Home / Tech / Headphones

Your AirPods May Be Getting an Awesome New Ability

The feature, previously expected only for the iPhone, could also be coming to AirPods.

Close-up of a person's ear with a white wireless earbud inserted, featuring a black mesh area on the stem. The skin around the ear shows natural texture and some small blemishes. Dark hair is visible on the right side.Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

By Tucker Bowe

Published

·

Apple has already revealed that when iOS 26 gets released next month, it’s going to bring several new abilities to the AirPods you currently own.

These include a “Camera Control” feature for remotely taking iPhone photos, as well as a “Sleep Auto-Pause” function that automatically pauses your music/podcast when your AirPods detect that you’ve fallen asleep.

That said, since the betas have been released, other new abilities have been discovered, such as new charge notifications and an improved LED lighting system for the charging case.

And, as of this week, another neat new ability has just been discovered.

White wireless earbuds with a matching charging case placed on a light wooden surface, with a large green leaf partially visible on the right side. The earbuds have silicone tips and black speaker grills.
The AirPods Pro 2.
Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

Live Translation coming to AirPods

Live Translation was a big topic of discussion at Apple’s WWDC. It’s a new feature coming with iOS 26 that promises to translate text and audio messages between languages. And it’ll work with the Messages, Phone and FaceTime apps on your iPhone.

However, as reported by MacRumors, imagery found in the most recent developer beta of iOS 26 suggests that Live Translation could be a feature coming to AirPods, too.

The name of the image is “Translate,” and it depicts the AirPods Pro with several languages around it. Additionally, it features a new gesture: by simultaneously double-pressing the stems of both AirPods Pro, the Live Translation option will be activated.

If it comes to fruition, it means you could potentially use your AirPods to quickly translate a conversation in real-time, all while keeping your iPhone in your pocket. No need to use the Messages, Phone or FaceTime apps. Pretty cool.

At launch, Apple has claimed that Live Translation will work for these languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Chinese.

Three white wireless earbud charging cases are shown on a wooden surface, each connected to a charging cable. The cases have a glossy finish and rounded edges.
Apple’s three current AirPod models.
Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

What’s the catch?

Of course, because Apple hasn’t officially announced it and it’s only been discovered as an image in the developer beta, there’s no guarantee that this Live Translation feature will come to AirPods — at launch or ever.

Also, if it does roll out, it’s not exactly certain which AirPod models will support Live Translation. It’ll likely be supported on the current AirPods Pro, as that’s what the image depicts, but it’s unclear about the two AirPods 4 models. (Older AirPods will probably miss out.)

Most importantly, Live Translation is a feature that relies on Apple Intelligence, and therefore, regardless of which AirPods you have, you will need an iPhone 16 or iPhone 17 model. (The iPhone 15 Pro/Max also supports Apple Intelligence, but has missed out on some AI features in the recent past.)

We’ll know more when iOS 26 officially launches in approximately one month’s time.

About the Author:

Tucker Bowe has been on Gear Patrol’s editorial team since 2014. As a Tech Staff Writer, he tracks everything in the consumer tech space, from headphones to smartphones, wearables to home theater systems. If it lights up or makes noise, he probably covers it.

Read More

,