Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 wireless earbuds remain elusive, but the current models continue to receive improved features.
In an announcement at WWDC 2025 Apple revealed AirPods 4 (including the ANC variant) and AirPods Pro 2 have gained new features geared to help content creators using the best wireless earbuds.
First of all, you’ll be able to start and stop video recordings with a long press of the button on the AirPods stem. This makes the most recent AirPods models a camera remote for the built in iPhone and iPad app or third party apps. It’ll also work for photos too.
“For users who like capturing themselves singing or dancing, the new features make it easy to perform in sync with a soundtrack while simultaneously recording the video,” Apple says in a newsroom post.
Apple is also massively updating the audio recording capabilities with the company promising “studio-quality audio recordings” for content creators like interviewers, podcasters and singers.
The company adds: “With the H2 chip, beamforming microphones, and computational audio, users will also enjoy more natural vocal texture and clarity across iPhone calls, FaceTime, and CallKit-enabled apps. Studio-quality audio recording and improved call quality work across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, while also supporting the Camera app, Voice Memos, dictation in Messages, video conferencing apps like Webex, and compatible third-party camera apps.”
During WWDC Apple also announced a new Local Capture feature for iPadOS 26 that will work well with AirPods Pro users looking to record content for video podcasts and more. It has a neat echo cancellation feature that will isolate the primary voice and save the individual files, making both sides of the conversation easy to share when over.
The company adds: “With Local capture, users can produce high-quality recordings right from iPad with any video conferencing app, and easily share audio and video files once the call is over. Echo cancellation of other participants’ audio keeps the user’s voice front and centre, allowing for a clear recording of their side of the call.”
Opinion
Studio-quality recordings? That vow certainly appears to be hyperbolic at best. Studio microphones can cost thousands. If Apple has managed to miniaturise that quality through digital wizardry and placed it into a tiny set of microphones that cost £200 then it’d be in line for invention of the decade!
