Rumor: AirPods Pro 3 features may not all arrive at launch

While we expect Apple to unveil AirPods Pro 3 alongside iPhone 17 and Apple Watch Series 11 next week, there’s one new feature that may not be ready for showtime.

An anonymous source claims in a tip to 9to5Mac that AirPods Pro 3 will indeed feature two health sensors.

Heart rate sensing has long been rumored, and after appearing on Beats Powerbeats Pro 2, the feature addition has been a lock.

The other health sensor, previously floated as a possibility, is said by the anonymous tipster to be temperature sensing on AirPods Pro 3.

That’s not bad for a product that is primarily created to provide an excellent audio listening experience. Apple already started down this path of turning AirPods Pro into a health-related device by shipping its audio hearing test and clinical grade hearing aid capabilities last fall.

Something that may not ship with AirPods Pro 3, at least initially, is the rumored live translation feature.

Mark Gurman has reported in Bloomberg for some time that Apple was developing a live translation feature for AirPods Pro, and 9to5Mac recently saw code that suggests the feature is actively in development.

However, the anonymous tipster claims that live translation “as rumored earlier is not ready, and will likely be added in a later software update.”

While we have no way to verify this claim, it’s worth at least passing along so we can set our expectations ahead of Apple’s September 9 event.

To be clear, Apple has live translation features throughout iOS 26, including FaceTime, but Apple has not announced live translation features for AirPods yet.

The expectation has been that Apple is saving the announcement for the AirPods Pro 3 reveal, even if the feature works with AirPods Pro 2 as well, but it could be primarily because the feature isn’t ready to ship yet.

After delaying two Apple Intelligence features for Siri, Apple has effectively announced no features that weren’t already shipping in beta over the summer.

We’ll see how this plays out when Apple makes all the news official in just over a week. It’s possible Apple could announce the feature and release it in beta, or the anonymous tip could be incorrect. We’ll find out soon enough.