Apple’s new Live Translation feature isn’t married to the newest earbuds after all. While the focus was on the just-announced AirPods Pro, Apple’s own product footnotes and comparison material confirm Live Translation work with (some) recent AirPods paired to your iPhone when running suitable software.
Which AirPods can you actually use
Aside from the latest Pro version, Apple includes Live Translation functionality for the AirPods (2nd generation or later) and AirPods (3rd generation or later), both featuring Active Noise Cancellation, when firmware has been updated to a new version. Which is to say, many of the device’s present owners won’t have to buy new hardware in order to try out earbud-driven, hands-free translation.
The catch is on the phone side: You’ll need an Apple Intelligence–equipped iPhone with the latest iOS release that Apple has said supports this feature. Apple has positioned Live Translation as an intelligence-heavy feature that relies on on-device processing, which is why the iPhone model requirement is exacting even if your AirPods qualify.
What Live Translation does
In its best seamless mode, both people are wearing compatible AirPods with paired iPhones and have a natural two-way conversation. They hear each other in their preferred language with as little dissonance as possible. Even if only one participant has the right equipment, the feature can step in by displaying and speaking your translated answers from the iPhone for your conversation partner to read or hear.
The design is for real world situations — haggling over a taxi fare, checking into a hotel, ordering at a cafe or coordinating with a tour guide. Closure on the topic of privacy comes with the promise for Apple Intelligence that most processing will be on device, meaning translations are not dependent on constant cloud round trips in everyday use.
Why broader support matters
AirPods lead the charge in true wireless sound, with analyst firms like Canalys regularly placing Apple as the market share leader. Bringing Live Translation to new models, on the other hand, will instantly enable it for tens of millions of people rather than a small early adopter portion of brand-new purchasers.
There’s also a travel and access angle. Global travel volumes are rebounding, according to the UN World Tourism Organization, and language remains a key friction point. With Ethnologue counting thousands of living languages and more than a billion speakers of English, there are still billions crossing the language divide every day. A promising, earbud-based translator chips away at that friction without sticking another device in your pocket.
How it stacks up to competitors
Google pushed the real-time translation through earbuds concept with Pixel Buds and experiences in Assistant, while Samsung brought on-device interpreter to Galaxy AI alongside Galaxy Buds. Apple’s take is heavily biased toward the unnamable tight integration of products in its ecoystems: AirPods microphones, the on-device intelligence stack of your iPhone, and interface cues meant to minimize fumble-tapping mid-conversation. The distinction isn’t so much raw feature parity as it is reliability, latency and how hands-free the interaction feels.
Getting started setup tips
First, make sure you know your AirPods model: Open Bluetooth settings on an iPhone and tap the info icon next to your AirPods to confirm what generation you have. If the firmware is up to date, place the AirPods in their case and connect it to power, then keep them near your iPhone for a period of time; firmware updates install themselves.
Secondly, upgrade your iPhone to a compatible iOS operating system version and verify whether Apple Intelligence options for features are offered on the model of your phone. Then verify the translation settings within iPhone to choose your languages and turn on a conversation or automatic detection mode. In noisy environments you can also try to put your supported AirPods in Active Noise Cancellation, so I ‘also’ get better microphone pickup and translation accuracy connectivity.
Should you buy the new AirPods after all?
If you just want Live Translation, your mileage may vary a little, but many AirPods Pro users should be sorted (2nd generation and later) as well as some customers using the 4th generation of regular Pods. There’s still plenty that can make the latest Pro model compelling: Apple touts stronger noise cancellation and a more refined in‑ear fit, health-oriented sensors like one for heart rate monitoring, and better battery life. But those are quality-of-life upgrades, not a translation requirement.
The upshot: Live Translation is less exclusionary than the keynote suggested. Check your AirPods’ generation and iPhone compatibility before breaking out your wallet — you might already have the equipment you need to start speaking across languages, hands-free.