AirPods Pro 3 expected soon with 'better than previous' noise canceling — but rumors remain shallow

AirPods Pro 2 with the lid open
(Image credit: Gerald Lynch / Future)

When a company releases a new version of something, there are a couple of different things that you might expect. New features, for example. The improvement of old ones, perhaps. A new design, a new color, something to set them apart from the old version that, as the new product releases, will become defunct. After all, what would be the point of a new version if it were the same as the device before?

So when we're told that the new AirPods Pro 3 will have 'better noise canceling than the previous model' by Kosutami on X, there's a certain taste of 'I could have told you that without insider knowledge.' Yet, seemingly, that's what the world seems to be focussing on right now, despite the fact there's a far more interesting line just below.

AirPods Pro 3 coming sooner than expected?

Forget the improved noise canceling — that should be a given. It's the fact that in reply to the question "Are they being announced soon?" from another user, Kosutami tells us that the AirPods Pro 3 are, indeed, going to be announced "soon". Now, this isn't a particular in-depth rumor, so how 'soon' remains up in the air, but given we weren't expecting the new AirPods Pro for a little while, it does come as a surprise.

If they're coming at some point in the latter half of this year, that would make their debut one year earlier than their previous potential mid-2025 launch that we were expecting.

Kosutami isn't any average internet sleuth either, with several confirmed and accurate rumors under their belt already. 

What might put a dampener on things is that the AirPods Pro 2 were the most recently released AirPods of any kind, so to have a new version so soon seems unlikely at best. Nevertheless, we already have some idea of what the sequel might look like thanks to our leaker here and Mark Gurman Bloomberg fame. There are going to be new health features for one, along with new audio architecture amongst other things.

Now we can add improved noise canceling to that list.

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Tammy Rogers
Senior Staff Writer

As iMore's Senior Staff writer, Tammy uses her background in audio and Masters in screenwriting to pen engaging product reviews and informative buying guides. The resident audiophile (or audio weirdo), she's got an eye for detail and a love of top-quality sound. Apple is her bread and butter, with attention on HomeKit and Apple iPhone and Mac hardware. You won't find her far away from a keyboard even outside of working at iMore – in her spare time, she spends her free time writing feature-length and TV screenplays. Also known to enjoy driving digital cars around virtual circuits, to varying degrees of success. Just don't ask her about AirPods Max - you probably won't like her answer.