Last year, Apple released the new and improved AirPods Pro 3. The device launched three years after the AirPods Pro 2, with significant improvements in sound quality and noise cancellation.
And while this is the usual cadence for the Pro-grade AirPods — once every two or three years — Apple is expected to break that trend this year.
The Cupertino giant is reportedly working on a new, high-end version of the current-generation AirPods Pro 3, and it could go official alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and the first foldable iPhone at the September 2026 launch event.
Why Vision Pro could be driving an unusual AirPods upgrade
Early rumors about the high-end AirPods Pro 3 surfaced in September 2025, when renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo talked about a “more significant hardware upgrade with IR camera-equipped model” anticipated in 2026. This was right before the “Awe Dropping” iPhone 17 launch event.
The addition of infrared cameras could help the AirPods understand their environment better, including the movement (and gestures) of your hands, and offer an enhanced spatial audio experience. Do you know of any other Apple device that can recognize hand gestures? Vision Pro, that’s the correct answer.
Per Instant Digital (via MacRumors), a reliable Chinese leaker, the 2026 AirPods Pro wouldn’t be a new version (or the AirPods Pro 4). Instead, it could be an iterative update to the current-generation Pro AirPods, aimed toward the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, with a slightly higher price tag (around $300). If that’s true, it will make sense for Apple to sell both models.
Among other changes to the purported 2026 AirPods Pro 3 could be the removal of the pressure sensors and a new H3 chip to interpret hand and spatial inputs and convert them into inputs for the Vision Pro. However, that is the extent of the information available about the rumored AirPods Pro 3 sibling.