Apple announced its new AirPods Pro 3 on September 9th, replacing the AirPods Pro 2 from September 2022. On September 19th, they began shipping and were available in stores.
A poll* conducted by The Spartan Speaks found that an astonishing 81% of students use AirPods, meaning OHS students should pay attention to this new release.
AirPods Pro 3 have many new features and improvements, but the most groundbreaking is that they have 2 times better Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) than the previous AirPods Pro 2, which already had some of the best noise cancellation of any earbuds.
Active Noise Cancellation and Fit
It seems almost impossible with how good the active noise cancellation on AirPods Pro 2 was, but Apple boldly claims that AirPods Pro 3 have 2x better ANC than the Pro 2, 4x better ANC than the 1st gen Pro, and better ANC than any other wireless in-ear headphones on the market.
This ANC performance is credited to hardware, software, and new eartips.
“Ultra low noise microphones and advanced computational audio, combined with new foam infused eartips for even greater noise isolation. This significantly improves performance, delivering twice the ANC compared to the previous generation, which were already amazing,” Apple VP of Hardware Engineering Kate Bergeron said.
For eartips, foam is better than silicon for fit because of its ability to expand to match the ear canal shape, but it does not last as long as silicon. With this new hybrid design, users should expect a better seal in the ear, allowing for improved ANC and the best of both the silicon and foam eartip worlds.
Another factor that Apple did not attribute this improved ANC to is the fact that the AirPods Pro 3 are now smaller than the last generation, and have the head protruding at a different angle to better fit the ear.
New Features
AirPods Pro 3 introduce Live Translation, translating another language in real time while reducing the speaker’s volume with ANC so you can hear the translation. Your iPhone can display your words translated for the other person.
There are also new heart rate sensors, enabling AirPods Pro 3 to track 50 different workout types together with your iPhone, just like Apple Watch. It can also work together with an Apple Watch to improve fitness tracking.
Other Improvements
AirPods Pro 3 have improved Transparency, making voices sound more natural, 10 hours of music listening time (with transparency and hearing aid enabled) over 6 on AirPods Pro 2, IP 57 over the previous IP 54 for better sweat and water resistance, and now come with 5 eartip sizes in the box with the introduction of new XXS eartips.
Apple has also designed new acoustic architecture for a wider soundstage, making instruments and any vocals stand apart from one another for better spatial listening.
Battery Life and Speculation
Apple claims the AirPods have up to 8 hours of music listening time on a single charge with ANC turned on, which is 2 hours more than the Pro 2.
However, an interesting fact arises when looking into total listening time when including the case’s battery. While the AirPods Pro 2 are said to have 30 hours of total listening time, meaning the case can recharge them 4 times and provide an extra 24 hours to the original 6, Apple only lists the AirPods Pro 3 with 24 hours of total listening time, meaning the case can only recharge them 2 times and provide 16 more hours to the original 8.
Apple has not provided any information on the sizes of the batteries in the Pro 3 case or the Pro 3 themselves compared to the Pro 2. It could be possible that Apple increased the battery size in the AirPods themselves to give them the new longer battery life, decreasing the number of times the case can recharge them, but that seems almost impossible since the AirPods Pro 3 are smaller.
On the other hand, if Apple reduced the size of the battery in the case this year, then that would decrease the number of recharge times. But the Pro 3 case is slightly larger in all dimensions and heavier than the Pro 2 case, so that explanation does not seem to add up either.
Final Thoughts
For the 59% of Orono students who have AirPods with Active Noise Cancellation or anyone else who would appreciate AirPods with the feature, AirPods Pro 3, with their capabilities passed down from the last 2 generations, as well as new improvements, will be phenomenal earbuds at the same $249 premium price as their predecessor.
“Whether you’ve experienced AirPods before, this is the first time; these AirPods Pro define a new benchmark for the world’s most popular headphones,” Apple VP of Hardware Engineering Kate Bergeron said.
*This poll was not scientific. This poll was posted on The Spartan Speaks’s Instagram. When asked “Do you use AirPods? If so, do they have Active Noise Cancellation (ANC)?”, there were 6 votes for “No, I use wired Apple EarPods”, 16 votes for “No, I use another brand’s earbuds/headphones”, 24 votes for “Yes, I use AirPods without ANC”, and 65 votes for “Yes, I use AirPods with ANC”.
