AirPods Pro 3 are set to launch in just two days, and they’re a rather notable upgrade – even if you’re coming from the previous-generation AirPods Pro 2. But, if you skipped that upgrade – AirPods Pro 3 are a massive leap for a plethora of reasons. Here’s exactly what you gain after 6 years of upgrades.
Better noise cancellation
This is the easiest thing to point out, especially since Apple themselves highlighted it in the keynote. Compared to the original AirPods Pro, noise cancellation performs 4x better on AirPods Pro 3. If you live in a major city or otherwise care about noise cancellation and are still rocking the original AirPods Pro, this is likely the biggest selling point.
AirPods Pro 3 also utilize foam-infused ear tips for a better seal and additional comfort.
Modern features
Despite just being earbuds, there are a number of features that AirPods Pro 3 offer that original AirPods Pro simply don’t have. That includes:
- Ability to swipe up and down on the AirPods stems to adjust volume
- U2 chip in charging case to find it if lost
- Adaptive audio, adjusting noise reduction as needed based on your surroundings
- Apple Watch magnetic charger support
- USB-C charging
- Improved sweat resistance, and all new dust resistance
- Personalized spatial audio
- and more!
Battery life
AirPods Pro 1 offered just 4.5 hours of listening time with noise cancellation or transparency enabled, 5 hours without it. With AirPods Pro 3, that takes a massive step up, with up to 10 hours of listening time.
Apple quotes up to 8 hours when listening with noise cancellation enabled, and 10 hours when using transparency mode with the Hearing Aid feature. Battery life takes a bit of a beating when using the heart rate monitor – dropping to just 6.5 hours.
Either way, expect around double the battery life in a single session if you step up to AirPods Pro 3.
Health upgrades
AirPods Pro 3 offer a trio of health features that aren’t available on AirPods Pro 1, including a heart rate monitor for activity tracking, hearing protection, and a full-blown hearing aid.
With the heart rate monitor, you no longer need an Apple Watch to get a reliable workout tracking experience through Apple’s Fitness app. It also works with Apple Fitness+. This can come in handy if your Apple Watch dies, or if you’re doing an exercise like running where you just don’t want additional bulk.
Hearing protection is rather self explanatory. It protects your hearing in loud environments, and works in all three listening modes: Adaptive, Transparency, and Noise Cancellation. As for the medical grade hearing aid, it does exactly what you’d expect. It enhances your surrounds for those who are hard of hearing, and there’s a proper test to ensure its fully tuned to your needs.
Hearing protection and hearing aid capabilities are available on the last-gen AirPods Pro 2, though you’ll still need the new AirPods Pro 3 if you’re interested in the activity tracking features.
Live translation
Last but not least, Live Translation. This feature isn’t exclusive to AirPods Pro 3, and is also available on AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 w/ Active Noise Cancellation – but either way, you won’t have this feature on original AirPods Pro.
With live translation, you can have real-time conversations with someone else in another language. Your AirPods will listen to what the other person is saying, translate it, and read it out to you. Then, when you’re responding, theres a companion iPhone app that’ll translate what you’re saying and show it on your iPhone display to the other person. It’s genuinely very transformative.
All in all, AirPods Pro 3 are an incredible upgrade if you’re still using AirPods Pro 1, or even an older pair of AirPods like AirPods 2 or 3. I’d recommend giving them a go.
You can pre-order them from Amazon or Apple right now, and they’ll arrive starting this Friday. Just like the original AirPods Pro, they come in at $249.
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