Apple AirPods Pro 3: Brilliant Upgrade Could Be Coming, Insider Says
In the coming months or years, AirPods may gain extra features that will completely change what they can do. It could be that the next AirPods Pro release, which would be the third-generation model, will herald the significant upgrade.
Gurman says, “I believe Apple intends to upgrade the AirPods to become a health tool in the next year or two, with the ability to get hearing data of some sort. The AirPods have long had a feature called Live Listen that can boost audio from across a room, making the earbuds sort of like a hearing aid.”
This is a fantastic feature—I know people whose experience with limited hearing has been radically altered by AirPods. Now, instead of turning up the volume on the TV and dominating the whole house as a result, they put the iPhone next to the screen and listen through their earbuds.
But there’s more. Gurman goes on, “This, of course, isn’t FDA approved and isn’t meant to function as a hearing aid replacement. But given Apple’s goal to make health one of its next big initiatives, I wouldn’t be surprised if the AirPods do eventually take on those functions more officially. That’s something that would help tens of millions of people, if not more.”
We’ve already had comments from Apple executive Kevin Lynch who in 2021 indicated that there could be significant health upgrades coming to the AirPods in the future.
One of the most exciting things about Gurman’s commentary is that it doesn’t at any point require new AirPods, AirPods Pro or AirPods Max to make these things happen. Of course, some features will be restricted to newer models, but some of these exciting updates could come to current models. After all, the existing hardware is pretty advanced, with sophisticated processors that are highly capable. And we are living in a time when technology ensures that gadgets get better with age, just with the help of a software update.
My guess is that Apple will introduce features like these simultaneously with a hardware refresh for one of the models, perhaps Apple AirPods Max 2 or AirPods Pro 3, and then quietly release the extra capabilities for existing models. This is a technique the company regularly uses, so that while some will upgrade to the latest model, those who stick with what they have are also rewarded.
