Apple AirPods Pro 3 are officially here, bringing improved battery life and heart rate monitoring
Apple's annual September event is known for bringing a new iPhone announcement, but one of the biggest announcements of the event is for new AirPods Pro.
That's right: as of Sept. 9, the rumored Apple AirPods Pro 3 are no longer rumored. The last time the Pro line got an update was in 2023, which was mostly iterative, with Apple only adding a USB-C port to 2022's AirPods Pro 2. In other words, these AirPods were due for an update, and Apple delivered, bringing an updated design with foam ear tips, improved ANC, and features like live translation and fitness tracking. The buds will retail for $249, putting them at the same starting price as the previous gen.
Preorders are live as of Sept. 9, with general availability starting Friday, Sept. 19.
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Below, you'll find the full list of upgrades available on the AirPods Pro 3.
Apple AirPods Pro 3: What's new
Five sizes of foam-infused ear tips
Twice the ANC power compared to the previous generation Pro, and four times more effective than first generation Pro
Live translation
Heart rate monitoring
New integrated fitness features to work with the Fitness app on iPhone
Compatibility with Fitness+, so users can view live metrics on iPhone
Eight hours on a single charge (with ANC, compared to six hours on the previous generation), and 10 hours in transparency mode
IP57 sweat- and water- resistance
New acoustic design to improve spatial audio quality
Apple brought the heart rate monitoring tech from the Powerbeats Pro 2 (our favorite earbuds for working out) — along with the Fitness app compatibility, the AirPods Pro become a much better all-around option, and possibly an alternative for any would-be Apple Watch users.
More new features: Live translation, improved battery
We're also not surprised to see a live translation feature on these earbuds, following a sneak peek of iOS 26 that suggested the feature might come to Apple earbuds this year. Other earbuds like the Samsung Galaxy Buds, Google Pixel Buds, and even the budget-friendly Anker Soundcore AeroFit 2 earbuds all feature some version of live language translation, so we're curious to see how the AirPods stack up.
Of course, the increased ANC and battery life are also notable. On the note of ANC, the Pro 2 were already one of our favorite options for noise-cancelling earbuds, with Mashable's Stan Schroeder calling them "the first pair of earbuds I'd actually consider taking on an airplane" upon their release.
The battery life improvements, however, are maybe even more needed — though great, the six hour battery life on the Pro 2 was starting to fall behind a changing standard of seven to eight hours found on more recently-released noise-cancelling earbuds. In other words, eight hours per charge with ANC is a welcome upgrade.
Apple AirPods Pro 3: Price
What is maybe most surprising about the Apple AirPods 3 is their price — despite the host of new features that expand their usability, you'll still be able to pick up to AirPods Pro 3 for $249, the same retail price as the AirPods Pro 2.
Considering other premium options like the new generation of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds and slightly older Technics EAH-AZ1000 both come in at $299 (without any fitness features), this is an especially competitive price point from Apple.
For more Apple event coverage, follow Mashable's live blog and get real-time updates on the iPhone 17, Apple Watch Series 11, and AirPods Pro 3 launch.
Bethany Allard is a Los Angeles-based shopping reporter at Mashable covering beauty tech, dating, sex and relationships, and headphones. That basically means she puts her hair through a lot, scrolls through a lot of dating apps, and rotates through a lot of different headphones. In addition to testing out and rounding up the best products, she also covers deals for Mashable, paying an especially obsessive amount of attention to Apple deals and prices. That knowledge comes in handy when she's covering shopping holidays like Prime Day and Black Friday, which she's now done for three years at Mashable.
