Apple was widely expected to release the next generation of its AirPods Pro noise-canceling earbuds this fall, and now it has. As part of its September "awe-dropping" event, the company debuted the AirPods Pro 3. Upgraded in several ways, they feature heart-rate sensors like the Beats PowerBeats Pro 2, plus better noise canceling, sound quality and battery life, as well as some design tweaks that improve their fit. You can preorder them today for $249 and they ship on Sept. 19.
Watch this: I Tried Apple AirPods 3: First Impressions of New Features 05:00
Here are some of their key upgrades. It's worth noting that the AirPods Pro 3 still use Apple's H2 chip, not the rumored even more powerful H3 chip some people thought they might get. (It apparently doesn't exist yet.) Also, the case uses a new U2 chip for advanced precision in the Find My location system.
Refined design for better fit (the buds are slightly smaller)
New heart-rate sensors
New 10.7mm drivers with new multiport acoustic architecture
2x better noise canceling compared to AirPods Pro 2
Upgraded microphones
Improved sound quality with better bass
More natural-sounding transparency mode
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