New AirPods Pro 3 leak says they’ll have two new sensors – but one useful rumored feature may not arrive at launch

• A new report claims the AirPods Pro 3 will have two health sensors
• They could have both heart-rate and temperature tracking
• But the expected live translation feature may not be ready at launch

Apple’s next launch big event has been announced for September 9^[1], and we’re expecting to see a new AirPods Pro 3^[2] model unveiled there, alongside the iPhone 17^[3] range and Apple Watch Series 11^[4].

There’s been a surprising lack of leaks about the AirPods Pro 3 in the build-up to the event (apart from a small one about the case, teasing a change that I’m not a fan of^[5]), but a new report from 9to5Mac^[6] may reveal a few interesting tidbits.

First, up it says the AirPods Pro 3 will indeed have heart-rate sensors, which has long been rumored, and which seemed more likely when this tech appeared on Beats’ Powerbeats Pro 2^[7], given that Apple^[8] also owns Beats.

But the report also says the new earbuds will include temperature sensors. This could be interesting because the ear is a great place to measure temperature, and temperature is something of a missing element in Apple’s health-tracking system.

Recent Apple Watch^[9] models, starting with the Apple Watch Series 8^[10], can detect temperature, but only in a very limited way – they can track it as a trend over time, as part of reproductive health tracking for women, but they don’t include an instant temperature reading for just checking if you’re running hot when you’re feeling ill, for example.

That’s because the wrist isn’t a great spot for tracking your temperature – but, as I mentioned above, the ear is a pretty good one.

Something we’re not expecting to see this time is the long-rumored addition of cameras to the AirPods Pro 3, even though they could be a big safety win if and when they do arrive^[11].

Not-so-live translation

The report also claims the rumored live translation feature for the AirPods Pro 3^[12] won’t be available at launch, and will be added via a software update at a later date.

This is getting more common for Apple, even with updates for the iPhone’s iOS software. Apple now often announces a range of updates at its big WWDC^[13] event, where it unveils all its major software changes, and then those updates trickle out over the course of a few months.

I think this is a good thing, as it gives Apple time to polish things more, and a live-translation feature obviously needs to work pretty well, or it could lead to some awkward problems.

My larger gripe with the rumored translation feature is that it appears to be exclusive to the AirPods Pro 3, even though I have to assume that all the processing would be done on your iPhone, so you would think it could at least work on AirPods Pro 2^[14] and AirPods 4^[15] as well.

Perhaps I’ll be surprised, and that will be the case – but I suspect that this feature will remain one that differentiates the AirPods Pro 3 from their predecessors, and to get people like me, who are happy long-term AirPods Pro 2 users, to feel the FOMO and want to give Apple some cash.

We’ll find out soon enough – Apple’s event is next Tuesday, September 9, starting at 10am PST / 1pm EST / 6pm BST, which is 3am AEST on September 10.

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