AirPods 4 vs AirPods Pro 3

AirPods Pro 3 was announced on 9 September 2025, a year after AirPods 4, and it’s still Apple’s current Pro. AirPods 4 is no longer Apple’s current open pair: AirPods 5 has replaced it, and Apple’s AirPods 4 address now opens the AirPods 5 page. If an open fit is what you need, read AirPods 4 vs AirPods 5 first.

Side by side

Spec	AirPods 4	AirPods 4 with ANC	AirPods Pro 3
US launch price	$129	$179	$249
Announced	9 September 2024	9 September 2024	9 September 2025
Fit	Open stem, no tips	Open stem, no tips	Sealed; foam-infused tips in five sizes
Noise cancelling	No	Yes	Yes
Hearing Test, Hearing Aid, Hearing Protection	No	No	Yes
Heart-rate sensor	No	No	Yes, for workouts
Water and dust	IP54, buds and case	IP54, buds and case	IP57, buds and case
One bud	4.3 g; 30.2 × 18.3 × 18.1 mm	Same	5.55 g; 30.9 × 19.2 × 27.0 mm
Case	32.3 g; 46.2 × 50.1 × 21.2 mm	34.7 g, same size, with speaker	43.99 g; 47.2 × 62.2 × 21.8 mm, with speaker and lanyard loop
Case charging	USB-C	USB-C, Apple Watch charger or Qi	USB-C, MagSafe, Apple Watch charger or Qi
Ultra Wideband in the case	No	No	Second generation
Controls	Force sensor, no volume swipe	Force sensor, no volume swipe	Touch, with volume swipe

The fit decides it

AirPods 4 is an open-ear stem in one size, with no tips and no wings. Each bud is 30.2 by 18.3 by 18.1 millimeters and weighs 4.3 grams, and it rests in your ear rather than in the canal.

AirPods Pro 3 is a sealed in-ear with a short stem and foam-infused silicone tips in five sizes: extra-extra-small, extra-small, small, medium and large. Each bud is 30.9 by 19.2 by 27.0 millimeters and weighs 5.55 grams; the extra depth is the part that goes into your ear.

If open stems fall out when you talk, Pro 3 gives you five tips to find a fit. If silicone has never been comfortable, AirPods 4 doesn’t ask you to try one.

Noise cancelling and battery

The $129 AirPods 4 has no noise control at all: no noise cancelling, Transparency or Adaptive Audio. It keeps Personalized Spatial Audio, Adaptive EQ and Voice Isolation. The $179 model adds Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency, Adaptive Audio, which blends the two, and Conversation Awareness, which lowers what you’re playing when you start to talk. Those need the noise-cancelling model, current firmware and iOS 18 or later.

Pro 3 has all of that plus Personalized Volume. Apple said in September 2025 that it isolates up to twice as much noise as AirPods Pro 2 and up to four times as much as the original AirPods Pro. That’s Apple’s claim against its earlier Pros, not a comparison with AirPods 4, and Apple doesn’t publish a decibel figure for either pair. The “up to 50 percent more than AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation” line you may have seen is about AirPods 5, not Pro 3.

Battery	AirPods 4	AirPods 4 with ANC	AirPods Pro 3
Buds, noise cancelling on	Not offered	Up to 4 hours	Up to 8 hours
Buds, noise control off	Up to 5 hours	Up to 5 hours	Not published
With the case	Up to 30 hours	Up to 20 hours with ANC; 30 off	Up to 24 hours with ANC
Five minutes in the case	About 1 hour	About 1 hour	About 1 hour

With noise cancelling on, Pro 3 lasts twice as long as AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation, 8 hours against 4. The $129 AirPods 4’s 30 hours with the case is longer only because it has no noise cancelling to run. Pro 3 also has ratings for other modes: up to 7.5 hours with Spatial Audio and head tracking, and up to 10 hours in Transparency while using Hearing Aid. Apple tested AirPods 4 in July and August 2024 on a preproduction iPhone 16 Pro Max, and Pro 3 in July and August 2025 on a preproduction iPhone 17 Pro, both with 256 kbps AAC at 50 percent volume, so compare the figure that matches how you listen.

What Pro 3 adds: hearing features and heart rate

Pro 3 has Hearing Test, Hearing Aid, Hearing Protection and Loud Sound Reduction, and it turns on Conversation Boost automatically while Hearing Aid is in use. Apple describes the Hearing Aid feature as FDA-authorized for perceived mild to moderate hearing loss in people 18 or older, in the regions it lists and on iOS 18 or later. It isn’t a clinic visit.

Apple announced its hearing health features in 2024 alongside AirPods 4, but for AirPods Pro 2, not the open stem, and paying $179 for AirPods 4 doesn’t add Hearing Aid. What AirPods 4 offers instead is Live Listen, headphone levels and Headphone Accommodations.

The workout heart-rate sensor is Pro 3’s alone. Apple says it feeds the Fitness app on iPhone and compatible apps on iOS 26 or later. It’s a workout sensor, not a medical heart-rate device, and using it shortens listening to 6.5 hours.

Live Translation runs on the $179 AirPods 4 and on Pro 3 with an iPhone that has Apple Intelligence on iOS 26 or later, as a beta with gaps in language and region coverage. The $129 AirPods 4 doesn’t get it.

Cases, Find My and controls

Pro 3’s MagSafe case is the only one here with a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, and Find My on Pro 3 needs iOS 27 or later. The $179 AirPods 4 case has a Find My speaker too, for iOS 26 or later; the $129 case has neither a speaker nor an Ultra Wideband chip.

Every case charges over USB-C, and the cable is sold separately for both AirPods 4 and Pro 3. Wireless charging is where they split: the $129 AirPods 4 case is USB-C only, the $179 case also charges on an Apple Watch charger or Qi, and Pro 3 adds MagSafe.

AirPods 4 uses a force sensor on the stem, with no volume swipe; Pro 3 uses touch controls and does have a volume swipe. Both work with Siri, and both can act as a camera remote on iOS 26 or iPadOS 26. Personalized Spatial Audio on either needs an iPhone with TrueDepth to build your profile, and it works with compatible content.

Outside Apple’s world, both work as Bluetooth headphones with limited functionality: Hearing Aid, Live Translation, Personalized Spatial Audio and Find My stay inside Apple’s systems, and full features need a current Apple device. Automatic switching works across devices on your Apple Account; it isn’t the two-phone toggle many Android earbuds offer.

Water: IP54 against IP57

AirPods 4 is rated IP54 under IEC 60529, buds and case; Pro 3 is rated IP57 on the same standard, also buds and case. Both ratings cover dust, sweat and water during non-water sports and exercise. Pro 3’s is the stronger rating, but even IP57 isn’t for swimming. The protection isn’t permanent, and Apple says to keep both pairs off the charger until they’re dry.

What you pay

AirPods 4 cost $129, or $179 with noise cancelling, when it launched on 9 September 2024. AirPods Pro 3 launched at $249 on 9 September 2025, and there’s no cheaper Pro 3 without noise cancelling. A pair sold simply as AirPods 4 could be either model, and only the $179 one cancels noise. Street prices have moved since, so check apple.com before you buy.