Apple Inc.’s AirPods Pro earbuds have grown so popular that any drastic changes to their design or sound would be a gamble for the company. But in a year that’s seen the consumer electronics giant introduce its most significant iPhone overhaul in a while, it’s taking similarly ambitious swings with the new AirPods Pro 3 — though you wouldn’t know it from the outside. First impressions can be deceiving like that.
These wireless earbuds maintain the recognizable style of their predecessors, and they still only come in white. But the company has made considerable improvements in key areas such as comfort, noise cancellation, audio quality, durability and microphone performance — all while keeping the same $249 price as the previous-generation AirPods Pro 2.
The new model also adds built-in heart-rate tracking, making them better suited for workouts.
None of this is obvious at a glance: The stemmed design looks similar to every other pair of AirPods in recent memory. But there are subtle differences on the AirPods Pro 3. Apple tweaked the angle at which the buds lodge into your ears to help sound reach them more directly. Each earbud is also marginally heavier — about 5.6 grams, up from 5.3 grams — but this increase is imperceptible.
The most impactful change in terms of fit, comfort and stability are the new ear tips. They mostly feel like the same silicone inserts as before, but Apple infused the portion that goes into your ear canal with foam, which expands for a tighter, more secure seal.
As a result, the AirPods Pro 3 do a better job of staying put than any of Apple’s previous AirPods. The earbuds now come with five different pairs of tips in the box, including a new extra, extra small size. (Ear tips from the AirPods Pro 3 are not compatible with previous versions and vice versa.)
The revamped tip and more ergonomic design should make these earbuds suitable for an even broader set of consumers. Inevitably, there will be people who prefer the old look, but Apple’s advancements mean the AirPods simply don’t budge — even during eating, when you’re talking or in the middle of an intense workout.
Apple stuck with a silicone outer layer to ensure the tips can withstand sweaty exercise sessions or occasionally getting caught in the rain. The earbuds are more durable in general and now feature an IP57 dust and water resistance rating, compared with IP54 in the 2023 AirPods Pro refresh that added a USB-C charging case.
In Use
Along with the more robust hardware comes a new feature that might compel the fitness crowd into upgrading: The AirPods Pro 3 have built-in optical heart-rate tracking. Owners can start any of 50 available workouts using Apple’s Fitness app, and their heart rate will be shown along with other metrics. This data helpfully appears on the lock screen as well, meaning it’s visible at a glance.
In the event you’re wearing both an Apple Watch and the AirPods Pro 3 at the same time, Apple will retrieve heart rate information from whichever device has the most precise readings from one moment to the next. (The company hasn’t disclosed how it makes that determination.)
Heart-rate tracking on the AirPods Pro may also spur people who don’t own an Apple Watch to subscribe to the company’s $9.99-a-month Fitness+ service. More people wear earbuds than smartwatches, so this boosts the reach of Apple’s health initiatives — and once customers have a lot of workout data in the Fitness app, it makes the company’s ecosystem stickier and harder to leave.
The active noise cancellation on this model is clearly improved. Apple claims it has the most powerful ANC technology of any wireless earbuds on the market and says the buds are twice as effective as the AirPods Pro 2 at hushing ambient sound. The upgrade has been especially apparent during subway commutes; the AirPods Pro 3 are better than the previous version at softening noise across the frequency range.
You’ll still hear voices around you if nothing’s playing, but the earbuds are capable enough that you can keep music at around 30 or 40 percent volume for disruption-free listening. It’s hard to crown a winner between these and Bose’s second-generation QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds when it comes to sheer noise-canceling power. But Apple tips the scales elsewhere.
Transparency mode on the AirPods Pro 3 has a more natural tonality and inches closer toward making it feel like there’s nothing in your ears at all. The richer transparency is also beneficial for those using Apple’s earbuds as a hearing aid. In that mode, the AirPods Pro 3 can now reach 10 hours on a charge, which reduces the battery life gap between these and single-purpose hearing aids.
For general music listening, you can expect as much as eight hours of playback with noise cancellation enabled, up from around six hours. The charging case holds slightly less juice than before, but the extended continuous listening is more important.
Apple says the AirPods Pro 3 offer a wider, more spacious sound tuning than their predecessors, and several days of sampling tracks across music genres confirm as much. The new earbuds dial up some of the deepest bass tones and enhance vocal clarity compared to the second-generation version. Much like the in-ear fit, the updated audio profile takes some adjustment, but most people are likely to prefer it over time.
