It’s looking like we won’t see a new version of the AirPods Max this year, but predictions still dictate that there could indeed be AirPods Pro 3 at Apple’s iPhone 17 launch event on Sunday. 

Apple last updated its flagship AirPods Pro buds in 2022 and released two all-new versions of Apple’s open earbuds — the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Canceling — at last year’s iPhone 16 event. While there’s no guarantee we’ll get the AirPods Pro 3 this year, Apple has announced a new model of AirPods every year since 2019 (I’m counting 2023’s AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C as a new model), and the Pro line is due for an upgrade. 

Here are the latest AirPods Pro 3 rumors and what improvements I’d like to see for Apple’s flagship noise-canceling earbuds.

Read more: Everything We Expect to Be Announced at Apple’s iPhone 17 September Launch Event

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Rumored AirPods Pro 3 release date

Back in February MacRumors spotted a post on X from a tipster called Kosutami, who said Apple was planning to launch the AirPods Pro 3 and AirTag 2 in May or June of this year. The “tip” seemed pretty dubious, and sure enough, it was. Now it’s become clear that the more likely scenario is that the AirPods Pro 3 will arrive at the same time as the iPhone 17 in September. That’s when Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who’s usually a more reliable Apple whisperer, predicts they’ll be announced. He’s also said the AirPods Pro 3 will have a new design and feature heart-rate monitoring like Apple’s new Beats Powerbeats Pro 2.

Read more: Best wireless earbuds of 2025

More recently MacRumors contributor Steve Moser dug into iOS 26 Beta 1 and discovered that its underlying code references AirPods Pro 3 alongside existing AirPods models. “AirPods Pro 3 must be coming soon,” Moser posted on X. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any other references or hints as to what new features they might have.”

That said, on June 9 at WWDC 2025, Apple did announce some new features for the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) that will officially launch this fall but are available to try now for beta testers if you have a developer’s account (public betas are coming soon). These new features include studio-quality audio recording and camera remote features. 

• Studio-quality audio recording: Apple says that “interviewers, podcasters, singers, and other creators can record their content with greater sound quality, and even record while on the go or in noisy environments with Voice Isolation.”
• Leveraging its powerful H2 chip, Apple is also upgrading voice-calling performance: “User will also enjoy more natural vocal texture and clarity across iPhone calls, FaceTime, and CallKit-enabled apps,” it says.
• The new Camera Remote feature allows you to “start or stop video recordings from a distance with a simple press of the AirPods stem.”
• AirPods models with the H2 chip will also be able to detect when you fall asleep and automatically pause what you’re listening to. 

To reiterate, the AirPods Pro 3 are likely to be unveiled this September, but you can always find naysayers. MacRumors recently reported that Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong thinks the AirPods Pro 3 may not arrive until 2026, forecasting they’ll launch alongside the Apple Watch Series 12 and a refreshed Vision Pro. Industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also predicted the AirPods may not see significant updates until 2026 and claimed that Apple would release a lighter AirPods Max in 2027.  

According to AppleTrack, Ming-Chi Kuo has pretty good track record, with a 72.5% accuracy rating over 142 rumors posts. 

Will Trump tariffs affect the AirPods Pro 3?

What impact the Trump tariffs will have on Apple products, including AirPods, isn’t totally clear at this point.

There’s been plenty of chatter about Apple being hurt by high tariffs on goods made in China, but it turns out a certain percentage of AirPods are made in India and Vietnam. Word was that Apple would potentially shift more of its production of the AirPods Pro 3 to those countries, but the Trump administration’s recent trade deal with Vietnam could mean that Apple will have to pay a 20% important tariff on goods made in Vietnam, according to Apple Insider. (Remember that tariffs are paid on the wholesale price of imported goods, not the retail price).

While we’ve seen approximately 10% price hikes on recently released premium headphones like Sony’s WH-1000XM6 (made in Malaysia) and Bowers & Wilkins’ PX7 S3, Apple is under some pressure from cost-effective brands and lower cost earbuds, which have eaten into its share of the earbuds market in recent years. If Apple hopes to retain or grow its market share, it probably has to keep the AirPods Pro 3’s list price at $250. That’s what the AirPods Pro have always cost, though discounts at Amazon and other online retailers typically bring the price down to less than $200 and sometimes less than $180.

The tariff situation remains fluid, so we could see new products delayed or released in other parts of the world other than the U.S. In the past, the U.S. typically had the best prices for iPhones and other Apple products, but that could change. 

Read more: What makes cheap earbuds a real value? How I find the hidden gems

New temperature and heart-rate sensors

With the Powerbeats Pro 2 getting the aforementioned heart-rate sensors, it now seems more likely that the AirPods Pro 3 will get them, too. I’m not sure how useful that feature is, especially if you already own an Apple Watch. However, Apple likely has grander plans for its buds’ heart-rate monitoring and is still fleshing everything out, using the Powerbeats Pro 2 as a bit of a guinea pig. 

Several tech outlets picked up on another Gurman report mentioning the possibility of temperature sensors and other physiological measurements coming to the AirPods. Both he and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also reported that Apple was working on adding infrared cameras to future AirPods. Kuo’s report suggested that the IR cameras could be used for everything including in-air hand gesture detection, enhancing spatial audio or detecting environmental changes for software, including Apple Intelligence. Don’t expect to see any of that camera tech in the AirPods Pro 3, but maybe the AirPods Pro 4 will get it.

AirPods case with touch screen display

The rumored feature I find most intriguing is an interactive touch display in the AirPods Pro 3’s charging case that acts as a remote control. With Apple filing a patent for it back in 2022, the rumor has been kicking around for a while, and several AirPods knockoffs with touchscreens have shown up on Amazon in recent months. Also, last year JBL released three new Live 3 earbuds, including the Live Beam 3, as a follow-up to 2023’s Tour Pro 2 earbuds, which featured a color touchscreen in their case. All the new Live 3 models feature a 1.5-inch LED touch display in their charging cases, so the feature appears in competing earbuds.

