Apple isn’t messing about with the AirPods Pro 3.
The tech giant’s new flagship wireless earbuds were first out of the blocks at its recent launch event, with Apple making some impressive claims about the AirPods Pro 3, which must have pricked up the ears of some of its key rivals. Bose, I’m looking at you.
Apple claims that its new buds offer ANC that’s twice as effective as that found in the AirPods Pro 2 and four times more effective than the noise-cancelling in the original AirPods Pro.
The exact phrase Apple used to describe the prowess of its new flagship in-ears was the “world’s best active noise cancellation of any in-ear wireless headphones”.
A bold claim indeed. Now, if you scroll down the press release, you’ll see that particular claim is qualified by this small print:
“Testing conducted by Apple in July 2025 using AirPods Pro 3 paired with iPhone 16 with prerelease AirPods firmware and iOS 26. Noise reduction was tested in accordance with IEC 60268-24. Comparison made against the best-selling wireless in-ear headphones commercially available at the time of testing.”
Now, we don’t know which rival earbuds Apple was comparing them to, but if they happened to be a pair of Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) (or the original model, for that matter), then this could make for some interesting comparisons when we get a sample in for review.
Bose is the brand to beat when it comes to pure ANC performance from its wireless earbuds, but its tech can sometimes lack a little subtlety – although it doesn’t really bother me, I know not everyone enjoys the vacuum-like effect of it sucking out outside noise.
Apple claims this improved ANC is achieved via a combination of the buds’ ultra-low noise microphones, “advanced computational audio”, combined with new foam-infused eartips, which Apple claims give the wearer improved passive noise-cancellation.
Looking at the press images and video on Apple’s website, the eartips look particularly intriguing and certainly thicker and more plump than the tips you get with the AirPods Pro 2. I’m intrigued to take the fit test and see just how much extra isolation they might (or might not) give.
We were seriously impressed by the AirPods Pro 2 during testing, which still are, in our opinion, Apple’s best wireless earbuds to date and by quite some margin.
If Apple has moved things forward with the AirPods Pro 3, both in terms of ANC and sound quality, they could be something truly special that will really give the established class leaders something to think about.
MORE:
Read our full AirPods Pro 2 review
AirPods Pro 3 launch with "breakthrough audio performance", improved ANC and longer battery life
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.
