With Apple typically updating one of its AirPods models every year and the AirPods Pro due for an upgrade, we’re seeing plenty of chatter that Apple will release its 3rd-generation AirPods Pro 3 sometime in 2025. Last year, we got the all-new AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Canceling. However, all of us anticipating the arrival of the AirPods Max 2 were disappointed when Apple only refreshed its premium over-ear headphones with USB-C charging and new colors. So, we can only wait and speculate. Here’s a look at the latest AirPods Pro 3 rumors and what improvements I’d like to see.

Read more: Best wireless earbuds of 2025

Rumored AirPods Pro 3 release date

MacOS Rumors recently spotted a post on X from a tipster called Kosutami who said Apple was planning to launch the AirPods Pro 3 and AirTag 2 in May or June of this year. That seems unlikely, given that Apple has previously launched next-generation AirPods alongside new iPhones in the fall. One exception was the AirPods Max, which was announced on Dec. 8, 2020, or about six weeks after the iPhone 12 was released. 

While anything is possible, it seems more likely that the AirPods Pro 3 will arrive at the same time as the iPhone 17 in September. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who’s usually a more reliable Apple whisperer, has said the AirPods Pro 3 will have a new design and feature heart-rate monitoring like Apple’s new Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 — but they’re still months away from being launched. New 

New temperature and heart-rate sensors

With the Powerbeats Pro 2 getting the aforementioned heart-rate sensors, it now seems more likely that the AirPods Pro 3 will get them, too. I’m not sure how useful that feature is, especially if you already own an Apple Watch. However, Apple likely has grander plans for its buds’ heart-rate monitoring and is still fleshing everything out, using the Powerbeats Pro 2 as a bit of a guinea pig. 

Several tech outlets picked up on another Gurman report mentioning the possibility of temperature sensors and other physiological measurements coming to the AirPods. Both he and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also reported that Apple was working on adding infrared cameras to future AirPods. Kuo’s report suggested that the IR cameras could be used for everything including in-air hand gesture detection, enhancing spatial audio or detecting environmental changes for software, including Apple Intelligence. Don’t expect to see any of that camera tech in the AirPods Pro 3, but maybe the AirPods Pro 4 will get it.

AirPods case with touch screen display

The rumored feature I find most intriguing is an interactive touch display in the AirPods Pro 3’s charging case that acts as a remote control. With Apple filing a patent for it back in 2022, the rumor has been kicking around for a while, and several AirPods knockoffs with touchscreens have shown up on Amazon in recent months. Also, last year JBL released three new Live 3 earbuds, including the Live Beam 3, as a follow-up to 2023’s Tour Pro 2 earbuds, which featured a color touchscreen in their case. All the new Live 3 models feature a 1.5-inch LED touch display in their charging cases, so the feature appears in competing earbuds.

I don’t know what the odds are that the AirPods Pro 3 will get a charging case with a touchscreen, but some changes to the charging case are likely, with some saying the case may shrink a bit. If nothing else, the physical Bluetooth pairing and reset button should get swapped out for a hidden touch-capacitive «button» like the one found in the AirPods 4’s case.

Given that Apple made two versions of the AirPods 4, I could see it making two versions of the AirPods Pro 3 — a more premium model with some extra features like a touchscreen in the charging case and a step-down version that cuts them out.

Improved AirPods Pro 3 performance with H3 chip

The AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 and Powerbeats Pro 2 are all powered by Apple’s H2 chip. Rumor has it that the AirPods Pro 3 could get the new H3 chip, presuming Apple sticks with its current earbuds/headphones chip nomenclature. Adding a more powerful, energy-efficient chip along with tweaks to the design of the buds’ acoustic architecture and microphones could lead to several performance improvements, including enhanced sound quality, upgraded active noise canceling and better voice-calling performance. We could also see slightly better battery life.

