On 9 September 2025, Apple launched a bunch of new devices and functionalities during its ‘Awe Dropping’ presentation. One of the novelties, Live Translation across devices, including AirPods, could become a revolutionary tool for travellers.
While the launch of the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max was highly anticipated, Apple had much more to offer to its fanbase during its presentation on 9 September. With updates to Image Playground, Visual Intelligence, and the launch of Workout Buddy, there was something of interest to almost everyone. Yet the most innovative addition for travellers is, without a doubt, the Live Translation option across devices, thanks to iOS 26.
Previously, Apple’s Live Translation had already been launched for Messages, FaceTime, and Phone. The newest software update now expands the function to AirPods – specifically the AirPods Pro (2nd and 3rd generation) and the AirPods (4th generation) with Active Noise Cancellation.
“With AirPods Pro 3, the most popular headphones take a massive leap forward, providing fantastic sound quality and the world’s best ANC of any in-ear wireless headphones. Combined with an improved fit that provides greater stability for even more people, heart rate sensing, extended battery life, and Live Translation enabled by Apple Intelligence, AirPods Pro 3 take personal audio to the next level”, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, John Ternus, stated during the presentation.
Smooth conversations ahead
The new functionality for AirPods, available across select languages in beta, means it becomes easier than ever to cross the language barrier while travelling or in any other situation where one might need translation. Users can access Live Translation on AirPods through different methods: by simultaneously pressing both AirPods stems, by saying “Siri, start Live Translation”, or through the Action button on iPhone, allowing them to hear in their preferred language. When Live Translation is activated, Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) lowers the volume of the person speaking, making it easier to focus on the translation.
In order for the new functionality to be as user-friendly as possible, ideally, both speakers would have to be wearing their AirPods and have iOS 26 installed. However, as this is not a possibility under many circumstances, Apple has also designed another feature, meaning one pair of AirPods and one iPhone would suffice to easily understand one another.
“To interact with someone who doesn’t have this hands-free capability, there’s an option to use iPhone as a horizontal display, showing the live transcription of what the user is saying in the other person’s preferred language. When the other person responds, their speech is translated into the user’s preferred language with AirPods”, Apple explains.
While at the moment, Live Translation is available in beta and might present some flaws, the feature should improve over the coming months and years, thus presenting a real opportunity for travellers wishing to get in touch with the people they meet on their way. As Apple has chosen a sentence-based approach for translation instead of a word-based one, translation will purposely lag behind the actual conversation, which might need some adaptation time.
Live Translation on AirPods Pro (2nd and 3rd generation) and AirPods (4th generation) is now available to everyone using iOS 26 in English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. By the end of the year, Live Translation for Phone, FaceTime, and AirPods will expand language support to include Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Mandarin, simplified), and Chinese (Mandarin, traditional).
