Apple rolled out the first iOS 26 developer beta earlier this week, and details that were not announced by the company during its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2025) keynote event have begun to surface online. One of the most notable discoveries is the mention of a new AirPods Pro 3 model that is expected to arrive in the second half of 2025 as the successor to the AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) model that was launched in September 2022.
AirPods Pro 3 Reference Spotted in iOS 26 UI Framework
MacRumors contributor Steve Moser discovered references to the “AirPods Pro 3” in the iOS 26 Developer Beta 1 code on Tuesday. Apple seeded the first developer beta of the upcoming iOS 26 software release shortly after the WWDC 2025 keynote event, and the rumoured wireless headset was spotted in a UI framework related to headphones, according to the publication.
The AirPods Pro 3 model is expected to debut with incremental hardware upgrades, including an upgraded version of the H2 chip that arrived on the AirPods Pro (2nd Generation). As a result, the AirPods Pro 3 could offer improved active noise cancellation (ANC) and improved battery life.
According to a recent report, the Cupertino company isn’t expected to make major hardware changes to the AirPods until 2026. Apple is said to be working on a pair of AirPods equipped with an infrared camera. This wouldn’t be the first time that Apple has added new sensors to a wireless headset — the recently launched Powerbeats Pro 2 has a built-in heart rate sensor.
Apple doesn’t typically reveal any details about upcoming devices before they are launched, and we’re unlikely to see any announcement from the company until September, which is when the next generation iPhone 17 series is expected to debut. The AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) was launched in September 2022 alongside the iPhone 14 lineup.
