It’s 6 AM. You’re lacing up your running shoes, excited to test those rumored heart rate monitoring AirPods Pro 3 everyone’s been talking about. You’ve been waiting patiently since February when Bloomberg promised they were “months away.” But here’s the gut punch: Apple just moved the goalposts. Again.
Remember when Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman got our hopes up in February? “New AirPods with heart rate monitoring were months away,” he confidently declared. We all did the math – late 2025 seemed like a lock. Some of us even started saving money.
But analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong just shattered those dreams with a harsh reality check: AirPods Pro 3 won’t arrive until 2026.
Table of Contents
The Promise That Turned Into a Mirage
The Waiting Game That’s Testing Our Patience
Let’s put this delay into perspective. A 2026 release would mark four years since the AirPods Pro 2 debuted in September 2022. Four years! That’s like waiting for the Olympics to come around again.
The Timeline That Hurts:
| Year | What We Got | What We Wanted |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | AirPods Pro 2 launch | The beginning of hope |
| 2023 | USB-C charging case | Actual innovation |
| 2024 | Radio silence | Literally anything new |
| 2025 | False hope | Heart rate monitoring |
| 2026 | AirPods Pro 3 (maybe?) | Our patience finally rewarded |
The Cruel Irony of Conflicting Reports
Here’s what makes this even more frustrating: Code references to AirPods Pro 3 were recently unearthed in the iOS 26 beta. It’s like finding Christmas presents hidden in the closet, only to be told Christmas is cancelled.
Meanwhile, Ming-Chi Kuo threw more cold water on our hopes, suggesting AirPods may not see significant updates until 2026, when IR camera-equipped models enter mass production.
What We’re Missing While We Wait
The fitness enthusiasts among us are practically crying into their protein shakes. The AirPods Pro 3 are expected to feature:
- Significantly improved active noise cancellation (because the world keeps getting louder)
- Heart rate monitoring (the feature that started this whole emotional rollercoaster)
- IR camera capabilities (for reasons we’re still trying to understand)
The Silver Lining in This Cloudy Forecast
Maybe – just maybe – this delay means Apple is cooking up something extraordinary. Four years of development could result in features that make the wait worthwhile. Think of it as delayed gratification for your ear canals.
Plus, Pu’s product roadmap shows Apple focusing on other hardware in 2025, including the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and that mysterious HomePad tablet. Sometimes spreading the love means making tough choices.
The Bottom Line for Broken-Hearted AirPods Fans
Your AirPods Pro 2 will have to soldier on for another year. That USB-C charging case from 2023? It’s going to get a lot more mileage than Apple probably intended.
But hey, at least we know Apple hasn’t forgotten about us completely. They’re just taking their sweet time making sure the AirPods Pro 3 don’t disappoint when they finally arrive.
Until then, we wait. And hope. And maybe invest in some good old-fashioned patience.
