Apple's long-awaited AirPods Pro 3 wireless earbuds are finally here and, despite all the contradicting rumours swirling about, the next-gen flagship buds actually come packed with a host of substantial improvements over the last model.
In fact, not only has Apple heaped on cool new features (like live translation), offered a new eartip size, tweaked the design and claimed improved sound quality and ANC on the new Pro 3, it has done all of this without hiking up the price. At all.
This is hugely exciting: I've been using the AirPods Pro 2 ever since they first launched in 2022 with the Lightning connector, and switched to the USB-C model in 2023 – they are my go-to buds for everyday listening.
Three years on, however, the Pro 2 have had stiff competition to face from newer, better-performing flagship rivals from Bose, Bowers & Wilkins, Sony and Technics. I will be curious to find out just how much the AirPods Pro 3 have improved, especially in the crucial sound department for us at What Hi-Fi?.
But there are plenty of reasons why I am genuinely hyped about these new AirPods, starting with the surprising price tag...
1. Price
Apple has somewhat buried the lede in the AirPods Pro 3 announcement: the price of the new earbuds will be a whole lot cheaper in the UK.
The AirPods Pro 2 have remained at the same price in the US for the last three years at $249 and the Pro 3 will contine to stick to that price. Good news, right? In the UK, however, the original £249 price dropped to £229 for the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C last year.
And now it has dropped even further.
On the UK pre-order page, you can see the AirPods Pro 3 listed at just £219. That is wildly aggressive pricing for a flagship pair of wireless earbuds from one of the world's biggest tech brands, and also considering the competition. In comparison, the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) and Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 will cost you £299, the Technics EAH-AZ100 is at £259, while the two-year-old Award-winning Sony WF-1000XM5 has dropped to £219.
It would have been perfectly acceptable for Apple to launch its brand-new flagship earbuds, with all of their new features and updates, at a higher £299/$299 price point – but to undercut the current class-leaders to such an extent is hugely surprising.
It's also very welcome. We all want meaningful updates and cool new features added to our tech, but considering the enduring difficult economic climate, the Pro 3's price remaining unchanged from before – and going even lower in the UK! – is genuinely good news.
2. Improved sound quality
On to the more interesting matter of what new updates we can expect from the AirPods Pro 3, let's start with the one most crucial to What Hi-Fi?: sound quality.
There's no sign of a new H3 chip here; the AirPods Pro 3 continue to use Apple's proprietary H2 chip as the Pro 2, but they have made changes elsewhere to help with sound improvements.
The AirPods Pro 3 have a completely new "multiport acoustic architecture" with more precise airflow control and an inward-facing microphone that points directly into the ear canal. This promises deeper bass, a wider soundstage and "vivid" and clear vocals that are brought "into stunning focus".
Apple's custom-built high-excursion driver and amplifier return and work with the H2 chip to offer three-dimensional sound, "breathtaking" spatial experience and low distortion. Bluetooth 5.3 returns, and as expected, Apple is sticking with the standard AAC codec.
You don't always need entirely new drivers or new codecs to overhaul the sound – just look at the improved tuning of the Bose QC Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) and countless examples from the world of hi-fi where small tweaks in the circuit can lead to a significant improvement in audio quality.
We are big fans of the Pro 2's spacious, dynamic, fluid and clear sound, but all current rivals have moved the needle forward with even greater clarity, insight and more expressive dynamics. Here's hoping the Pro 3's improved sound quality can catch up to the class leaders.
3. "World's best in-ear ANC"
Apple is clearly gunning for Bose's crown as the king of ANC. The Pro 3 boldly claims to offer the world's best "in-ear" noise-cancelling, as well as eliminating twice as much noise as the Pro 2.
How has Apple done this? There is an upgraded acoustic seal, new ultra-low-noise microphones and advanced computational audio that work together to remove more unwanted sound than before.
Additionally, the AirPods Pro 3 come with five new pairs of eartips, all of which feature a thin layer of soft foam fused to the silicone shell to offer better passive noise isolation. We're not sure what this looks like exactly, but it's a creative way of ensuring greater isolation from the outside world before you've even turned ANC on.
Whether the Pro 3 will be as or more effective than Bose at noise-cancelling in daily life remains to be seen, but it's certainly fighting talk. I like how natural the AirPods Pro 2 sound even in full ANC mode and they are quite good at dealing with sudden, harsh spikes in noise, but Bose is still better at shaving off even more frequencies, especially in the mid and low frequencies. Will the Pro 3 level up in these areas?
Voice calls should be clearer, too, while a more personalised Transparency mode means voices (your own and those speaking to you) should sound more natural than before in this mode.
4. Longer battery life – with a caveat
This one's pretty simple: the single-charge battery life on the earbuds has gone up from six to eight hours, with ANC turned on.
It's even better news for those using the AirPods Pro 3 hearing aid feature with Transparency mode on, as this will offer 10 hours of playback time on a single charge.
The total battery life with the USB-C charging case, however, is now 24 hours – it used to be 30 hours total on the Pro 2. It might be that the earbuds themselves go for longer so there's less need to draw on reserves from the charging case, but real-life use will tell if there is a genuine increase or drop in overall battery management.
Looking at the specifications, it looks like the charging case is a tiny bit bigger but lighter here, and features a new U2 chip that promises more precise location tracking.
5. Smaller, more ergonomic fit and new eartip sizes
Apple must have learnt some lessons when it redesigned the AirPods 4 to improve the fit for more people. It's hard to tell from photos alone, but the AirPods 4's shape did feel considerably changed in person – we are hoping that the Pro 3's more ergonomic fit will make sense when we hold them in person and compare with the Pro 2.
In any case, Apple says the AirPods Pro 3 are smaller and reshaped so that the eartips now rotate inwards – promising a more secure fit.
Coupled with that are a new set of XXS size eartips, making that five sizes of eartips in total – which is pretty generous as many rivals still only offer three sizes. Not to be picky, but a larger XL tip size would've been welcomed by some on our review team.
6. Live translation, heart-rate sensors and more
Here are a bunch of new features that, while not essential, are still very useful and simply cool additions in these next-gen AirPods Pro buds.
Heart rate monitoring sensors are added and, coupled with a new IP57 rating for sweat- and water-resistance (up from IP54 in previous generations), are sure to appeal to fitness fanatics and for those monitoring your health and workouts.
I've also spotted a new camera control button on the touch-capacitive stems, which should let you take photos and videos on your iPhone from afar.
And finally, live translation is the feature everyone has been waiting for all year. This feature isn't just available for the Pro 3 – it's also coming to the Pro 2 and AirPods 4 with ANC, as long as you use it with an Apple Intelligence-powered iPhone running on iOS 26.
Supporting English, French, German, Portuguese (Brazil) and Spanish languages at first, you can turn translation mode on by pinching both stems of the 'Pods – allowing real-time translation of languages it recognises to be spoken back to you, provided both parties are using compatible AirPods. For only one AirPods user, the translation will show up as live transcripts on your iPhone, but it should still allow you to speak in a natural conversation.
Put them all together, these are considerable updates that all add up to a next-generation experience – it's certainly an exciting update with plenty to explore, and all of this for no increase in price at all for the AirPods Pro 3 is still blowing my mind.
Of course, we'll need a review sample and thorough testing time to see how the new wireless earbuds fare in daily use and against their strong rivals – it should be interesting.
MORE:
Apple is gunning for Bose with the AirPods Pro 3, and I’m here for that battle
I've never owned a pair of AirPods – but the AirPods Pro 3 could be about to change all that
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
