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What will the AirPods Pro 4 have?
Latest on AirPods Pro 4
More newsIf you own AirPods Pro 3, AirPods 4 or AirPods Max 2, you can now tune the sound yourself and the setting travels with the earbuds. AirPods Pro 2 get the update but not the EQ, and you can't force the install.
Read the storyA treadmill test on the iOS 27 beta came back with the numbers a watch would give. The earbuds have to be in, and their heart-rate permission has to be on.
Read the storyApple assembles its shipping code by merging branches, and one of the branches it merged this time was never meant to leave the building.
Read the storyComparison
Compare earbudsPrice
$249
What it costs to buy. None of these need a subscription.
Weight
5.6g
Grams in your ears. Lower is lighter.
Battery life
~8 hrs
How long it lasts on its own, away from a charger.
AirPods Pro 3$249
AirPods 4$129
Pixel Buds Pro 2$229
Galaxy Buds 4 Pro$249.99
Current list prices.
One earbud, not the pair, and not the case.
Hours on one charge with noise cancelling on, where that figure is officially stated; otherwise the official headline figure. Prices are each product's lowest version. Battery life varies with use, settings and firmware.
Expected release date
An average of 1076 days between updates.An average of 1076 days between updates.
| Generation | On sale | Gap |
|---|---|---|
| AirPods Pro (1st generation) | Oct 30, 2019 | first |
| AirPods Pro (2nd generation) | Sep 23, 2022 | 1059 days |
| AirPods Pro 3 | Sep 19, 2025 | 1092 days |
| AirPods Pro 4 (expected) | Around August 2028 | expected |
Quick answers
All FAQsInstant Digital describes it as a higher-end AirPods Pro 3 variant.
62% track record
Similar reports have held up 62% of the time in our historical data.
Based on how reporting on wireless earbuds has held up, across 84 settled reports.
This does not mean this claim has a 62% chance of happening.
How the reporting has spread
This started with independent reporting and was later carried by other outlets. Repeats don’t count as new independent sources.
Independent sources
Outlets
5
How strongly each outlet put it
A camera in each earbud may let them see around you.
A credible source reported this.
It isn't confirmed yet and may change.
67% track record
Similar reports have held up 67% of the time in our historical data.
Based on how reporting on wireless earbuds has held up, across 84 settled reports.
This does not mean this claim has a 67% chance of happening.
How the reporting has spread
This started with independent reporting and was later carried by other outlets. Repeats don’t count as new independent sources.
Independent sources
Outlets
8
How strongly each outlet put it
Do new AirPods Pro turn up at Apple's September event?
Readers got this one wrong — 1 vote
Expected price: about $249
Our estimateThis is our figure, not AirPods's. We base it on what the last models cost. It can change.
Reveal to on sale
The gap has ranged from 2 days (AirPods Pro (1st generation)) to 16 days (AirPods Pro (2nd generation)).
Frequently asked questions
A worn battery no longer has to mean new earbuds, but the swap is a technician's job and the charging case still can't be opened without breaking it.
Two reviewers rate the Beats 360 as the over-ear headphones to beat for running and the gym, and WIRED warns the sound quality is the price.
You need iOS 27 and the latest AirPods firmware. It is less detailed than Sony's EQ, and the default profile is fine if you'd rather not tinker.
The closest Beats has come to AirPods Max for about $200 less, with a sweat rating for workouts. You give up wired listening and auto-pause.
Spend the extra $20. The wireless-case model gets swipe volume and more battery, and battery life is the complaint that follows the AirPods 5 through every review.
Upgrading from AirPods 4 with noise cancellation buys you very little. Coming from anything older, the $129 model is the cheapest good AirPods Apple has sold.
If you own AirPods Pro 3, AirPods 4 or AirPods Max 2, you can now tune the sound yourself and the setting travels with the earbuds. AirPods Pro 2 get the update but not the EQ, and you can't force the install.
Only the $149 AirPods 5 beats AirPods 4 with ANC on every line. The $129 model carries the same two battery ratings and a case with no wireless charging and no Find My speaker.
IP57 puts a $129 pair of open-ear AirPods on the same water rating as the $249 Pro 3.
Open-ear noise cancellation used to cost $179. It's $129 now, and the $20 step up buys a case that charges on an Apple Watch puck.
The camera AirPods were on Apple's schedule for this stage and are now a 2027 product, which leaves a $129 pair of tipless earbuds carrying the entry line for another year.
A treadmill test on the iOS 27 beta came back with the numbers a watch would give. The earbuds have to be in, and their heart-rate permission has to be on.
Apple already has a head-tracking sensor in the phone in front of you. The code says the earbuds win that argument, on hardware nobody expects before fall 2027.
Noise cancellation is reaching Apple's entry-level earbuds a year earlier than the reporting expected. The camera pair is still next year.
Apple assembles its shipping code by merging branches, and one of the branches it merged this time was never meant to leave the building.
Supply chain problems and unfinished software pushed them to 2027, two days after a demo video leaked out of macOS.
A hidden macOS framework has two color cameras, paired stills at a megapixel, and an indicator light. It describes B790, the model Apple dropped.
Apple’s fifth AirPods beta firmware, build 9A5347a, goes to every H2 model. Custom EQ and a new interface arrive with iOS 27.
B868M and B868E sit one increment above the shipping AirPods 4, splitting the next generation into a plain pair and one with active noise cancellation. No date came with them.
Apple's macOS Tahoe 26.7 release candidate carries the video, an error string from the camera, and codenames for two separate camera AirPods.
