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Apple's New-Look AirPods Lineup After AirPods Pro 2 Discontinued

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Apple announced third-generation AirPods Pro on Tuesday at its "Awe dropping" event, and the company has discontinued AirPods Pro 2 to make room for them in its new-look lineup.

All-AirPods-2025.png

Here's how Apple's AirPods offering looks like now:
  • AirPods 4 – $129
  • AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancelation – $179
  • AirPods Pro 3 – $249
  • AirPods Max – $549
AirPods Pro 3 have the same $249 price tag as the previous generation model, so users will be getting several new features and enhancements for the same outlay.

These include up to 2x better Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), up to 8 hours of listening time with ANC on a single charge, a new design, built-in heart rate sensing, foam-infused ear tips, Live Translation, and more.

Apple has started accepting pre-orders for AirPods Pro 3. The new devices will be delivered to customers starting on Friday, September 19. Will you be getting a pair? Let us know in the comments.

Article Link: Apple's New-Look AirPods Lineup After AirPods Pro 2 Discontinued
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/09/10/apples-new-look-airpods-lineup/
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No USB-C cable in the APP3 box is super super cheap behavior, especially at $249 for earbuds that are barely changed from APP2

Also, the "2x better Active Noise Cancellation" is very likely all about the foam-infused ear tips.

Put Foam tips on APP2's and you'll see what I mean right away.
 
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turbineseaplane said:
No USB-C cable in the APP3 box is super super cheap behavior, especially at $249 for earbuds that are barely changed from APP2

Also, the "2x better Active Noise Cancellation" is very likely all about the foam-infused ear tips.

Put Foam tips on APP2's and you'll see what I mean right away.
Click to expand...
How great of a jump would it be to upgrade from APP1's?
 
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The AirPods Max are looking more and more like the anomaly to me - the most expensive device in the line-up but still using the H1 chip even after Apple had the opportunity to switch to the H2 chip when it made the switch to USB-C and no attempt to address the issues than many people have with the "case" and lack of power-off button.

Does the AirPod Max have any future or does Apple think it's just not worth its while to try and compete with Sony, B&W etc for that segment of the market?

Personally I'd like an over-the-ear offering from Apple that felt like Apple was still trying to even keep up with let alone beat its competitors in that segment (price range) of the over-ears market.
 
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JulianL said:
The AirPods Max are looking more and more like the anomaly to me - the most expensive device in the line-up but still using the H1 chip even after Apple had the opportunity to switch to the H2 chip when it made the switch to USB-C and no attempt to address the issues than many people have with the "case" and lack of power-off button.

Does the AirPod Max have any future or does Apple think it's just not worth its while to try and compete with Sony, B&W etc for that segment of the market?

Personally I'd like an over-the-ear offering from Apple that felt like Apple was still trying to even keep up with let alone beat its competitors in that segment (price range) of the over-ears market.
Click to expand...

As a daily user of over ear cans, it's really frustrating.

I'm a small iPhone user, so I recognize this pattern.

It feels like the APM is going the way of the iPhone Mini (sadly).
 
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turbineseaplane said:
No USB-C cable in the APP3 box is super super cheap behavior, especially at $249 for earbuds that are barely changed from APP2

Also, the "2x better Active Noise Cancellation" is very likely all about the foam-infused ear tips.

Put Foam tips on APP2's and you'll see what I mean right away.
Click to expand...
I agree with you about the lack of USB-C cable. Most of us on MR have multiple cables around the but, a person shouldn't have to buy a charging cable separately.
 
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Apple_Robert said:
I agree with you about the lack of USB-C cable. Most of us on MR have multiple cables around the but, a person shouldn't have to buy a charging cable separately.
Click to expand...

Especially since I'd imagine a lot of buyers are coming from APP1 or early APP2, which were both Lightning.

These folks would likely really benefit from getting a USB-C cable in the box ... and a nice Apple woven one would help cinch the deal at $249.
 
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Do we know why the AirPods Pro 3 case has 6 hours less battery life compared to the previous version?
The weight has dropped significantly, but the dimensions are almost the same.

Cf: Up to 30 hours of listening time with charging case on the APP2, but only 24 hours on the APP3.
 
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  • Wow
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turbineseaplane said:
No USB-C cable in the APP3 box is super super cheap behavior, especially at $249 for earbuds that are barely changed from APP2

Also, the "2x better Active Noise Cancellation" is very likely all about the foam-infused ear tips.

