The world of Apple analysts and leaks is torn about whether we must expect Airpods Pro 3 to arrive this year or not. Some say they will appear, and some say that they will come next year with chambers attending them.
Well, there is more smoke from the fire “launch in 2025”, because there is a reference to “Airpods Pro 3” by its hidden name in some elements of audio interface of the iOS Code 26.
This was seen by a macrumors collaborator, and heated after an iOS 18 reference to a feature that supports “Airpods Pro 2 or posterior”, although there is nothing later than Airpods Pro 2 … until now.
(If the anterior appointment seems confusing, it is because Apple is changing to name its operating systems depending on the version number depending on the year, except that they are named after the year after The software will actually be launched in. Come on, it’s up to date, it’s super clear!)
The strong track for a 2025 launch so far
Apple tends to launch new airpods at the end of the year, most likely during a September event, in which the iPhone 17 will also launch. Or maybe that will also become the iPhone 26, who knows.
In any case, if there are references in the iOS 26 code, that is a strong indicator that Airpods Pro 3 will come this year, because if they will come next year, we are more likely to see references first in next Year code.
None of this is guaranteed, of course: Apple could be working more than a year earlier with these code references … but I suspect no.
I think there is a good possibility that more references are detected in the code as developers become it, and that we will probably see Airpods Pro 3 at the end of this year.
Don’t worry if you recently bought Airpods Pro 2, Airpods 4 or AirPods 4 with ANC, you don’t stay behind. Apple presented two new useful features that reached those models in iOS 26 during its key WWDC 2025.
If you want to read more about Apple’s development processes, see our interview with the Senior Vice President of Apple software engineering, Craig Federight, and the Vice President of Apple Greg Joswiak global marketing, including what really happened with the Apple Intelligence stumbling and the launch of AI Siri.
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