Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 arrive with a familiar price tag and a not-so-familiar feature list. The new flagship earbuds keep the $249 sticker while pushing forward on noise cancellation, health tracking, and smarter experiences that better knit into the iPhone ecosystem.
Design and sound get a practical rethink
Apple is leaning into comfort and seal quality with foam-infused ear tips offered in five sizes. That’s a subtle but meaningful shift: a better seal boosts passive isolation, which in turn lets active noise cancellation work more efficiently and improves bass response without cranking volume.
The company also cites a new acoustic design to enhance spatial audio. That matters for Dolby Atmos mixes in Apple Music and for movie watching on iPad or Apple TV, where head-tracked spatial audio can feel more natural when the drivers and venting are optimized to reduce pressure and phase anomalies.
On ANC, Apple claims twice the noise reduction versus the previous generation and up to four times compared to the first Pro model. Translation: the low-frequency thrum of a train or airplane should drop more decisively. Independent labs typically quantify ANC in decibels across frequency bands, so real-world performance will vary by fit and environment, but the directional improvement here is clear.
Heart rate and fitness come to the Pro line
For the first time in AirPods Pro, onboard heart rate monitoring adds a health dimension beyond audio. The feature syncs with the iPhone’s Fitness app and Apple Fitness+, surfacing live metrics during guided workouts and everyday runs without an Apple Watch. It’s a move previewed on the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 and now formalized in Apple’s mainstream buds.
While in-ear optical sensors are sensitive to fit, movement, and skin tone, they can still provide useful trends for steady-state efforts like treadmill sessions or cycling. Expect Apple to fuse sensor data with software smoothing to reduce spikes and dropouts, a technique many wearables use to improve accuracy.
Live translation lands in your ears
AirPods Pro 3 add live translation, a feature that turns the earbuds into a lightweight travel companion. Competitors such as Samsung’s Galaxy Buds and Google’s Pixel Buds offer their own takes; Apple’s advantage is likely tight integration with iPhone and Siri, minimizing setup friction and letting translations flow hands-free during conversations.
The key test for any in-ear translator is latency and accuracy in noisy spaces. If Apple can keep lag low and context reliable—especially for common travel scenarios like ordering food or navigating transit—this will be more than a novelty.
Battery life and durability catch up to the moment
Battery life climbs to a claimed eight hours per charge with ANC enabled and up to 10 hours in transparency mode. That aligns with the newer benchmark set by recent ANC rivals, and it’s a welcome jump from the previous Pro’s six-hour figure. More hours matter not just for flights but also for mixed-use days when you’re bouncing between calls, music, and podcasts.
An IP57 rating adds stronger dust and water resistance, reassuring for sweaty workouts and surprise downpours. Runners and gym-goers who previously leaned toward sport-focused earbuds now have fewer reasons to carry a second pair.
Aggressive pricing in a crowded premium field
Keeping AirPods Pro 3 at $249 is strategic. Premium alternatives like Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds and Technics EAH-AZ1000 typically land around $299 and don’t bundle heart rate tracking or live translation. Apple is clearly positioning these as the all-rounders to beat, not just for iPhone owners but for anyone weighing price-to-feature value.
Analysts at Counterpoint Research consistently rank Apple as the leader in global true wireless shipments and revenue, and holding the line on pricing should help defend that lead as feature creep raises costs across the category. For buyers, it simplifies the decision: you’re getting more capability for the same outlay.
Bottom line
AirPods Pro 3 don’t just iterate; they broaden what premium earbuds should do. Stronger ANC, longer battery life, in-ear heart rate, and real-time translation add up to a more versatile daily driver—without a price hike. If Apple’s execution matches the spec sheet, these will set the bar for the next wave of true wireless competitors.