AirPods 3: Features, price, and everything you need to know

Airpods 3 With Iphone (Image credit: Apple)

Apple's AirPods lineup includes the AirPods 3 alongside Apple's Gen-2 AirPods and AirPods Pro 2, which are some of the best true wireless earbuds available right now.

The AirPods 3 have improved audio for FaceTime calls, Spatial Audio, low distortion driver, powerful bass, crisp high frequencies, sweat/water resistance, new contoured design, and adaptive EQ like AirPods Pro for the best audio experience.

They sound better than ever

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Third generation AirPods have a custom driver and high dynamic range amplifier for powerful bass and crisp, clean high frequencies. The AirPods 3 have AAC-ELD, a speech code that brings HD voice quality plus an acoustic mesh over the microphone for better call quality.

Adaptive EQ, spatial audio, Dolby Atmos give you a theater-life three-dimensional experience listening experience. These features plus the head-tracking will make you feel like you're in the same room as people on your FaceTime call.

AirPod Pro-style design

Airpods 3 With Iphone Ipad (Image credit: Apple)

The AirPods 3 have an AirPods Pro-style case and earbud style. However, the case is smaller than the AirPods Pro case and there are no silicone ear-tips like their more expensive sibling.

Battery life and charging

Get an extra hour of battery life with the AirPods 3 versus the 2nd generation AirPods. You can get up to six hours of listening time and up to four hours of talk time and you can use a MagSafe charger to charge the 3rd-generation AirPods like you can with the AirPods Pro.

Charge for just five minutes to get up to an hour of battery life. The case gives you four additional charges in the case, for a total of up to 30 hours of total listening time.

Find My

The AirPods (3rd generation) are part of the Find My network. Get proximity view in the Find My app and Lost Mode as well as separation alerts sounds.

Do they have ANC?

So, if the AirPods 3 have an AirPods Pro-style redesign, do they also have AirPods Pro-style Active Noise Cancellation? No, ANC will remain AirPods Pro-only for now.

It's easy to see why. ANC is still often used as a premium feature in many headphones, so the company is keeping that feature for the higher-end models.

Price

The AirPods 3 cost $169 without wireless charging, and $179 if you want the ability to use your MagSafe charger.

AirPods (3rd generation)

Apple's latest in-ear headphones sound better than ever.

Karen is a contributor to iMore.com as a writer and co-host of the iMore Show. She’s been writing about Apple since 2010 with a year-long break to work at an Apple Store as a product specialist. She's also a contributor at TechRadar and Tom's Guide. Before joining iMore in 2018, Karen wrote for Macworld, CNET, AppAdvice, and WatchAware. She’s an early adopter who used to wait in long lines on release days before pre-ordering made things much easier. Karen is also a part-time teacher and occasional movie extra. She loves to spend time with her family, travel the world, and is always looking for portable tech and accessories so she can work from anywhere.