Whether you’re recording a video with your iPhone or making a call, the new AirPods also fare better at picking up your voice. The fidelity has undergone such an upgrade that some creators might prefer the simplicity of using the AirPods Pro 3 for voiceovers— especially in a pinch — rather than turning to wireless mics from brands like DJI.
The AirPods Pro 3 also carry over some popular tricks from previous models that only work when paired with an iPhone. That includes automatic switching between devices, audio sharing and private listening when watching content on an Apple TV set-top box late at night.
Even smaller details, like the ability to pinpoint the case’s location with an iPhone when it goes missing, are improved; in the case of the location feature, it now works with greater accuracy. As with the prior version, you can use these as hearing protection in loud environments or take a short test to determine whether Apple’s hearing aid mode might be helpful to you.
AI Language Translation
Another new feature that’s available for both the AirPods Pro 3 and AirPods Pro 2 starting this month is live language translation. Apple launched the feature with a handful of supported languages, such as Spanish, and plans to add more later this year, including Mandarin.
When activated, which can be done quickly by pressing and holding both earbud stems, noise cancellation quiets the voice of whoever’s speaking to you, making it easier to focus on the translated audio that you’ll hear throughout the conversation.
If the other person is also wearing AirPods, they can have a similar experience — or you can use the iPhone’s Translate app to show them written translations of whatever you’re saying in response.
An iPhone is required for this functionality to work, but once you download the necessary language packs, it works mostly as advertised. Sometimes the delay can get frustrating, and Siri is susceptible to making the usual translation blunders, but it’s perfectly usable for getting the gist of what’s being said.
Apple isn’t trying to mimic each person’s unique voice as Google does on its latest Pixel smartphones; instead, you get a fairly robotic Siri voice. Still, the overall experience is impressive, representing a rare success amid the company’s sluggish AI rollout.
The Takeaway
They might look very familiar, but Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 meaningfully improve what were already the best all-around earbuds on the market — for iPhone owners, at least. The fit is more stable, the noise cancellation is noticeably stronger, and music sounds richer with better detail preservation. And that’s before you get to ancillary enhancements like the heart-rate tracking and live translation.
If you’re still using an older pair of AirPods with a waning battery, the AirPods Pro 3 offer a compelling list of reasons to upgrade. The full package is good enough that it might even make shoppers outside Apple’s walled garden a little envious.
These wireless earbuds maintain the recognizable style of their predecessors, and they still only come in white. But the company has made considerable improvements in key areas such as comfort, noise cancellation, audio quality, durability and microphone performance — all while keeping the same $249 price as the previous-generation AirPods Pro 2.
The new model also adds built-in heart-rate tracking, making them better suited for workouts.
None of this is obvious at a glance: The stemmed design looks similar to every other pair of AirPods in recent memory. But there are subtle differences on the AirPods Pro 3. Apple tweaked the angle at which the buds lodge into your ears to help sound reach them more directly. Each earbud is also marginally heavier — about 5.6 grams, up from 5.3 grams — but this increase is imperceptible.
The most impactful change in terms of fit, comfort and stability are the new ear tips. They mostly feel like the same silicone inserts as before, but Apple infused the portion that goes into your ear canal with foam, which expands for a tighter, more secure seal.
As a result, the AirPods Pro 3 do a better job of staying put than any of Apple’s previous AirPods. The earbuds now come with five different pairs of tips in the box, including a new extra, extra small size. (Ear tips from the AirPods Pro 3 are not compatible with previous versions and vice versa.)
The revamped tip and more ergonomic design should make these earbuds suitable for an even broader set of consumers. Inevitably, there will be people who prefer the old look, but Apple’s advancements mean the AirPods simply don’t budge — even during eating, when you’re talking or in the middle of an intense workout.
Apple stuck with a silicone outer layer to ensure the tips can withstand sweaty exercise sessions or occasionally getting caught in the rain. The earbuds are more durable in general and now feature an IP57 dust and water resistance rating, compared with IP54 in the 2023 AirPods Pro refresh that added a USB-C charging case.
In Use
Along with the more robust hardware comes a new feature that might compel the fitness crowd into upgrading: The AirPods Pro 3 have built-in optical heart-rate tracking. Owners can start any of 50 available workouts using Apple’s Fitness app, and their heart rate will be shown along with other metrics. This data helpfully appears on the lock screen as well, meaning it’s visible at a glance.