I don’t expect a huge jump in performance, but the AirPods Pro 3 could sound a little clearer with better bass definition than their predecessor. Their noise canceling may be more proficient and able to muffle a wider range of frequencies. Also, when it comes to voice calling, the buds will likely do an even better job of picking up your voice while reducing background noise.

The AirPods Pro 2 and Powerbeats Pro 2 are ultralow-latency and can even do lossless audio when paired with Apple’s pricey Vision Pro headset. From what I’ve been told, the reason the AirPods Pro 2 and Powerbeats Pro 2 are able to do true lossless audio with the Vision Pro headset is that the buds and headset sit only a few inches apart, making for an extremely short wireless connection that can reliably transmit lossless audio. There’s been talk of Apple coming up with a solution to bring lossless audio to next-gen AirPods when paired with your iPhone. I hope the AirPods Pro 3 has a lossless audio option when connected to the latest iPhones, iPads and Macs, but I’m not counting on it. 

Live translation feature for AirPods Pro 3 (and maybe AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4)

Lately I’ve encountered several no-name Chinese earbuds on Amazon with live translation features, so it wasn’t a huge surprise when Bloomberg recently reported that the AirPods Pro 3 may be adding live translation via Apple’s Translate app with the release of iOS 19 this fall. The iOS Translate app already has fairly robust translation capabilities, but the report talks about how Apple plans to simplify the translation experience with the feature built into its earbuds, as well improve the iOS Translation app. (For those who can’t access Bloomberg’s content behind its paywall, MacRumors has a synopsis of the report).

Since this is more of an iPhone/iOS 19 feature, with the translation of what you say played through your iPhone’s speakers for others to hear, live translation seems pretty likely to come to the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4, both of which are equipped with Apple’s H2 chip and have plenty of processing power. Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 might also get the live translation feature.          

My AirPods Pro 3 wishlist: Better sound quality and one key feature 

I don’t care too much about some of these rumored extra features, like heart-rate monitoring and temperature sensing. I’m more excited about any enhancements to the buds’ design and performance upgrades across the board. 

I’ve previously written about how I’d like to see all new AirPods get a case that turns into a Bluetooth transmitter to wirelessly stream the audio from inflight entertainment to the buds. A few true wireless earbuds, including the Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 and Elite 10 Gen 2, Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 and Poly Voyager Free 60 Plus, have charging cases that act as Bluetooth transmitters. With the included cable, you simply connect the case to the 3.5mm port in your seat’s console or armrest and you’re good to go. I don’t expect the AirPods Pro 3 will get this feature, but I sure wish they would.

I’d also like to see Apple add a set of extra large eartips. I barely get a tight seal with the AirPods Pro 2’s current large tips and could really use an XL tip for my left ear, which is slightly different from my right (I have tested a variety of third-party foam tips). When Apple released the AirPods Pro 2, it added a fourth extra small ear tip for those with smaller ears. The challenge to adding a fifth XL tip is that the charging case would have to be able to accommodate a slightly larger ear tip. Since getting a tight seal is so important for optimizing sound quality and noise-canceling performance, it would behoove Apple to offer that fifth XL tip for those who require bigger eartips for that reason. 

Read more: The One Feature I Wish Apple Would Add to All New AirPods

We’re big fans of some of the very best headphones and earbuds you can buy, but they can also come with huge price tags. That’s especially the case if you’re looking to pick up a pair of noise-canceling headphones. But you can also find some pretty great budget earbuds as well, with companies like Soundpeats proving you don’t have to spend hundreds to upgrade your listening experience. Even better, Soundpeats is currently offering a massive 50% off some of its personal audio gear. There are multiple options for you to choose from, so make sure to pick the one that best suits you before ordering.

All of these discounts come to a close on April 13, so you do have a few days to make your decision, and with both headphones and earbuds represented in this sale, we’re confident there will be something for everyone. Unfortunately, all of these discounts do require you to enter a discount code, and they’re all different — so make sure you’re entering the right code for the deal you want.

