The way humans reproduce sound could change more in the next decade than it has in the past century.
And AirPods could be first.
Silicon-based, solid-state speakers for earbuds, over the counter hearing aids, even exotic stuff like arrays of ultrasound generators to make objects in augmented reality feel real, are coming.
My latest:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/exotic-new-silicon-based-speakers-are-coming-to-next-generation-earbuds-ee99b76b