Although language-translation apps have been available on mobile phones for several years, they require awkwardly invading personal space by holding the phone close to the person who’s speaking. Plus, smart phone applications are still not reliably accurate.
The situation appears to have changed on both of those fronts in early September, when Apple released its Airpods Pro 3 earbuds.
With a real-time translation feature that’s a step ahead of previous products in ease, function and reliability, the new AirPods Pro 3 earbuds bring sizable potential benefit to attendees of international meetings—and to the planners as well.
Powered by Apple's iOS 26 and Apple Intelligence software, the newest AirPods allow an iPhone user to simply hold both stems of the earbuds for one to two seconds to activate the phone’s translation app containing the languages the user has programmed in. Then, as each person speaks, a transcription appears on the phone while a voice speaks the translated words through the earbuds.
The Potential Pros and Cons
For overseas business events where planners speak a different first language than suppliers, planners might be better able to conduct highly detailed site visits, venue tours and other information-gathering interactions using the latest AirPods. And for attendees of international exhibitions, the ability to converse in show booths and during other one-on-one interactions could be enhanced. The technology could also work for attendees sitting in a breakout session where one language is spoken by all presenters.
Tim Barrett, senior director of global events for Atlanta-based Destination South Meetings & Events, is working on a meeting scheduled for Berlin and intrigued by the event-related benefits that could come from the AirPods Pro 3 earbuds.
“I see tremendous potential in this translation technology as I plan my international events,” he said. “This could be a game changer considering that costs for traditional translation services have been a hinderance in offering that service for our attendees.”
Then again, Barrett’s enthusiasm for the new Apple product is tempered by other factors.
“We’ll need to watch how it performs in real-world settings, and especially in the meetings world,” he noted. “I would have concerns related to [the effect of] background noise, connectivity and data protection.
“[Nonetheless,] I’m enthusiastic about the possibilities and eager to see how this evolves as a tool for global meetings,” Barrett added.
For more details on how the Airpods Pro 3 earbuds handle language translation, check out this article from The New York Times.
