At a glance: What to expect from AirPods Pro 3

• Similar design





• Heart-rate and temperature sensors





• New features including Live Translation

AirPods Pro 3 design

Last year’s AirPods 4 update brought a streamlined design for Apple’s low-end earbuds, so it would be logical to assume a similar design update will be coming to the AirPods Pro. However, after long-standing rumors of a flush, “stemless” design like the Beats Studio Buds, the new AirPods Pro look, well, almost identical to the second generation.

The charging case looks the same, too, but Apple says it uses “next-generation Ultra Wideband technology” which increases the distance of Precision Finding by 1.5x.

AirPods Pro 3 features

This year’s headline features are a new heart rate sensor, improved fit, better battery life, and live translation.

Heart-rate sensor

In February, Apple announced the Powerbeats Pro 2, which brought the H2 chip as well as an optical heart-rate sensor for continuously measuring heart rate during a workout and tracking throughout the day. The feature has been rumored for the AirPods Pro 3 as far back as December 2024, when Mark Gurman of Bloomberg reported that Apple was working on in-ear heart rate monitoring for the AirPods Pro 2.

Good news: It’s finally here, using Apple’s “smallest ever” heart rate sensor that pulses invisible light to get accurate metrics. Apple says the new AirPods Pro can give accurate data in the Fitness app for up to 50 workout types.

Dust, Sweat, and Water Resistance

While AirPods Pro are great for many things, their lack of sweat resistance has made them tough to use for workouts. Thankfully, Apple says the new AirPods Pro 3 are more durable, with an IP57 rating for sweaty workouts.

Noise Cancelling

Wherever you stand on Active Noise Cancellation in the AirPods Pro 2, Apple has improved it with the latest model. In fact, Apple says it’s twice as good as the ANC on the last generation, and four times better than the first. The company says it’s “the world’s best in-ear Active Noise Cancellation”.

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Apple

Improved battery life

With ANC active, battery life has gone from 6 hours to 8 hours on a single charge, while there are 4 hours extra when using the Hearing Aid feature, which came to the second-generation AirPods Pro after launch.

Live translation

As part of the iOS 26 update, Apple is bringing live translation capabilities to the Phone, Messages, and FaceTime apps to automatically translate spoken and written text in real-time. Apple says Live Translation will let you listen to people speaking in one language and hear translations via your AirPods Pro. If both participants have AirPods Pro 3, they’ll be able to speak in their own language and hear translations back.

iOS 26

Several new features are coming to AirPods Pro with iOS 26 and will be present on the new model, including:

Pause when sleeping: If you’re using AirPods and fall asleep, a new feature will automatically turn off playback so the battery won’t run down.

Studio-quality recording: When you use your AirPods with an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, you’ll be able to record in higher sound quality and enjoy clearer calls.

Camera remote: Users can press and hold the AirPods stem to take a photo or start and stop a video recording on iPhone or iPad.

AirPods Pro 3 release date

AirPods Pro 3 are available for preorder now, and will ship on September 19.

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