I don’t know what the odds are that the AirPods Pro 3 will get a charging case with a touchscreen, but some changes to the charging case are possible, with some saying the case may shrink a bit (I kind of doubt that, however). If nothing else, the physical Bluetooth pairing and reset button should get swapped out for a hidden touch-capacitive “button” like the one found in the AirPods 4’s case.

Two versions of the AirPods Pro 3?

Since Apple made two versions of the AirPods 4, I could see it making two versions of the AirPods Pro 3 — a more premium model with some extra features, like a touchscreen in the charging case, and a step-down version without them.

The odds of this happening seem pretty low, but there a several high-end earbuds, including the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 earbuds ($400), that list for over $350, so it wouldn’t be shocking if Apple put a flagship model at an even higher price point after selling so many AirPods Max headphones at $549 (or $480 on Amazon). In the case of the AirPods 4, Apple was trying to hit a lower price point for its entry-level buds, so it made more sense that it made two models of those earbuds. It is hard to imagine the list price for the AirPods Pro 3 being less than $250.   

Improved AirPods Pro 3 performance with H3 chip

The AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 and Powerbeats Pro 2 are all powered by Apple’s H2 chip. Rumor has it that the AirPods Pro 3 could get the new H3 chip (and Bluetooth 5.4), presuming Apple sticks with its current earbuds/headphones chip nomenclature. Adding a more powerful, energy-efficient chip along with tweaks to the design of the buds’ acoustic architecture and microphones could lead to several performance improvements, including enhanced sound quality, upgraded active noise canceling and better voice-calling performance. We could also see slightly better battery life.

I don’t expect a huge jump in performance, but the AirPods Pro 3 could sound a little clearer with better bass definition than their predecessor. Their noise canceling will likely be noticeably more proficient and able to muffle a wider range of frequencies. Also, when it comes to voice calling, the buds will likely do an even better job of picking up your voice while reducing background noise. And finally, I suspect Apple’s Hearing Aid feature will be enhanced. 

The AirPods Pro 2 and Powerbeats Pro 2 are ultralow-latency and can even do lossless audio when paired with Apple’s pricey Vision Pro headset. From what I’ve been told, the reason the AirPods Pro 2 and Powerbeats Pro 2 are able to do true lossless audio with the Vision Pro headset is that the buds and headset sit only a few inches apart, making for an extremely short wireless connection that can reliably transmit lossless audio. There’s been talk of Apple coming up with a solution to bring lossless audio to next-gen AirPods when paired with your iPhone. I hope the AirPods Pro 3 has a lossless audio option when connected to the latest iPhones, iPads and Macs, but I’m not counting on it. 

Live translation feature for AirPods Pro 3 (and maybe AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4)

Lately I’ve encountered several no-name Chinese earbuds on Amazon with live translation features, so it wasn’t a huge surprise when Bloomberg recently reported that the AirPods Pro 3 may be adding live translation via Apple’s Translate app with the release of iOS 19 this fall. The iOS Translate app already has fairly robust translation capabilities, but the report talks about how Apple plans to simplify the translation experience with the feature built into its earbuds, as well improve the iOS Translation app. (For those who can’t access Bloomberg’s content behind its paywall, MacRumors has a synopsis of the report).

Since this is more of an iPhone/iOS 19 feature, with the translation of what you say played through your iPhone’s speakers for others to hear, live translation seems pretty likely to come to the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4, both of which are equipped with Apple’s H2 chip and have plenty of processing power. Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 might also get the live translation feature. 

New U2 chip in the charging case

Along with the AirPods 3 getting a new H3 chip to power the earbuds themselves, some people are predicting that Apple will equip the AirPods 3’s MagSafe charging case with a new U2 chip (the AirPods Pro 2 have a U1 chip). That chip would help enhance the precision of Apple’s Find My feature that allows you to locate both the buds and case when you misplace them. Because they have a U1 chip in their case, the AirPods Pro 2 are equipped with Apple’s most advanced version of Find My. The two AirPods 4 models leave off the U1 chip in their cases so they don’t support precision finding. 

My AirPods Pro 3 wishlist: Better sound quality and one key feature 

I don’t care too much about some of these rumored extra features, like heart-rate monitoring and temperature sensing. I’m more excited about any enhancements to the buds’ design and performance upgrades across the board. 

I’ve previously written about how I’d like to see all new AirPods get a case that turns into a Bluetooth transmitter to wirelessly stream the audio from inflight entertainment to the buds. A few true wireless earbuds, including the Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 and Elite 10 Gen 2, Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 and Poly Voyager Free 60 Plus, have charging cases that act as Bluetooth transmitters. With the included cable, you simply connect the case to the 3.5mm port in your seat’s console or armrest and you’re good to go. I don’t expect the AirPods Pro 3 will get this feature, but I sure wish they would.

I’d also like to see Apple add a set of extra large eartips. I barely get a tight seal with the AirPods Pro 2’s current large tips and could really use an XL tip for my left ear, which is slightly different from my right (I have tested a variety of third-party foam tips). When Apple released the AirPods Pro 2, it added a fourth extra small ear tip for those with smaller ears. The challenge to adding a fifth XL tip is that the charging case would have to be able to accommodate a slightly larger ear tip. Since getting a tight seal is so important for optimizing sound quality and noise-canceling performance, it would behoove Apple to offer that fifth XL tip for those who require bigger eartips for that reason. 

Read more: The One Feature I Wish Apple Would Add to All New AirPods