AirPods Pro 3 is Not An Update But A Serious Rethink of How We Use Audio Everyday

At its latest September spectacle, an annual ritual that’s often more pageantry than surprise, Apple has unveiled its usual parade of hardware. Yes, there’s the thinner-than-ever iPhone Air, the opulent, titanium-clad iPhone 17 Pro, and the Apple Watch Series 11.

But tucked between the headlines and the hardware, something genuinely exciting has emerged. It’s not what’s in your hand this time, it’s what’s in your ears! For years, the AirPods have felt like a spec bump. However, with the latest drop, Apple’s has made its boldest attempt by rework how we listen to and feel the world around us.

So while the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max arrive with a refreshed silhouette with the titanium frame replaced by a lighter aluminum build, a triple 48MP camera system, with a telephoto lens that fakes an 8x optical zoom with shocking clarity, a dual-video capture and support for ProRes RAW and Log 2, the AirPods Pro 3 stands at a point where it could possibly be a game changer for how we interact with sounds in the future.

In a packed demo room, the AirPods Pro 3’s new noise-cancelling algorithm reduce a roar of ambient voices to a whisper and then nothing. One many think its a hyperbole to market the product well, however its actually ANC that might momentarily make you wonder if you’ve gone deaf.

This leap in performance comes from a smart blend of hardware and AI. Apple has redesigned the eartips — five sizes now, each with a dual-layered foam-silicone hybrid lining that dramatically improves passive isolation. So naturally, the microphones get cleaner input, and the upgraded algorithm gets to work faster.

The latest iteration of its premium wireless earbuds, AirPods Pro 3 feature major improvements in noise cancellation, comfort, audio quality, and new capabilities such as heart rate monitoring and live language translation.

Apple

Tracking Hearts and Translating Minds

For the first time, AirPods now include heart rate tracking, thanks to integrated light sensors that measure blood flow in the ear. When paired with an iPhone, the AirPods Pro 3 can provide data on heart rate, distance, steps, and calories burned offering an alternative to wrist-based fitness trackers. One may suppose fitness band brands will now need to offer something new to its users because Apple promises to support basic workout tracking and may appeal to users who prefer not to wear a smartwatch.

The buds can also provide additional fitness metrics such as steps taken, distance travelled, calories burned, and overall activity time by combining motion sensors on the iPhone with the heart rate data from the earbuds.

Moreover, the introduction of heart rate tracking in AirPods Pro 3 complements Apple's broader health ecosystem, which includes the Apple Watch’s advanced health monitoring and the Fitness+ subscription service. The feature may pave the way for future health insights or alerts derived from combined sensor data across Apple devices.

But this is just the second thing the Apple earphones are capable of doing. What is more surprising and refreshing step towards technological innovation is its ability to engage in a real-time language translation feature, which uses on-device large language models to translate conversations during calls or in-person interactions. In a demonstration, Spanish speech was translated to English and played back in the listener’s ears using the Siri voice selected on their iPhone.

Though Apple’s system waits for complete sentences before translating to preserve context, a method it says improves accuracy, the current feature only supports English, Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese. Support for Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean is expected later this year. At the moment, there are no announcements pertaining Indian languages.

How does it work? To use Live Translation, users are required to press the stems of both AirPods simultaneously. The microphones then detect other languages, translate it into the user's preferred language, and play it back through the headphones. But how exactly does it translate?

The Live-translation feature does not run on the AirPods themselves. In fact, it requires a connected iPhone to function. A relatively recent iPhone model is also required for this feature, even when using AirPods Pro 3 and primarily supports one-sided conversations unless the users interacting are using a compatible AirPods software. To address this, Apple displays a transcript of the translated speech on the user's iPhone. This allows users to hear the translated speech through their AirPods, while they can read the response in their own language.

Apple

With these features, Apple has also updated the internal drivers and electronics to deliver wider soundstage and improved Spatial Audio support. Early listening tests indicated clearer instrument separation and more balanced low and high frequencies.

Battery life has increased to 8 hours with ANC enabled, up from 6 hours in the previous model. The earbuds pre-order priced at 25900.00 is also now carry an IP57 rating, offering protection against dust and water exposure, making them more suitable for workouts and wet environments.

The new model also features a smaller charging case, improved location tracking via Apple’s Find My network, and faster pairing with Apple devices and offers upto 8hours of battery life with ANC on a single charge. The MagSafe Charging Case is full of helpful features — like a built-in speaker and more powerful Precision Finding — that let you keep track of your AirPods Pro 3 no matter where they are.