On Tuesday, Apple held its ‘Awe dropping’ September event – where it announced new iPhone and Apple Watch models, as per usual. It also dropped a new pair of AirPods Pro 3 – which do look quite exciting. That said, if you are going to buy them – you should make sure you’re buying them for the right reasons. Let’s explain.
Live Translation
One of the headlining features with AirPods Pro 3 – its live translation feature, isn’t actually exclusive.
In fact, it’ll work with a couple pairs of older AirPods: that being AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 w/ Active Noise Cancellation. If you’re reading this, you likely have AirPods Pro 2 right now. They’re Apple’s most popular earbuds.
Live translation is an incredible feature. Being able to have a conversation with someone in a foreign language in real time is probably one of the most practical uses of on-device AI models we’ve seen to date. Just know, you don’t quite need the latest earbuds to utilize this feature.
Also, the feature still requires an Apple Intelligence supported iPhone, so don’t run out and buy AirPods Pro 3 if you aren’t using an iPhone 15 Pro or later.
They’ll likely go on sale soon
If Live Translation isn’t the main reason you’re buying them, and you’re instead after the heart rate monitor or improved Active Noise Cancellation – then great! You’re likely still better off waiting, just because sales are almost a guarantee. Unless your AirPods are failing in some capacity, you should wait it out and save some money.
AirPods are probably the easiest Apple product to get a discount on. If we’re going to use the past as precedent, you’ll likely be able to get AirPods Pro 3 for closer to $220 (compared to $250) if you just give it until October/November – and you’ll likely see them on sale for under $200 by early January.
Those savings could easily buy you a few Chipotle bowls, or whatever else you see fit.
Wrap up
All in all, if Live Translation is the main thing that appeals to you with this upgrade, and you don’t already have a supported pair of AirPods – I’d recommend taking a look at either AirPods Pro 2 for $199, or AirPods 4 w/ Active Noise cancellation for $169.
Or, if money is no object to you, you can buy AirPods Pro 3 anyways for $249. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great – just that history suggests that waiting a little longer will end up paying dividends.
My favorite Apple accessory recommendations:
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