Apple AirPods Pro 3 Rumored Release Date: These Are the Improvements I Want to See
Apple typically updates one of its AirPods models every year in some fashion. Last year, we got the all-new AirPods 4" target="_blank and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Canceling" target="_blank and a minor update to the AirPods Max, which added USB-C charging. Rumor has it the AirPods Pro is next in line for an upgrade, with the third-generation AirPods Pro 3 set to be unveiled sometime in 2025. Whether that will actually happen is anybody's guess -- after all, we didn't get a real next-gen AirPods Max last year when a lot of people thought we would -- but here's a look at the latest AirPods Pro 3 rumors and what improvements I'd like to see.
Read more: Best wireless earbuds of 2025" target="_blank
MacOS Rumors recently 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. That seems unlikely, given that Apple has previously launched next-generation AirPods alongside new iPhones in the fall. One exception was the AirPods Max, which was announced on Dec. 8, 2020, or about six weeks after the iPhone 12 was released.
While anything is possible, it seems more likely that the AirPods Pro 3 will arrive at the same time as the iPhone 17 in September. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who's usually a more reliable Apple whisperer, has said the AirPods Pro 3 will have a new design and feature heart-rate monitoring like Apple's new Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 -- but they're still months away from being launched.
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.
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 likely, with some saying the case may shrink a bit. 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.
Given that 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 that cuts them out.
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, 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 may be 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.
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.
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
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