After a three-year wait, Apple has finally unveiled the AirPods Pro 3, the first major upgrade to its best-in-class wireless earbuds since 2022. Launching alongside the new iPhone 17, the next-generation AirPods are available to pre-order now for £219, ahead of their official launch on 19 September.
The headline upgrade is a huge leap forward in noise cancellation. Apple claims the AirPods Pro 3 block up to twice as much ambient sound as their predecessors, all while packing the tech into a smaller, more refined earbud design. To improve the fit, Apple is now including five sizes of ear tips, including a new XXS option and a new foam-infused material for a more secure seal.
Battery life also gets a welcome boost, now promising up to eight hours of listening with ANC enabled, while the charging case has been slimmed down. As first teased at WWDC, the futuristic live translation feature is finally here.
Beyond fitness and noise-cancellation, Apple’s earbuds now have an IP57 rating, meaning they can withstand sweat, water and dust, which is a first for the AirPods. Apple also says the improved seal will help with passive isolation, making music and calls sound clearer in noisy environments.
Transparency mode is said to last up to 10 hours on a single charge. The conversation boost feature, which automatically amplifies voices in busy places like restaurants, will now kick in without needing to be toggled and the hearing protection feature will be rolled out in the UK.
Live translation is also finally arriving in iOS 26. It’s a feature that lets two people hold a conversation in different languages. Apple says it currently supports English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish, with Italian, Japanese, Korean and Chinese promised by the end of the year. However, at the time of writing, this feature won’t work in the EU, so it may not be that useful if you’re heading over to France in the near future.
Surprisingly, Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 are available to pre-order now for just £219 in the UK, undercutting the AirPods Pro 2 by £10 (£229, Argos.co.uk). They officially launch next week on 19 September.
Looking for more details on the latest Apple launches? The all-new iPhone 17 is coming, plus its thinnest model ever
