There area lot of wireless earbudson the market. Yet theAirPods Pro, in their compact white form factor,continue to impressdespite their premium price tag. Released in 2019 and refreshed in 2022, the AirPods Pro improved on the AirPods by introducing water resistance, Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), and interchangeable silicone tips for a snugger fit.
It’ll be two years in September since the 2nd-generation AirPods Pro released, and as with all tech, rumors are percolating about what the 3rd generation will look like. If you’re interested in buying AirPods Pro anytime soon, you probably want to know if now’s a good time to pick up a pair, so let’s try to answer that question.
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The AirPods Pro 2nd generation offer great features
They might be a few years old, but they’re still very modern
AirPods Pro (2nd-generation)
The AirPods Pro 2nd generation with the USB-C charging case retail for $249. They are easily some of the priciest consumer-grade earbuds you can buy, but that’s nothing unique to Apple. Of course, for the price, you get a lot of solid features. The 2nd generation AirPods Pro are powered by Apple’s H2 chip, enabling features like Adaptive Audio, Transparency Mode, Conversation Awareness, personalized Spatial Audio, and ANC twice as powerful as the previous generation.
In terms of battery life, you can expect up to six hours of listening time on a single charge, with an additional 30 provided by theMagSafe and USB-C charging case. As a pro tip, if you didn’t already know, you can get that charging case engraved for free when ordering AirPods from the Apple Online Store. The AirPods Pro 2nd gen are also IP54 dust, sweat, and water resistant, and include extra small (XS), small (S), medium (M), and large (L) silicone ear tips in the box to ensure you get the right fit. Lastly, Apple includes a little ecosystem magic with these AirPods as they feature a U1 chip for precision finding usingFind Myand the speaker in the charging case.
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AirPods Pro (3rd generation) rumors
Some are more likely than others
Along with the standard performance and audio improvements powered by a new processor, likely an H3 chip, we can expect AirPods Pro’s core functionality to remain unchanged. Audio features like ANC and transparency mode will likely improve, but the overall feature set won’t change. While more challenging to confirm, we might get improved water resistance (likely IPX4), and possibly minor design tweaks. What’s most likely to happen to 3rd generation AirPods Pro are minor updates with a similar, if not identical, price.
However, new health-related features, like built-in hearing testing or body temperature monitoring, are less likely to come to the third-gen AirPods Pro. There’s also a separate rumor hinting that the AirPods could get a charging case with a touch screen. Unfortunately, the addition of these features is likely to increase the price. One feature that’s still not expected is for new AirPods to come in black or any other color.
If we get the AirPods Pro 3 soon, I want them to have these 7 features
With Wi-Fi audio, customizable transparency mode, and a dust-resistance rating, the AirPods Pro 3 would be my mainstay.
Should you buy the 2nd generation AirPods Pro now, or wait?
The eternal question
Apple’s 2nd generation AirPods Pro are widely regarded as some of the best earbuds you may buy right now. While they may be pricey, the ANC they offer is widely considered one of the industry’s best. As a daily wearer of AirPods Pro, I’d be ecstatic for the earbuds to get health-focused functionality like body temperature tracking. The challenge with some of the more exciting feature-related rumors is how unlikely they are to be accurate.
Apple waited three years between the 1st and 2nd generation AirPods Pro. If that timeline is consistent, we still have a year or more before seeing a 3rd generation pair. If you’re genuinely interested in AirPods Pro, I’d recommend grabbing them, particularly if you find agreat dealduring a sale event like back to school. I wouldn’t recommend waiting in the hopes of any revolutionary features – at least not yet. If you’re in a position where your current earbuds likely won’t need replacing for another year or more, you’re probably good to wait it out.
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