This is Technology Bytes, episode 132, for September 14th, 2025.
Technology Bytes is a microcast where I share brief bytes on interesting technology.
Enjoy, and here we go.
So this week I’m talking about the AirPods Pro 3.
So this week Apple held their iPhone event.
The first thing they talked about was the AirPod Pro 3, and so I’m going to talk about that first as well.
I’m not going to talk about the whole event in one microcast.
I’m going to get a number of episodes out of that event that was held this past Tuesday.
But the first thing I want to talk about is the AirPods Pro version 3.
And just as a reminder, I have the AirPods Pro version 2, and I will do some comparisons between those two versions of the in-ear headphones from Apple.
So the first thing is, what is different?
You know, what has been improved?
What does the AirPods Pro 3 offer that you don’t get from their other versions?
Well, the one thing that they talked about almost up front was the active noise cancellation being two times better than the AirPods Pro 2 and four times better than the original AirPod Pros.
And so, you know, it’s hard to know what that means.
Two times better, I mean, I guess you could measure it with some kind of sound device, but it seems hard when the AirPods are in your ears, so it’s hard to say.
But other things that they did was, you know, they talked about hundreds of thousands of ears being measured, I think they said, and they actually changed the design just a little bit so that it fits in more people’s ears.
And on top of that, they have five versions of the tips that go on them.
So hoping, I think from their perspective, that these AirPods Pro fit in a lot of different ear variations, sizes, shapes, and work well.
And they also changed those tips.
They did, I think they call it an infused foam.
And so they seal better.
And I think that, and you know, other podcasters I’ve listened to have said the same thing, that that could be where much of the increase in the active noise cancellation comes from.
The other thing they did, it’s always engineering work with Apple.
They do a great job in that arena.
And so they’ve changed the speakers.
It just seems funny that inside of that tiny little device, as good as it sounds, it’s like how much speaker can you get in there?
But they’ve changed that and it says, you know, you get a richer sound, more bass.
And, you know, I don’t have a pair.
I didn’t order a pair, so I don’t know how true that is.
But over time, we will hear from those who have them and see what they think about the new speaker arrangement.
The other thing is listening time was increased.
That generally happens over time.
I think it went from either like six to eight hours.
They added a heart rate sensor.
I thought that was kind of interesting because they advertised it or spoke about it in the event.
Like, so you don’t have to buy an Apple watch.
You can just put your AirPods in, your AirPods Pro 3, and then do your exercises when you carry your Apple watch.
I mean, your iPhone with you and get some of those same measurements that the Apple watch gives you during those workouts as well.
The other thing that they added is just an improved dust, sweat, and water resistance.
And so I use my AirPods Pro most often when I’m working out.
And so, you know, sweat is a thing that happens.
And so I always find that to be a good advancement when it comes to these types of devices.
So some of the things that haven’t changed or that they talked about that actually come to devices prior to the AirPods Pro 3, the first is the chip that’s inside them.
It’s still an H2 chip.
I didn’t see anything that said it was a different H2 chip, but it’s still, it looks like it is the same as what was in the AirPods Pro 2.
So that same kind of brain, as it were, the live translation, they spoke about quite a bit.
And many, including myself, thought that that was only something that you got with the AirPods Pro 3.
But, you know, with the same chip, it makes sense that that actually is coming to the AirPods Pro 2 and maybe to the AirPods 4.
I can’t remember exactly.
I use my AirPods Pro as hearing aids, mostly at work and meetings, and it works really well.
I’m so glad that I have them.
That is the same on both devices.
You also get the adaptive audio, which is another feature that I really like when I’m out in the mornings for my morning walk.
I am walking on the streets with traffic, and so it’s nice that the volume of the whatever I happen to be listening to, mostly podcasts, that it changes when the environment that I’m in is a little bit louder.
So I’ve always liked that.
Maybe it’s a little bit better with the AirPods Pro 3, but I didn’t see that.
And then conversation mode, I don’t use it all that often.
And it’s funny when my wife is talking to me, she’s like, oh, I’m sorry, you’re listening to something.
And I’m like, hey, when you talk to me, my listening stops and it lets me hear you well.
So you don’t have to really worry about that.
So I like that mode as well.
So those are some of the things that remain the same.
Now you’ve seen both sides, those that change, those that remain the same.
And so now the final question.
So what usually follows these types of analysis is, okay, are you purchasing or are you not?
And is the upgrades significant enough to make you want to purchase the new AirPods Pro 3?
Apple really pushed these as a great upgrade regardless of which AirPods you have at the moment.
But most of what I have, most of what I use is available with the AirPods Pro 2 that I have.
So the only reason that I will purchase the 3s is if my wife wants a new pair of AirPods.
Currently she has a older pair.
I’m not even sure what the number is, but my granddaughter, her granddaughter, our granddaughter lost one of them.
And so she just has the one and she uses it to listen to audio book things and some others.
But I told her, you know, if you want a good pair and she’s like, I always get the hand-me-downs.
I said, yeah, sorry, but I’d be willing to get a new pair of the AirPods Pro 3 and give you mine.
And I think you would really enjoy them.
So that is all I have for today.
As always, if you have comments, suggestions or questions, you can send them to technologybytesatmarigfamily.com.
Thank you for listening to the Technology Bytes microcast.
And I look forward to the next time we are together, taking another bite of technology.
