Over the next few months, Apple is expected to release a slate of new products, including the overdue upgraded AirPods Pro 3. A new rumor claims the latest AirPods will take some inspiration from the AirPods 4.
The newest rumor comes from Asher Dipprey on X and is corroborated by tipster Majin Bu in his own post. Simply, Asher says the charging case for the AirPods Pro 3 will get smaller and lose the pairing button.
New info on AirPods Pro 3…The case size will decrease slightly, and the pairing button will be removed. Instead, you can tap on the case itself. pic.twitter.com/vA7dY2Pa4jAugust 26, 2025
Instead of a pairing button, Asher says you'll be able to just tap the case itself to initiate pairing. Last year, the AirPods 4 launched with similar updates to the charging case.
Decreasing the size of the charging case and deleting the pairing button would make the Pods 4 and Pro 3 earbuds more uniform in Apple's lineup. Presumably, the AirPods Pro 3 would also decrease in size to fit in the new case.
Majin Bu's follow-up post indicates the touch controls will be on the front of the case and should also allow for music playback and volume control. He claims that aesthetically, it will resemble the AirPods Pro 2, and despite a decrease in size, the case should retain a familiar look.
Fall release
Earlier this week, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that the updated AirPods Pro 3 are coming this fall but didn't provide more details beyond the new earbuds featuring heart-rate monitoring.
It should be similar to the same feature that launched with the company's recent PowerBeats Pro 2. Hopefully, it doesn't require an Apple Watch, since the data is only pulled from those headphones if there is no smart watch.
Apple just announced its iPhone 17 event is taking place on September 9, where the flagship iPhone series will be revealed. We expect to see the Apple Watch 11 and potentially the AirPods Pro 3. If not, Apple might reveal the new earbuds in a one-off announcement later this fall.
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