Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Audio / Video
  3. News

Apple’s new $179 AirPods: Head-tracking spatial audio and longer battery life

By

After more than a year of speculation, the newest AirPods are here. Apple announced them at the company’s October 18 Unleashed event, alongside the new Macbook Pro. The new version — simply called AirPods (third-generation) — cost $179, which places them between the entry-level AirPods (which Apple will continue to sell for $129) and Apple’s $249 AirPods Pro. Preorders start today, with the new AirPods shipping the last week of October.

As speculated, the new AirPods use a design that’s based on the AirPods Pro, with a shape that channels sound into your ear with better precision, but without using the silicone eartips that the AirPods Pro use — good news for folks who have always appreciated the semi-open design of the original AirPods.

List of features for the third-gen Apple AirPods.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Along with the new shape, the new AirPods also borrow the AirPods Pro’s force-based controls that require you to pinch the stems instead of tap on the outside of the buds.

Recommended Videos

They’re IPX4 sweat- and water-resistant, Apple says, which is the same as the AirPods Pro. The new buds also come with a new custom driver for more low-end and improved audio thanks to Adaptive EQ — another feature they’ve inherited from the Pros. And, because Dolby Atmos is a growing feature of Apple Music and Apple TV+, they support spatial audio.

Woman running while wearing the new Airpods 3rd Gen.
Apple

Spatial audio on its own is not that big of a deal — technically speaking,  you can enjoy Dolby Atmos Music from Apple Music on any set of stereo headphones, including the original AirPods. But the new earbuds include the accelerometers needed for head-tracking, a much more immersive version of spatial audio that can tailor what you’re hearing to the direction your head is facing. It works for Dolby Atmos Music and Dolby Atmos for movies (when using a compatible viewing device like an iPhone or an Apple TV 4K).

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Battery life on the new AirPods will provide up to six hours of listening time, Apple says, and five minutes of charge time will get you about an hour of use. The battery case will get you four full additional charges for a total playtime of 30 hours. The case now supports both MagSafe and wireless charging.

Related

Like both older models of Apple’s true wireless earbuds, the new version comes with a wirelessly charging case, quick and easy pairing with all of Apple’s phones, tablets, and computers, and hands-free access to Apple’s voice assistant, Siri.

All-new AirPods with Spatial Audio | Apple

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Simon Cohen
Simon Cohen
Contributing Editor, A/V
Simon Cohen is a contributing editor to Digital Trends' Audio/Video section, where he obsesses over the latest wireless…
I couldn’t be more disappointed by the AirPods Max update
The AirPods Max in orange at the Apple Glowtime event on September 9, 2024.

Remember when the iPhone 15 launched in 2023? Remember all of the buzz around the fact that it was the first iPhone to ditch the lightning port in favor of USB-C? Imagine if that had been the only change from the iPhone 14. Now, imagine if the only thing that USB-C port enabled was compatibility with USB-C charging, and you'll understand why I'm so bummed about Apple's updated version of the AirPods Max.

It's been four years since Apple debuted the Max, its first wireless headphones. In that time, the company has launched not just one, but two new versions of the AirPods Pro, both of which received Apple's latest H2 wireless chip. During the same period, Beats — which is owned by Apple and leverages many of Apple's technologies — launched the Fit Pro, the Studio Buds, Studio Buds+, Solo Buds, Solo 4 headphones, and Studio Pro headphones.

Read more
Can open-ear headphones really cancel noise? Apple’s AirPods 4 surprised me
AirPods 4 on a stand at the Apple Glowtime event on September 9, 2024.

For years, the biggest feature separating Apple's entry-level AirPods from the AirPods Pro has been active noise cancellation, also known as ANC. When I learned that Apple might outfit a version of its new AirPods 4 earbuds with ANC, I was skeptical. Open-ear designs, which don't fully obstruct your ear canal, make it pretty tough to seal out noise. But now that I’ve had a chance to hear the open-ear AirPods 4 in action, I must admit, I’m surprised at how effective they are.

You may also want to reconsider if you tend to dismiss the idea of active noise canceling in an open-ear earbud.

Read more
Apple AirPods Max finally get USB-C plus spatial audio for music
Apple AirPods Max with USB-C.

Apple's AirPods Max wireless noise-canceling headphones will ditch the lightning port in favor of USB-C. Apple announced the update to the headphones at the "It's Glowtime" event on September 9 along with the new iPhone 16. They still cost $549 and come in five new colors: midnight, blue, purple, orange, and starlight. They can be preordered starting September 9, and will be available on September 20.

The updated AirPods Max are effectively identical to the original model including the iconic aluminum-covered earcups and mesh headband, but now they can be charged via USB-C.

Read more