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

There are so many deals on offer, we aren’t going to get into all of them, but we do want to highlight the biggest savings available. That’s on the Soundpeats Air4 Pro ANC earbuds, yours today for just $38 when you enter the discount code SPA4P50OFF. These earbuds support Bluetooth 5.3, multipoint connectivity and a custom equalizer all at a price that is hard to beat.

If you’re a fan of headphones rather than earbuds, the Sounrpeats Space Hybrid ANC headphones can be yours for just $30 when you enter the code SPWTSPACE at checkout. They’re available in three different colors and promise a whopping 123 hours of battery life per charge. They sport comfortable ear cups, deep bass and again support a custom equalizer so you can make them sound just the way you like.

The full rundown of deals includes:

• Air5 earbuds: $36 (save $36 with code SP50OFFAIR5)
• Air4 Pro earbuds: $38 (save $38 with code SPA4P50OFF)
• Capsule3 Pro earbuds: $28 (save $28 with code SPC3PTPWT)
• GoFree2 earbuds (in pearl black): $25 (save $25 with code SPGF2WTBE)
• Space headphones: $30 (save $30 with code SPWTSPACE)
• A6 headphones: $25 (save $25 with code SP50OFFA6)

Again, all of these deals end on April 13, so keep that in mind when you’re planning your purchase.

Why this deal matters

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you have to spend a lot to get some top-notch features like ANC, but that really isn’t the case with these discounts. If you’re on a budget but still want to enjoy those features, now is definitely the time to act, before these deals are gone for good.

Worried about what your kids might be up to on social media? If so, Meta’s continued crackdown on teen safety might come as a relief. The company announced Tuesday that, starting immediately, it’s expanding its Instagram Teen Accounts to other platforms, specifically, Facebook and Messenger.

It also announced additional built-in protections for Instagram Teen Accounts. These will prevent children under the age of 16 from going live on the platform or turning off blurred images, which protect against suspected nudity in direct messages, without parental permission.

Meta first launched Instagram Teen Accounts back in September 2024, in a bid to make the platform a safer place for kids and provide more oversight and supervision options for parents. In an update on Tuesday, the company said it had switched 54 million accounts to become Teen Accounts so far, with more to go. The accounts offer built-in protections, including being set to private by default and a hidden words feature, which will automatically filter out problematic comments and DM requests.

With parental agreement, some of these features can be switched off, but Meta said that so far 97% of teens aged between 13 and 15 had kept the default safeguards in place. In a Meta-commissioned survey undertaken by Ipsos, the company said that 94% of parents found the protections helpful, with 85% saying it made it easier to have positive experiences on Instagram. The company didn’t say how many parents it surveyed, or where they were situated.

Child safety: Who is responsible?

Children’s safety campaigners have been asking social media companies for years to make their platforms safer for kids, and while progress has been slow, Meta’s recognition that teens need different protections than adults to the extent that they require a different kind of account has been an important breakthrough. Other platforms have followed suit, with TikTok introducing new parental controls last month.

But at the same time as introducing teen accounts, Meta has come under fire for rolling back safety protections elsewhere on its platforms. Just this week, the company has ceased its fact-checking program and more broadly it’s also scanning for harmful content in order to promote more free speech.

«In recent months, it has been deeply concerning to see Meta roll back on their duty to protect children,» said Matthew Sowemimo, associate head of policy for child safety online at UK children’s charity the NSPCC over email. «While their move to expand these safety features to both Facebook and Messenger is welcome, more work must be done to ensure children have positive experiences online — including on both private and public parts of these platforms.»

For the changes brought about by the introduction of teen accounts to be most effective, they should be combined with proactive measures to reduce harmful content across Meta’s platforms, Sowemimo added. «While safety settings play an important role in preventing online harm, we know changes to account settings can result in accountability falling onto children and parents to keep themselves safe online,» he said.