AirPods Pro 3 Launching Later This Year Will Have One Massive Hardware Upgrade Missing, Making The 2026 Model Worth The Wait

Apple could include the AirPods Pro 3 as part of its product announcements during its ‘Awe Inspiring’ keynote that is scheduled to take place on September 9 . With only a few days remaining, we will know soon enough if the company’s flagship wireless earbuds will be officially unveiled at the event. While we expect the latest edition to ship with more features than its direct predecessor, one analyst points out a massive hardware upgrade is arriving to the AirPods Pro 4, but that will require you to sit out an entire year because these are launching in late 2026.

After providing updates on Samsung’s camera sensors for Apple’s iPhone range being postponed to 2027 , TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has returned with an update surrounding the AirPods Pro 3, which he claims will launch in the second half of 2025. Thanks to a reference found in iOS 26 , there is a strong possibility that Apple will not delay its flagship wireless earbuds, and there are a ton of improvements to look forward to.

One of them will be a slightly altered design , along with better Active Noise Cancellation than the AirPods Pro 2 , likely thanks to the custom H3 chip. Some health-focused features, such as heart rate monitoring, temperature sensing, and improved Hearing Assistance, are reported to make the cut, making the AirPods Pro 3 a worthy addition to your ears. However, Kuo states that the AirPods Pro 4 will offer one feature that will be deemed a massive addition to Apple’s wireless audio lineup, and that is infrared-capable cameras.

The California-based giant already has a patent filed that describes an optical lens system on a pair of AirPods , and this product is what will ultimately form a gateway for the company to develop and launch its smart glasses, which are still several years away. There is still a ton of information that we do not know about the AirPods Pro 4, and looking at the features arriving with the AirPods Pro 3, the latter is still a major step-up from the AirPods Pro 2, which are currently .

While the camera upgrade is a feature that customers would love to wait around for, there is still a hefty market for the AirPods Pro 3 thanks to its long list of features, and hopefully, we will learn more about these wireless earbuds next week.

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