Apple has just launched AirPods Pro 3 among the many other messages at its latest event (catching up with everything Apple announced at its iPhone 17 event here) and which is often the case, some interesting little things Wasn’t mentioned in live stream.
One of them is that my secret favorite feature of the current AirPods Pro 2 has had an upgrade in AirPods Pro 3: Precision Location Tracking that allows your iPhone to literally point you to your AirPods using an arrow on screen, with a distance stated if you do not know where they are.
Just a few days ago, I wrote about the AirPods Pro 3 features that would persuade me to upgrade from my credible Pro 2 earrings, and one of them was this exact feature.
Point the way, Apple
Apple did not bring up the virtual scene at all, but the technical specifications of AirPods Pro 3 on its website confirm that the new model has Apple’s U2 chip for Ultra Broadband connection, promising a 1.5x increase in the maximum distance between your lost earplugs and your phone on which this technique can work.
It’s great because my only complaint about UWB location tracking on AirPods Pro 2 is that its distance falls short. If I’m ahead of my house, it can’t find AirPods using this system until I go to the back of the house – and I don’t have a big house.
This does not eat a lot of time, but hopefully it means that I get a nice strong signal immediately every time, so it is even easier to grab them from the jacket pocket I have left them.
However, there is a catch: the U2 chip has been on iPhones since the iPhone 15, but Apple says “improved precision refinding requires iPhone 17”, which is disappointing.
I hope Apple is conservative here and everyone gets an upgrade even though the iPhone 17 users get the biggest and best upgrade.
I test it scientifically (yes, in my home by hiding both earplugs in the same place) when I can get my hands on a few of the new earplugs. It should be on September 19-AirPods Pro 3 are available for pre-ordering today from Apple, for $ 249 / £ 219 / AU $ 429.
