Apple to Release ‘Premium’ New AirPods [Report]

According to supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is planning to launch a premium version of the AirPods Pro later this year, which will sit above the current AirPods Pro 3 as a “higher-end” option (via MacRumors).

While the AirPods Pro 3 launched in late 2025 with better noise cancellation and heart rate tracking, this 2026 version is set to push the technology even further.

The most interesting rumor is the addition of tiny infrared cameras. You might wonder why earbuds need cameras, but they aren’t for taking photos. Instead, these sensors will likely track your hand gestures in the air. This could mean you won’t have to squeeze the stems or touch the earbuds at all to skip a song or answer a call.

It also hints at a much deeper connection with the Apple Vision Pro headset, allowing the earbuds to understand where you are looking to improve spatial audio.

While the AirPods Pro 3 surprisingly kept the older H2 chip, this premium 2026 model is expected to finally debut the H3 chip. This new processor will act as the brain of the device, offering faster connection speeds and even better Active Noise Cancellation (ANC).

For users, this means a quieter experience on planes and better sound quality overall. It also enables new “Apple Intelligence” features, where your AirPods might be able to process more data locally to help with real-time translation or Siri requests.

Currently, there is a big jump in price between the AirPods Pro and the AirPods Max. Apple seems to want to fill that hole. This “Pro Plus” model is expected to cost more than the standard version, but less than the AirPods Max. Apple has already done something similar with the standard AirPods 4, offering one version with noise cancellation and one without.