Apple AirPods Pro 3 Wireless Earbuds with Active Noise Cancellation

Apple AirPods Pro 3 Wireless Earbuds with Active Noise Cancellation

By Apple · Noise-Cancelling Headphones · Audio & Electronics

  • Active Noise Cancellation
  • Up to 8 hours listening per charge
  • Heart-rate sensing for workouts

Lowest price seen
$150.00
from $150.00 at eBay · Checked Oct 12, 2026

Prices are snapshots. Check the current price with the store.

Problems, parts and running costs

Summary

A premium noise-cancelling earbud for iPhone owners, with heart-rate sensing, IP57 protection on both buds and case, and up to 8 hours of ANC listening per charge. Check the fit before you commit: the buds sit deeper than the previous generation, tip sizes do not transfer, and comfort splits owners.

Strengths

  • Noise cancelling is excellent once the tips seal, and owners call it a clear step up from earlier AirPods Pro.
  • Up to 8 hours of ANC listening per charge is a real generation-over-generation gain, and owners report a full workday of mixed use.
  • IP57 protection covers the buds and the case, a first for the AirPods line.
  • Heart-rate sensing and IP57 make them a genuine workout pair.
  • The case tops up over USB-C, MagSafe, an Apple Watch charger or any Qi pad, so an iPhone household already owns the hardware.
  • Deep Apple integration: automatic device switching, Find My with a case speaker, and hearing features.

Weaknesses

  • Total ANC listening with the case is 24 hours, down from 30 on AirPods Pro 2.
  • iFixit scored repairability 0 out of 10 because the batteries are glued in and opening the shells is destructive.
  • Fit is polarizing: owners comfortable on AirPods Pro 2 report pain or loose seals here, and tip sizes do not transfer.
  • Owners repeatedly report the case draining faster than the official figure, and no failure rate is published.
  • A cluster of owners reports static or hissing with ANC on, persisting through late-2025 firmware and replacement units.
  • No USB-C charging cable is included.

Verified specifications

Noise controlActive Noise Cancellation, Transparency, Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness and Personalized Volume.
Battery, per chargeup to 8 h listening with ANC; 7.5 h with Spatial Audio and head tracking; 6.5 h with heart-rate sensing during workouts; up to 10 h in Transparency used as a hearing aid.
Battery, with the caseup to 24 h total ANC listening including the buds’ own charge; about 5 minutes in the case yields roughly 1 h of listening.
Heart-rate sensingbuilt in for workouts, with GymKit syncing to compatible cardio equipment.
Water and dust resistanceIP57 for both the earbuds and the MagSafe Charging Case; resistance is not permanent and can decrease with normal wear.
Ear tipsfive sizes from XXS to L, in a foam-infused design.
ConnectivityBluetooth 5.3; automatic switching between Apple devices.
ChargingUSB-C, MagSafe, an Apple Watch charger or Qi-certified pads; the case has a speaker for Find My.
Softwarefirmware 9A348 adds Custom EQ and GymKit heart-rate syncing.
Dimensions (bud)1.22 × 0.76 × 1.06 in (30.9 × 19.2 × 27.0 mm); 5.55 g (0.20 oz).
Dimensions (case)1.86 × 2.45 × 0.86 in (47.2 × 62.2 × 21.8 mm); 43.99 g (1.55 oz).
In the boxearbuds, MagSafe Charging Case (USB-C), five sizes of ear tips and documentation; no USB-C cable.
Warrantyone year against defects in materials and workmanship; normal battery depletion is excluded.
US MSRP$249.
Full research notes and sources

Battery: the buds improved, the case did not

Apple’s numbers put the buds at up to 8 hours of ANC listening per charge, 7.5 with Spatial Audio and head tracking, and 6.5 while sensing heart rate in a workout; Transparency mode as a hearing aid stretches to 10. Owners whose ears fit well report about a workday of mixed ANC, transparency and call time, and 5 minutes in the case buys roughly an hour.

The case is the catch. The 24-hour figure is total listening including the buds’ own charge, not extra hours stored in the case, and it is down from 30 hours on AirPods Pro 2. iFixit’s teardown (reported by MacRumors) found the physical reason: a single 1.334 Wh cell in the case where the Pro 2 case carried two, and a 0.221 Wh cell in each bud. Owner threads from November 2025 through September 2026 repeatedly describe the case emptying faster than the arithmetic suggests, including outsized percentage drops when topping up lightly used buds. No failure rate is published, so treat this as the most recurrent complaint about the model rather than a proven defect.

Fit, tips and comfort

The buds sit deeper than before and ship with five foam-infused tip sizes down to XXS. Professional reviewers mostly praise the redesign, and owners whose ears match the new geometry describe a more secure fit for running and cycling than the previous generation. Others report the opposite: discomfort or a poor seal where AirPods Pro 2 was comfortable, even after trying every stock size. Owners who side-sleep often find the deeper fit uncomfortable. Pro 2 tip size predicts nothing — owners who used Medium on the Pro 2 often land on Small or XS here. Buy from a retailer with easy returns and test all five sizes; third-party foam tips fix the fit for some people.

Static, hissing and long-term reliability

Some owners report static, crackling or an intermittent high-pitched whistle, often with ANC on and no media playing. MacRumors documented complaints continuing after firmware 8B25 and 8B30 in late 2025, including on replacement pairs. Owner threads add related symptoms: left/right battery imbalance, weaker ANC and distorted or delayed game audio after firmware changes, with AppleCare replacing both earbuds and later a complete set while the problem persisted. Some 2026 owners say ANC feels weaker after months of use; others on the same firmware notice no change. Cleanliness, tip seal and firmware all confound it, so nobody can call this an established aging defect. If the sound changes character, clean the microphone meshes and recheck the tip seal before assuming the hardware has failed.

Running costs and repairs

No subscription is needed for normal listening, ANC, Find My or heart-rate sensing. Replacement ear tips are the main consumable: Apple sells two sets of one size for $9.99, or a mixed pack with one pair of each size for $14.99 (Apple, 2026). Battery aging is the larger cost, because the glued cells are not a user part and there is no DIY path; under AppleCare, Apple covers battery service at no charge once capacity falls below 80% of original. The standard one-year warranty excludes normal battery depletion.

Is it worth it?

For an iPhone owner, the combination of noise cancelling, per-charge battery, IP57 protection, heart-rate sensing and Apple integration is hard to get in one box. On Android, most of what justifies the premium does not function, so look elsewhere. Apple lists the U.S. configuration at $249, and Best Buy has listed it at $199.99. One owner reported paying $199 in July 2026. Buy on sale: it has been discounted repeatedly since launch, and at full list price you should weigh the smaller case reserve, the glued-in batteries and the open reliability questions.

Which model this is

This page covers the third-generation AirPods Pro introduced in September 2025, sold as “AirPods Pro 3 with MagSafe Charging Case (USB-C)”. The retailer listing for this configuration is ASIN B0FQFB8FMG. Don’t confuse it with AirPods Pro 2 (USB-C) or AirPods 4 with ANC, which fit and behave differently.

Sources

Manufacturer:

Independent reviews:

Owner reports:

Retailers:

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