AirPods Pro 3: Insulation material in the plugs improves ANC

How much better is Apple’s active noise suppression (Active noise canceling, ANC) in the new AirPods Pro 3? After it was last called from the rumor mill that Sound and ANC had not improved significantly, Apple now officially advertises that the devices could remove up to “2x more disturbing noises” than the pre -model AirPods Pro 2. The group even writes about the “world’s best active noise suppression”. However, this was not only achieved by software, as can now be seen.

No new audio chip in the Airpods Pro 3

Because: loud Specifications In the Airpods Pro 3, the company’s “H2 headphone chip” continues. This is already quite old, was introduced in 2022 with the Airpods Pro 2. The only new is the Ultra-Wideband chip U2, which sits in the Magsafe charging case and enables more precise location with certain other devices (such as the iPhone 17). So how did Apple succeed in increasing the ANC in this way?

The solution to the puzzle is in the hardware itself. Apple has optimized the plugs in terms of shape and tested it on more ears to cover the largest possible target group. In addition, five different sizes of the interchangeable “ear tips” are now included, the appropriate size of which can be found by the one available in the iPhone “Acoustic Seal Test” software lets.

Earplugs filled with foam

The EAR tips themselves ensure an improvement in the ANC: they are now filled with foam. This ensures “better passive noise insulation,” writes Apple. This enables “more dramatically increasingly immersive listening experiences” on the go. The group does not reveal what software optimizations were at the ANC. However, it has to be added: This is the only way that the transparency mode does not sound dull due to the denser “Acoustic Seal”.

In the Findchip U2 there is a deficit in turn, which Apple only mentioned in the small print: The 1.5-fold improvement in the location of the location via precision search only works with iPhone-17 models and the iPhone Air. The U2 is already in iPhone 15 and iPhone 16. What technical reasons (or what reasons ever) is currently open. The Airpods Pro 3 are on the market this week.