If Apple’s most popular product is the iPhone, its most iconic product is its AirPods wireless earbuds. The instantly recognizable white buds have become ubiquitous since their debut nearly 10 years ago. Apple’s premium version is the AirPods Pro 2.
These earbuds received a mild update in 2023, including the addition of MagSafe charging and USB-C compatibility, but we haven’t seen a real upgrade since the second generation was released in 2022.
This leads many, ourselves included, to believe that a true third-gen model is coming soon. Here’s everything you need to know about what Apple might have in store for its next flagship wireless earbuds.
When will the AirPods Pro 3 be revealed?
Some have suggested Apple will announce the AirPods Pro 3 as early as June 2025, which would coincide with the company’s annual WWDC software event. If Apple updates the AirPods Pro with a slew of new features that are designed to be leveraged by third-party app developers, that timing would make sense.
However, Apple has historically kept all of the AirPods Pro’s functionality tightly controlled and only managed via settings within its own software. Assuming this trend continues, a fall 2025 announcement alongside that of the next iPhone seems more likely.
AirPods Pro 3: What the rumors say
Speculation among Apple watchers, including Mark Gurman and Ming Chi-Kuo has centered around one key AirPods Pro 3 area: sensors.
The prevailing belief is that Apple will incorporate a new sensor suite capable of tracking temperature and heart rate, at a minimum. Apple filed a patent for this in 2017 and given that the Apple-owned Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 have heart rate sensors, this seems like a fairly safe bet.
However, one of the wilder rumors suggests that the AirPods Pro 3 could also get some kind of embedded camera. Not so much for taking photos and video (though that would be intriguing) but instead, for real-time hand gesture tracking, perhaps as an alternative to using the earbuds’ onboard controls, or as an alternative to using Siri for controlling functions on an iPhone. This rumor feels less likely — at least for the third-gen AirPods Pro. Perhaps it may come to pass on the fourth generation.
Still others point to an Apple patent that detailed a design for a charging case with a built-in touchscreen as a sign of what’s to come on the AirPods Pro 3. Could Apple do it? Certainly. JBL has already added this feature to several wireless earbuds models, including the Tour Pro 3. Will Apple do it? That’s less certain.
The AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC boasted one of the smallest charging cases on the market. Small cases and touchscreens are somewhat mutually exclusive, so if Apple wants to shrink the AirPods Pro 3 case too, a screen is a lot less likely.
It’s also unclear if people actually find JBL’s touchscreen useful, despite the many functions it lets you access.
The biggest reason for a touchscreen charging case is to reduce the need to use your phone. Since there are only a few scenarios where people use earbuds without their phones, Apple may not see the benefit.
Speaking of the charging case, it’s almost a given that the AirPods Pro 3 will ditch the physical Bluetooth pairing button in favor of the capacitive touch version used on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC.
Bloomberg believes that voice translation will be available on the AirPods Pro 3 via an update to the Translate app in iOS 19. Not only does this feel on-brand for Apple as a company, there are many products that already offer something similar, including from Apple’s biggest competitor, Samsung, which added it to the Galaxy Buds Pro 3.
Finally, most observers agree that we can expect better sound quality and further improvements to Apple’s already superb active noise canceling and transparency technologies.
What we’re hoping for on the AirPods Pro 3
Additional sensors on the AirPods Pro 3 make sense. Apple is already all-in on health and fitness via the Apple Watch, and having additional health data via the AirPods will make that tracking more accurate and useful.
However, I’m looking for improvements to the AirPods Pro’s original wireless music mission.
My wishlist starts with longer battery life. I say this every time because while the current six hours is adequate, we know from other companies that it can be much longer. And who ever said, “no thanks” when offered longer battery life?
In a similar vein, I want Apple to provide the AirPods Pro 3 with access to Bluetooth Auracast broadcasts. It could choose to do this within iOS and/or on the earbuds themselves. Either would be fine with me.
Apple teased us when it said the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C could do wireless lossless audio. It wasn’t a lie, but it came with a monster caveat: It only works with Apple’s Vision Pro AR headset. I want Apple to move forward with this feature so that (at least) it works with iPhones. If there’s a sound quality benefit to lossless audio (which many music fans would agree with), it shouldn’t be reserved for the Vision Pro.
Speaking of USB-C, Apple could give us the option of plugging the AirPods Pro 3 charging case into a 3.5mm analog audio source, and use the charging case as a wireless transmitter. This wouldn’t be an innovation. Bowers & Wilkins, LG, JBL, and Jabra have all provided this feature on current and previous wireless earbuds. The AirPods Pro 2 charging case already contains an ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless transmitter for the Find My feature, and UWB would make an excellent choice for wireless transmission to the AirPods.
When will AirPods Pro 3 be available, and how much will they cost?
Assuming that Apple indeed announces the AirPods Pro 3 in the fall along with the next iPhone, we can expect them to be available for preorder within hours of the announcement, and they’ll likely start shipping 10-14 days after that.
Apple has announced all three previous AirPods Pro versions at a regular price of $249. There are, of course, no guarantees in life — especially in the current economic climate of tit-for-tat tariffs — but it’s a reasonable guess that the company will maintain this price for the AirPods Pro 3.
