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Yesterday, Apple announced its newest flagship earbuds: AirPods Pro 3. The new earbuds seem like a solid improvement over the previous generation of Pros in a number of ways, including the built-in heart rate monitor and redesigned shape.
But the feature that really stole the show for me was live translation. Here’s how it works: When you’re talking to someone who speaks a language you don’t understand, you’ll hear a live translation of their words through your AirPods. Your buds will even boost noise cancellation to lower the volume of the speaker, so you can focus on the translation. When you speak, your words are translated live as well, only on your iPhone’s display. That way, the other person can understand what you’re saying, too. If it works the way it seemed to in Apple’s demo, it feels like the future, and is sure to be a reason people buy these earbuds when they go on sale.
But here’s the thing: You don’t actually need AirPods Pro 3 in order to use live translation. While Apple showcased the feature during the AirPods Pro 3 segment, the company conveniently forgot to mention that customers who own AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation can also use the feature. You can see that from Apple’s own AirPods comparison tool: All three models support live translation.
What do you think so far?
If you take a look at the fine print, you’ll see the reason: Your AirPods themselves aren’t really doing the translating. Instead, the feature is powered by iOS 26 and Apple Intelligence. You’ll need an iPhone that can run both—which means an iPhone 15 Pro or newer—as well as the latest AirPods firmware. Assuming you have a compatible iPhone and AirPods, both running the right software, you can use the feature.
Live translation isn’t the only new Apple feature available on older devices. When the company announced new Apple Watches yesterday, it advertised new hypertension alerts and sleep scores, and made it seem like those feature were exclusive to the new watches. As it turns out, hypertension alerts are available on Series 9 and newer, while sleep score is available on Series 6 and newer. I get that Apple wants to show its newest features running on its newest devices, but this is more than a little misleading.
