“This turns the dial up to 11 by improving on key features, including a ‘completely redesigned acoustic architecture’ for the best AirPods audio I’ve heard yet,” writes technology columnist ALEX  ZAHAROV-REUTT.

Apple’s wireless earbuds first arrived in 2016, but this new version gives your ears impressive hearing superpowers, tracks your heart rate, controls your camera, and does it all for hours longer. 

Until Apple’s AirPods arrived in 2016, no-one sold earbuds that went into both ears individually, without a cable stretching behind your head to connect both buds. 

However, like Edmund Hillary scaling Mt Everest, and Sir Roger Bannister breaking the four-minute mile, once Apple had achieved the feat, doing the same was no longer impossible. 

September’s release of the AirPods Pro 3 (RRP $429), turns the dial up to 11 by improving on key features, including a “completely redesigned acoustic architecture” for the best AirPods audio I’ve heard yet. 

This is joined by greatly improved noise cancellation, four times stronger than 2019’s AirPods Pro 1, and two times stronger than 2022’s AirPods Pro 2, equalling the noise cancelling capabilities of Apple’s over-the-ears AirPods Max headphones – all while fitting into your ear and not over it.

As I type, I’m on a plane from Hong Kong to San Francisco, with these AirPods blissfully deadening the noisy engine din to a much quieter level – although obviously not to complete silence. 

There are now five differently sized silicone tips, two more than before, including an XXS size, which can be mixed and matched as desired, further enhanced with a fine layer of foam within the tips, for better sound isolation to boost the noise-cancelling effect,

Eight hours of battery life with noise-cancelling “on” is impressive, too. That’s two more hours than AirPods Pro 2. With hearing-aid mode “on”, the new AirPods work for 10 hours, or four hours more than AirPods Pro 2, making AirPods a genuine challenger to dedicated hearing aids costing thousands more. 

Another new feature turns AirPods Pro 3, (and the existing Pro 2 and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation after free software update) into an interpreter, able to translate between English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish, with Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese by year’s end – and more languages throughout 2026. 

The person you’re in front of speaks in their language, and the translation is spoken by AirPods right into your ears. 

If you both have compatible AirPods, you’ll each hear a translation. If you only have one set of AirPods, what you say is displayed on your iPhone’s screen for the other person to read. 

Google’s Buds have offered a similar feature for several years now, and the Google and Apple Translate apps also exist, but with Apple finally offering live translation via AirPods, global language barriers will fall faster than ever. 

Meanwhile, the new heart rate sensor and calorie tracker works with 50 different fitness training workouts using the iPhone’s built-in Fitness app, and with the new AirPods design, a stronger fit and greater in-ear stability means they won’t fall out during activities including running, HIIT and yoga. 

This is also boosted by a new IP57 dust, sweat and water resistance rating, meaning tough and sweaty workouts are no problem. That said, this isn’t waterproofing – AirPods are not (yet) designed for use when swimming

You can also now press on the stem of an AirPod when the photo or video camera is open, turning AirPods into a remote control – while also using the AirPods as the microphone source. 

There are more features besides, and it’s important to note that the Samsung and Google equivalents to these buds have been introducing features to compete, making them ever better value, but as of now, those features play catch up to the AirPods Pro 2, and not the “just released” AirPods Pro 3.

Neither Google nor Samsung’s earbuds have a dedicated clinical-grade hearing-aid feature as yet either, so while both do offer ways to boost sounds around you, it’s just not the same. 

Opening your wallet to upgrade to audacious aural advances is up to you, but whether you heard it here first, or not, these are set to be Apple’s most popular AirPods yet!

Alex Zaharov-Reutt has loved tech since his father bought him (aged four-and-a-half) a computer from Dick Smith in Fyshwick in 1979. Hear his tech show on 2CC every Saturday from 10.30am.