beta 5, isn’t it?! I have never seen it before. pic.twitter.com/gc8bp7ntmpAugust 6, 2025
Considering that the AirPods case has such a simple indicator, interpreting it is actually quite complicated – what it shows varies depending on whether it is connected to power, whether it is open or closed, and if the airpods are really inside or not.
During the load and with the closed case, for example, you can press the case to obtain a reading: invoice (amber) or billed (green). If the case is open, do not invoice and to your airpods, Amber means that you have less than one load on the headphones.
We will have to wait and see exactly how this new triple light approach works in practice: probably Apple will provide official documentation if the functionality is kept in the betas iOS 26 and goes to the full version (due in September, with the iPhone 17).
Another stranger is whether it will apply to each AirPods model, or only the most recent. The next pair of apple headphones to see the light of day could be the AirPods Pro 3, which was referenced in the IOS 26 code.
