Live Translation will be available for the current pros. I'm still in my 2 year window with my Air Pod Pro 2s so this is good
You still need atleast a 15 though
Apple launched the new AirPods Pro 3, promising a bunch of improvements including a flashy Live Translation feature. But it...
9to5mac.com
Apple just unveiled the brand new AirPods Pro 3, including a flashy Live Translation feature. But it turns out you don’t actually need to upgrade just to try out the new translation stuff.
Apple says that Live Translation will also be available through a software update for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation. However, there is a slight gotcha …
If you have compatible AirPods, that’s only half the story, as the feature does not run natively on the AirPods itself. It actually relies on the connected iPhone to function.
That means you also need to have an iPhone 15 Pro or newer, running iOS 26, in order to use Live Translation. It specifically requires 15 Pro or later because the translation feature is powered by Apple Intelligence.
Even if you have AirPods Pro 3, you also need a relatively new iPhone for this feature to work.
Live Translation is also limited to select languages. At launch, you’ll be able to use it with English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. Later this year, Apple pledges support will expand to also include Italian, Japanese, Korean and simplified Chinese.
The idea of Live Translation is that you engage a special mode by pressing on the stems of both AirPods at the same time. The microphones then listen for foreign language speech during conversation. The device translates that into your language, and plays it back to your in your headphones.
Obviously, unless both people are wearing AirPods with the latest software, this only really facilitates a one-sided conversation. However, Apple has a solution for that too. You can use your iPhone display to show a transcript of your translated speech to the other person. That means you hear what they are saying translated through your AirPods, and they can read your response in their native language.