In the event you’re wearing both an Apple Watch and the AirPods Pro 3 at the same time, Apple will retrieve heart rate information from whichever device has the most precise readings from one moment to the next. (The company hasn’t disclosed how it makes that determination.)
Heart-rate tracking on the AirPods Pro may also spur people who don’t own an Apple Watch to subscribe to the company’s $9.99-a-month Fitness+ service. More people wear earbuds than smartwatches, so this boosts the reach of Apple’s health initiatives — and once customers have a lot of workout data in the Fitness app, it makes the company’s ecosystem stickier and harder to leave.
The active noise cancellation on this model is clearly improved. Apple claims it has the most powerful ANC technology of any wireless earbuds on the market and says the buds are twice as effective as the AirPods Pro 2 at hushing ambient sound. The upgrade has been especially apparent during subway commutes; the AirPods Pro 3 are better than the previous version at softening noise across the frequency range.
You’ll still hear voices around you if nothing’s playing, but the earbuds are capable enough that you can keep music at around 30 or 40 percent volume for disruption-free listening. It’s hard to crown a winner between these and Bose’s second-generation QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds when it comes to sheer noise-canceling power. But Apple tips the scales elsewhere.
Transparency mode on the AirPods Pro 3 has a more natural tonality and inches closer toward making it feel like there’s nothing in your ears at all. The richer transparency is also beneficial for those using Apple’s earbuds as a hearing aid. In that mode, the AirPods Pro 3 can now reach 10 hours on a charge, which reduces the battery life gap between these and single-purpose hearing aids.
For general music listening, you can expect as much as eight hours of playback with noise cancellation enabled, up from around six hours. The charging case holds slightly less juice than before, but the extended continuous listening is more important.
Apple says the AirPods Pro 3 offer a wider, more spacious sound tuning than their predecessors, and several days of sampling tracks across music genres confirm as much. The new earbuds dial up some of the deepest bass tones and enhance vocal clarity compared to the second-generation version. Much like the in-ear fit, the updated audio profile takes some adjustment, but most people are likely to prefer it over time.
Whether you’re recording a video with your iPhone or making a call, the new AirPods also fare better at picking up your voice. The fidelity has undergone such an upgrade that some creators might prefer the simplicity of using the AirPods Pro 3 for voiceovers— especially in a pinch — rather than turning to wireless mics from brands like DJI.
The AirPods Pro 3 also carry over some popular tricks from previous models that only work when paired with an iPhone. That includes automatic switching between devices, audio sharing and private listening when watching content on an Apple TV set-top box late at night.
Even smaller details, like the ability to pinpoint the case’s location with an iPhone when it goes missing, are improved; in the case of the location feature, it now works with greater accuracy. As with the prior version, you can use these as hearing protection in loud environments or take a short test to determine whether Apple’s hearing aid mode might be helpful to you.
AI Language Translation
Another new feature that’s available for both the AirPods Pro 3 and AirPods Pro 2 starting this month is live language translation. Apple launched the feature with a handful of supported languages, such as Spanish, and plans to add more later this year, including Mandarin.
When activated, which can be done quickly by pressing and holding both earbud stems, noise cancellation quiets the voice of whoever’s speaking to you, making it easier to focus on the translated audio that you’ll hear throughout the conversation.
If the other person is also wearing AirPods, they can have a similar experience — or you can use the iPhone’s Translate app to show them written translations of whatever you’re saying in response.
An iPhone is required for this functionality to work, but once you download the necessary language packs, it works mostly as advertised. Sometimes the delay can get frustrating, and Siri is susceptible to making the usual translation blunders, but it’s perfectly usable for getting the gist of what’s being said.
Apple isn’t trying to mimic each person’s unique voice as Google does on its latest Pixel smartphones; instead, you get a fairly robotic Siri voice. Still, the overall experience is impressive, representing a rare success amid the company’s sluggish AI rollout.
The Takeaway
They might look very familiar, but Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 meaningfully improve what were already the best all-around earbuds on the market — for iPhone owners, at least. The fit is more stable, the noise cancellation is noticeably stronger, and music sounds richer with better detail preservation. And that’s before you get to ancillary enhancements like the heart-rate tracking and live translation.
If you’re still using an older pair of AirPods with a waning battery, the AirPods Pro 3 offer a compelling list of reasons to upgrade. The full package is good enough that it might even make shoppers outside Apple’s walled garden a little envious.
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