Apple gave a hearty update to its highest-end wireless earbuds, launching AirPods Pro 3. The new buds improve noise cancellation, battery life and add heart rate monitoring and live translation.
“With breakthrough audio performance and entirely new capabilities, I think AirPods Pro are truly incredible,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook. “These are my favorite AirPods ever,” said Kate Bergeron, Apple’s vice president of hardware engineering.
This announcement comes at Apple’s “Awe Dropping” event. The new third-generation AirPods Pro cost $249 and will be available starting September 19. Preorders will open today.
AirPods Pro 3 launch with twice the noise cancellation
AirPods Pro are the highest-end earbuds offered by Apple. The original selling point was its advanced active noise cancellation — although that feature can now be had on the AirPods 4. Regardless, the in-ear design of the AirPods Pro, with adjustable rubber tips of varying sizes, means the AirPods Pro still offer superior sound.
Tweaked design, ANC and battery life
Image: Apple
The updated AirPods Pro feature the “best noise cancellation of any in-ear wireless headphones,” according to Kate Bergeron. The custom multiport acoustic architecture improves the sound and widens the sound stage, bringing vocals into focus.
The new ear tips come in five sizes, providing a more precise and accurate fit. Combined with its ultra low noise microphones, these new models have twice the active noise cancellation of the outgoing models — that’s a 4× improvement over the original AirPods Pro and the AirPods 4 with ANC.
Battery life is even improved. It now features eight hours of battery life with active noise cancellation, and 10 hours of battery life when used as hearing aids with transparency mode active.
Built-in heart rate monitoring
Photo: Apple
These new AirPods Pro feature built-in heart rate monitoring. This feature already exists in Apple’s Beats Powerbeats Pro 2, though those earbuds cannot simultaneously stream music to gym equipment.
Combined with sweat and water resistance, these AirPods Pro are the perfect fit for fitness tracking.
With just your AirPods Pro and your iPhone, you can track up to 50 fitness types, tracking your heart rate and calories burned.
This also includes Workout Buddy, the smart coaching feature introduced in watchOS 26.
Real-time translation
Photo: Apple
AirPods Pro 3 will work with Apple Intelligence and the iPhone’s Translate app to deliver real-time conversation translation directly through the earbuds. This is activated with a simple gesture — pressing both buds simultaneously.
ANC lowers the volume of the person speaking, so the translation is highlighted. “The meaning of each phrase is translated for you,” said Bergeron.
The user can hold up their iPhone to show the translated text. When both people are wearing AirPods Pro, both people will hear translations in the buds directly.
AirPods Pro 3 finally launch
AirPods are updated roughly every three years, so this update is right on schedule. They will be available for preorder later today, with in-store availability and deliveries beginning on September 19, at the same $249 price.
The original AirPods Pro debuted in 2019, bringing active noise cancellation to the AirPods line for the first time.
Second-generation AirPods Pro came with a more powerful H2 chip and a MagSafe wireless charging case in 2022. These were later upgraded to a USB-C charging case, and were regularly updated with smarter noise cancellation modes over time. Just last year, they were updated with FDA-approval as over-the-counter hearing aids.
D. Griffin Jones is a writer, podcaster and video producer for Cult of Mac. Griffin has been a passionate computer enthusiast since 2002, when he got his first PC — but since getting a Mac in 2008, he hasn’t turned back. His skills in graphic and web design, along with video and podcast editing, are self-taught over 20+ years. Griffin has a bachelor’s degree in computer science and has written several (unpublished) apps for Mac and iOS. His collection of old computers is made up of 40+ desktops, laptops, PDAs and devices, dating back to the early ’80s. He brings all of these creative and technical skills, along with a deep knowledge of Apple history, into his work for Cult of Mac.