Put Foam tips on APP2's and you'll see what I mean right away.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the behavior is getting to be shameless.

At $249, Apple can’t include a cable? The last public BOM estimate put the cost of AirPods Pro at $51.

 
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turbineseaplane said:
Especially since I'd imagine a lot of buyers are coming from APP1 or early APP2, which were both Lightning.

These folks would likely really benefit from getting a USB-C cable in the box ... and a nice Apple woven one would help cinch the deal at $249.
Click to expand...
That is true. Think of all the people who will be gifting the new APP3 and not realizing that it doesn't come with a charging cable. If you aren't going to include the cable, lower the price to reflect such, which Apple didn't do.
 
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Apple_Robert said:
That is true. Think of all the people who will be gifting the new APP3 and not realizing that it doesn't come with a charging cable. If you aren't going to include the cable, lower the price to reflect such, which Apple didn't do.
Click to expand...

Agree 100% Robert

I know we disagree on plenty, but I just want to say that it's refreshing that we're still able to find some points of agreement here and there.

✌️ 👍
 
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Wait a few months and Amazon will have good sales on the APP3. I’m becoming a “last gen” buyer of Apple products. Wait until Apple prepares to upgrade their devices then buy at low prices. I bought the APP2 and Apple Watch 10 in the spring when they had some really great sales and couldn’t be happier. I’m now considering buying the iPhone 16 Pro Max while my carrier still sells them.
 
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turbineseaplane said:
No USB-C cable in the APP3 box is super super cheap behavior, especially at $249 for earbuds that are barely changed from APP2

Also, the "2x better Active Noise Cancellation" is very likely all about the foam-infused ear tips.

Put Foam tips on APP2's and you'll see what I mean right away.
Click to expand...
I don't know about prices in the United States but here in Belgium the price of the Pros dropped by 20€, so I'll take them without a cable.
 
I don’t really get AirPods 4 without NC. Maybe there simply to get teens/students etc into the Apple ecosystem.

And I don’t get why AirPods Max are hanging around.

Either update them properly or point people to beats cans. Or cede the high end to Sony Bose b&w etc.
 
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Everything I'm hearing about the Pro 3 so far makes me quite excited to get my pre-order delivered on the 19th. It's going to be my first ever AirPod earbuds. This is a very brief review from an audio professional who did an A/B comparison of the AirPod Pro 3s with with his Pro 2s at the launch event and said that the audio quality improvement vs the 2s is significant ...


My only disappointment is that they aren't available in black. I prefer my earbuds not to shout "Apple" when I'm wearing them and white pretty much does that in my opinion. I suppose Apple does want me to shout "Apple" though so I guess I can understand the decision but I wish they'd also consider the customer in that decision or am I in the significant minority in wishing that there was a black option?
 
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Orange Bat said:
Wait a few months and Amazon will have good sales on the APP3. I’m becoming a “last gen” buyer of Apple products. Wait until Apple prepares to upgrade their devices then buy at low prices. I bought the APP2 and Apple Watch 10 in the spring when they had some really great sales and couldn’t be happier. I’m now considering buying the iPhone 16 Pro Max while my carrier still sells them.
Click to expand...
Yeah me too. I picked up a pair of APP2 on discount knowing full well the APP3 were coming out. It turns out it seems a good move considering I get a USBC cable included in that discount price. The improvements on the version 3 look so minor, that they don't really look like it's worth paying a premium for them. - Eg I read that the live translation feature also works on the APP2 - and it's more a feature of Apple Intelligence on the iPhone than the AirPods themselves. I dare say the new ear tips will also fit on the last gen model (or failing that 3rd party equivalents). Getting a good seal in your ear can be paramount to how well they sound, so the ear tip itself could yield improvements even if there is technically no change to the drivers. I've learned to not fall for Apple's slick marketing spiel over the years...!
 
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JulianL said:
This is a very brief review from an audio professional who did an A/B comparison of the AirPod Pro 3s with with his Pro 2s at the launch event and said that the audio quality improvement vs the 2s is significant ...

Click to expand...

This would have a lot more credibility if he had more than 2 months of account history, 71 videos and 24k subs .. and had reviewed literally anything else -- ever

Below is a photo over every single video he's released ... ever

Screenshot 2025-09-10 at 07.35.48.png
 
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