Apple is about to launch a live conversation translation feature on AirPods, making it easier to communicate between different languages.
Apple is developing a new feature for AirPods that will allow live conversations to be translated from one language to another, according to Bloomberg. The feature will be built into iOS 19 and is expected to be introduced in an AirPods software update later this year.
AirPods will have built-in live conversation translation feature.
With this feature, AirPods will help simplify the translation process for people who speak different languages, although it will still require using the Translate app on the iPhone.
Specifically, if an English speaker wearing AirPods is talking to a Spanish speaker, the iPhone will automatically detect the audio, translate the speech, and communicate it back in English to the AirPods wearer. The English speaker can then respond, and the iPhone will translate the response into Spanish.
Apple's Translate app already supports such conversations, but integrating the feature into AirPods would make communication easier. Apple is also planning to improve the Translate app in iOS 19, but details about these improvements have not been announced yet.
Additionally, Apple is working on a new AirPods Pro 3, expected to launch in 2025, which will likely bring iOS 19's Translate feature to existing AirPods models. In recent years, Apple has tied AirPods updates to iOS updates. For example, in iOS 18, it added a suite of hearing health features that will allow AirPods to function as hearing aids if they detect a hearing problem.