Live Translation Works Without AirPods Pro 3—But Requires This

Apple’s Live Translation isn’t limited to the latest buds. Granted, if you already own AirPods Pro 2 or the noise-canceling edition of AirPods 4, you can wrangle that same headline feature — assuming you have the correct iPhone and software powering it.

What You Actually Need for AirPods Live Translation

Live Translation on AirPods functions when your earbuds connect to an Apple Intelligence–equipped iPhone powered by iOS 18 or newer. Put simply, that’s an iPhone 15 Pro or more recent running the latest software and up-to-date firmware on your AirPods. Apple included this compatibility note in the small print of a press release, as first noted by 9to5Mac, meaning that there’s no need for AirPods Pro 3 here.

Supported buds include AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation, as well as AirPods Pro 3. The feature simply won’t show up if you don’t have the qualifying iPhone, even if you just bought your earbuds.

In Conversation: How Live Translation Works in Use

To start, tap your AirPods. Your iPhone listens via microphones, lowers the volume of the other person in your ear, and translates their words into your chosen language. To respond, simply talk in your natural language; your iPhone will display the translated text on its screen, and you can read it out loud or rotate the screen so the other person can see.

When both people have compatible AirPods and iPhones, the system can sustain a back-and-forth exchange with little friction. Beamforming mics and ANC work together to help filter out background noise. The intersection of beamforming mics with ANC to cancel several noises at a time is often the difference between voice clarity and sonic mush in busy places like a station or café.

Language Support Today and What’s Next for the Feature

Live Translation is currently in beta with English (US/UK), French (France), German, Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (Spain). Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese are next in the pipeline, Apple says, along with the ability to translate phone calls in the Phone app and FaceTime.

That call support is notable. Google previewed a comparable feature on its Pixel phones, and Samsung’s Galaxy devices also have on-device call translation. Apple’s solution relies on what Apple Intelligence can do locally as much as possible, to minimize latency and protect users’ privacy.

Availability Caveat: Not Available in the EU Yet

There’s a regional asterisk: Live Translation is not available to users living in the European Union at launch. Those in other countries can still use it when they travel, but EU residents will not see the feature until Apple jumps through regional compliance hoops. Apple has pulled this move to stage different AI-driven features as it grapples with new rules on platform interoperability and data handling.

Real-World Use Cases for AirPods Live Translation

Consider airport help desks, taxi stands, or cross-border business meetings — situations where hands-free listening is a more natural act than passing around a phone. The Active Noise Cancellation can make translations a little more intelligible in the cacophony of public spaces, and the tap-to-translate gesture is easier than diving through menus in the middle of a conversation.

The same caveats apply: accuracy relies on clear speech, the placement of your mic (or your phone), and background noise. Slow down ever so slightly, avoid cross-talk, and look at on-screen text when you need accuracy — precisely because of errors while transcribing. These best practices apply regardless of your platform.

How It Compares to Google and Samsung Solutions

Experience-wise, it’s similar to Google’s Interpreter Mode on Pixel and Samsung’s Live Translate, which frequently run on-device to minimize any delay. Apple’s hook here is a seamless AirPods experience: the easy tap to start, automatic volume ducking when the other person talks, and iOS connections that are going to get even tighter for call translation in the future.

For many travelers, the upside is choice. The United Nations’ tourism agency cites more than a billion international trips in a nondisaster year, and real-time translation really is rocketing toward table stakes among leading phones and earbuds. That Apple’s entering the ring with support for legacy AirPods means fewer people have to upgrade hardware to take part.

Bottom Line: What You Need for AirPods Translation

You don’t need AirPods Pro 3 for Apple’s Live Translation — but you do need an Apple Intelligence–capable phone running iOS 18, and a set of AirPods with the latest firmware installed. And if you already have AirPods Pro 2 or AirPods 4 with ANC, you’re really just a software update away from live, in-ear translation.