Apple

Sep 8, 2025AW-0023Wrong

Gurman: AirPods Pro 3 audio and ANC to stay similar

Gurman reported that AirPods Pro 3 would not notably improve audio quality or noise cancellation.

Mark Gurman reported that the AirPods Pro 3 would not include notable improvements to audio quality or active noise cancellation, with heart-rate tracking as the headline new feature instead. Apple announced the earbuds the next day.

How to read this record

  1. What was reportedGurman reported that AirPods Pro 3 would not notably improve audio quality or noise cancellation.
  2. Who said it, and whenMark Gurman reported it on Sep 8, 2025 in MacRumors.
  3. What happened, and whenAirPods Pro 3 was announced on Sep 9, 2025, 1 day after this report.
  4. The verdict, and whyWrongIt did not turn out this way.Why: Apple positioned AirPods Pro 3 as a major ANC/audio upgrade, including stronger active noise cancellation, contrary to the claim of no notable improvement.
What do these words mean?
Right
It turned out the way this report said.
Partly right
Some of this was right and some of it was not.
Wrong
It did not turn out this way.
Moving target
This was right about the plan at the time. The company then changed it.
Never settled
The company has announced the product and nobody ever confirmed or denied this.
Not comparable
This measured a different thing from the number the company published, so the two cannot be compared.
No outcome yet
Nothing has happened yet that would prove this right or wrong.
Not checked yet
The company has answered this. We have not finished checking this one.
Checked
Checked means the company has since given an answer and we compared it with what was reported. Details still waiting on an answer, details nothing can settle, details where the plan itself changed, and details we have not finished reviewing are all counted separately and are not part of that number.
Moving target
A moving target is a report that described the plan accurately at the time, on a product the company then changed. We count these on their own: it would flatter a reporter to call them right, and it would blame a reporter for a decision that was not theirs to call them wrong.
Reported by
Mark Gurman
We read it in
MacRumors
Product
AirPods Pro 3
Read it at MacRumors

The story of this report

  1. Sep 8, 2025Mark Gurman reported it · MacRumors
  2. Sep 9, 2025AirPods Pro 3 was announced
  3. VerdictWrongWhat it means, and why, is in the box above.

Who reported it

Mark Gurman · Journalist

187 reports in the Reporting Record. Of the 57 we have checked, 49 held up. The other 130 are not part of that number: 2 moving target, 20 never settled, 9 not comparable, 99 no outcome yet.

Every report from Mark Gurman

What we know now

Our stories about AirPods Pro 3

Other reports about AirPods Pro 3

7 reports about AirPods Pro 3 from 4 sources. Of the 6 we have checked, 4 held up.

See all 7 reports about AirPods Pro 3

Questions about this report

Did this AirPods Pro 3 report turn out to be true?
Wrong. It did not turn out this way. Apple positioned AirPods Pro 3 as a major ANC/audio upgrade, including stronger active noise cancellation, contrary to the claim of no notable improvement.
Who reported it first?
Mark Gurman reported it on Sep 8, 2025 in MacRumors.
How far ahead of the announcement was it?
That was 1 day before AirPods Pro 3 was announced on Sep 9, 2025.