The chip is the same. Apple's specification page for AirPods Pro 3, read 26 August 2026, lists the Apple H2 headphone chip. Apple Support's technical specifications document for AirPods Pro (2nd generation), read the same day, lists the Apple H2 headphone chip as well.
That single fact reorders the whole comparison, because "new chip" is the shorthand most upgrade coverage reaches for and it is not what happened here. What changed sits in the sensors, the seal, the durability rating and, in one direction nobody expects, the battery.
We have not heard either pair. Nothing below is a listening verdict. It is a side by side reading of Apple's own published specifications, so you can decide whether the differences are ones you would actually notice.
The differences, from Apple's own pages
| Specification | AirPods Pro (2nd generation) | AirPods Pro 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Headphone chip | Apple H2 | Apple H2 |
| Ultra Wideband chip in the case | Apple U1 | Apple second-generation Ultra Wideband |
| Heart rate sensor | Not listed | "Heart rate sensor for workouts" |
| Ear tips in the box | Silicone, four sizes: XS, S, M, L | Five sizes: XXS, XS, S, M, L |
| Water and dust rating | IPX4 | IP57 |
| Listening, single charge | Up to 6 hours; 5.5 hours with Spatial Audio enabled | Up to 8 hours with Active Noise Cancellation enabled; 7.5 with Spatial Audio and Head Tracking; 6.5 with heart rate sensing during workouts; up to 10 in Transparency using the Hearing Aid feature |
| Listening, total with the case | Up to 30 hours | Up to 24 hours |
| Quick charge | 5 minutes in the case provides around 1 hour | 5 minutes in the case provides around 1 hour |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.3 | Bluetooth 5.3 |
Every figure in that table is Apple's, taken from the two pages named in the sources line, on 26 August 2026. Apple changes these pages without notice, so if you are deciding on the strength of one number, open the page rather than this table.
The battery, which goes two ways at once
This is the finding worth slowing down for, because it is in Apple's own numbers and it is the opposite of how a generational upgrade is normally described.
The single charge went up. The total with the case went down. Apple states up to 8 hours on a charge for AirPods Pro 3 with Active Noise Cancellation enabled, against up to 6 hours for the 2nd generation. But the 2nd generation page states up to 30 hours of listening time with the case, and the AirPods Pro 3 page states up to 24.
Which of those matters is not a general question, it is a question about your day.
- If you listen in long single stretches, a flight, a shift, a commute plus a workday, the number that governs you is the one on a single charge, and that improved by Apple's own figures.
- If you are away from a charger for days, a trip with the case in a bag, the number that governs you is the total, and by Apple's own figures the newer pair gives you less of it.
Nobody is being misleading here. They are two different measurements of two different things, and the marketing naturally leads with the one that improved.
One more caution on comparing these particular numbers. Look at how they are stated. Apple's AirPods Pro 3 page names the listening mode beside almost every figure, including Active Noise Cancellation, Spatial Audio with Head Tracking, workouts with heart rate sensing, and the Hearing Aid feature in Transparency. The 2nd generation specifications we read state up to 6 hours of listening time, and 5.5 hours with Spatial Audio enabled. A figure stated with its condition named and a figure stated without one are not the same kind of claim, and reading a maker's spec sheet well means noticing which one you are looking at. That habit is the whole subject of our guide to choosing wireless earbuds without trusting anyone's score.
The rating change is the quiet upgrade
IPX4 to IP57 is easy to skim past and it is a bigger change than the letters suggest.
IPX4 has an X in it, and the X means not rated. The first digit in an IP code is solids, including dust. An X in that position is not a claim of dust resistance, it is the absence of one. The second digit, 4, is the water figure.
IP57 states both. A 5 for solids and a 7 for water, which is a materially higher water figure than 4 as well as a dust rating where there was none.
Two things worth saying plainly with that. A rating is a laboratory test result, not a warranty, and makers are explicit that liquid damage is not covered by their warranties whatever the rating says. And ratings can degrade with age and wear, so a two year old pair is not the pair that was tested.
The heart rate sensor, and what it costs you
Apple lists a "Heart rate sensor for workouts" on the AirPods Pro 3 specification page. It is not listed on the 2nd generation page.
The interesting part is that Apple also publishes the price of using it, in hours. Up to 6.5 hours of listening on a single charge with heart rate sensing during workouts, against up to 8 hours with Active Noise Cancellation. So the sensor is not free battery, and Apple says so on its own page rather than burying it.
Whether that is a reason to move generations depends on something specific: whether you already wear something that measures your heart rate. If you do, this is a duplicate sensor. If you do not, and you train, it is a genuine new capability in a device you were wearing anyway.
Five ear tip sizes instead of four
AirPods Pro 3 ships five sizes, XXS through L. The 2nd generation shipped four, XS through L. The addition is at the small end.
This is a smaller headline and a larger real-world difference than most of the table, because a sealed earbud that does not seal loses the thing you paid for. Active noise cancellation and bass response both depend on the seal, so a size that finally fits changes what the product does for that person, not just how it feels.
One thing this does not mean. New sizes do not make tips universal. Ear tips are not interchangeable across models, Apple says so in its own user guide, and buying a pair on the strength of a tip you already own is a mistake. That is a subject of its own and it has its own article on this site.
What did not change
Worth listing, because absence of change is information when you are deciding whether to spend.
- The headphone chip. H2 on both.
- Bluetooth 5.3 on both.
- Quick charge behavior, stated identically on both pages: 5 minutes in the case provides around 1 hour of listening time.
How to read this if you are choosing
Not a recommendation, because we have not heard either pair and this site does not hand out picks it cannot support. Just the decision, put in the order the specifications actually answer.
- Do you need the seal to be right? If previous small tips have not fitted you, the five size range is the single most consequential line in the table.
- Which battery number is your battery number? Longer single sessions favor the newer pair by Apple's figures. Days away from a charger favor the older one.
- Do you already measure your heart rate? If yes, that row is not an upgrade for you.
- Where do these live? IP57 against IPX4 matters to a gym bag and a rainy commute and matters very little at a desk.
- Everything else on the list is unchanged. If none of the four points above moved you, the specifications are telling you the older pair is still the pair.
What we did not state, and why
- No price, no retailer, no discount and no pick. Prices move and this row is written to stay correct.
- No sound judgment of any kind. We have heard neither pair. Where a listening or measurement verdict is what you need, go to an outlet that runs a measurement rig and says so.
- No model numbers for the 2nd generation. The Apple Support specifications document we read does not publish them, and we are not going to source a model number from a resale listing.
- Both pages were read on 26 August 2026 and Apple revises them without notice.