The AirPods Pro 2 are, to our ears, Apple's best wireless earbuds. The flagship buds are the best in-ear recipe that the Californian brand has cooked up thus far, melding a clear, powerful and engaging sound with excellent usability and superb ANC. Five-star ratings are always hard won, but the AirPods Pro 2 earned their full haul in style.
Great earbuds can always become greater, though, and Apple thinks it knows how to squeeze those extra ounces of performance out of its flagship buds. According to a patent filed at the US Patent and Trademark Office earlier this month, Apple is looking to make significant changes to its future Pro models, including alterations to the buds' touch-controls and a potential improvement to the AirPods' active noise cancelling capabilities.
Regarding those touch controls, the AirPods Pro 3, if that is to be their new name, sport a redesigned external touch sensor, with patent diagrams suggesting that the new buds will be controllable using vertical movements whereby aspects such as volume can be altered with up and down swipes. So far, so standard; the key part seems to be that the sensor won't necessarily be touch-capacitive in the traditional sense, meaning that you can potentially still use it while wearing gloves without fearing that the buds will fail to recognise your commands.
The patent also seems to show the presence of a new air vent, though the specific purpose of the vent isn't explicitly known. It could be there to help cool the AirPods by letting heat escape, or it could be designed to improve or adapt the buds' noise-cancelling capabilities. We find the noise-cancelling capabilities of the AirPods Pro 2 to be pleasingly effective, but there's always room for improvement if Apple wants to keep up with the likes of Bose and Sony.
Vents and touch controls aside, could the third-generation AirPods employ the high-tech health-tracking features which have been posited for future AirPod generations? Apple has spoken about having AirPods which can be used as hearing aids, with many of the patent design diagrams going into detail about the importance of ear fit tests, so maybe the AirPods Pro 3 will go big on the health-tracking features when the new buds finally arrive.
What all of this really points to, we hope, is the fact that the AirPods Pro 3 are finally on their way this year. We already expected that a new pair would arrive in 2025, but the filing of a new patent suggests that Apple is keen to get the ball rolling on a new flagship pair. Exciting times could be ahead...
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