Last month, Apple unveiled the AirPods Pro 3 as the successor to the AirPods Pro 2 launched back in 2022. While the buds come with some upgrades, they feature the same H2 processor found on the preceding model. Now, it seems that the company is developing a new H3 chip, which it will likely equip on its upcoming audio products.
A report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claimed that the tech giant is working on a “new version of its high-end in-ear buds”. The analyst did not specify whether these earbuds will be the AirPods Pro 4, or simply a souped up variant of the AirPods Pro 3.
Names notwithstanding, the upcoming H3 chip reportedly promises improvements to sound quality, with lower latency. It is worth noting that Gurman made no explicit mention of which products will feature the chip, although the analyst did state that the AirPods 5 are also in development.
According to Gurman, Apple is unlikely to add the newly introduced heart rate monitoring feature to the entry-level and midrange models. However, the bitten fruit brand is apparently planning to add health-related capabilities to future iterations of the earbuds, such as a temperature sensor.
Beyond that, AirPods with cameras seem to still be in the cards, although it is uncertain which models will come with the feature. A previous report suggested that these cameras would allow the wearer to use in-air gestures, while also enabling deeper integration with the Vision Pro.
