- Details of AirPods Pro 3 case design supposedly leak
- Accessory makers say it will have a touch button for pairing/reset
- I think that’s a shame, but likely, since AirPods 4 made that switch
We’re expecting the much-anticipated AirPods Pro 3 to be unveiled soon – probably at the Apple event on September 9th 2025, which will surely also be the debut of the iPhone 17 – so what’s been surprising is how few leaks there have been about the new earbuds.
Despite Apple‘s famous secrecy, pretty much all of its products leak out one way or another – but AirPods Pro 3 have largely stayed in the shadows, outside of multiple claims that they’ll have built-in heart-rate sensors.
However, we may finally have a leak relating to the design of the earbuds, courtesy of Majinbu Official. The publication spoke to accessory makers, who provided images and said that the case for the new AirPods may be slightly smaller than the case for AirPods Pro 2 (though the dimensions given for the case in the image below suggests a very similar size to the current case).
They said the case will still include the lanyard loop you find on the current AirPods Pro 2 case, as well.
But they also highlighted another change they expect: the removal of the button from the back of the case in favor of a touch panel on the front, and I’m not a fan of this idea.
It seems inevitable – last year’s AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation both made this switch, so it’s no surprise that Apple would do it here – but I think the physical button is important.
The button on AirPods is used to put them in pairing mode with non-Apple devices, or to reset them if they’re having major problems – and it’s that second point that means I wish Apple would keep a physical button instead of an invisible touch panel.
If your AirPods aren’t responding for some reason, you can push the physical button on the back until they reset, and know that there’s a good chance this will fix them. Most importantly, you know you’re doing the process correctly because you can tell that you’ve depressed the button – you feel the movement.
If you need to reset unresponsive AirPods using a touch panel, and nothing seems to be happening, you’re left with uncertainty. Have you pressed the wrong spot, or are they just failing to reset?
In user experience design, there’s a concept called ‘affordances’. These are the ways that a product or piece of software indicates to you that something can be done, or that something is happening.
A physical button is a natural affordance; you know it can be pressed when you see it, and you can feel when you’ve pressed it. The touch button on AirPods can use light or sounds as an affordance to say you’ve pressed it, but that depends on the electronics all responding as expected – and if you’ve got to the point where you need to reset them, that may not be the case. I think something as important as a reset should have physical controls, but I’m old fashioned that way.
In any case, it still doesn’t tell us very about the AirPods Pro 3 overall. I’m expecting improved sound quality, improved active noise cancellation, a new H3 chip powering them, some kind of fancy smart features tied to that chip, and probably a higher price, given the broader prices in the industry over the last few years. They’ll probably also be the best AirPods released to date.
We’ll probably find out in just a couple of weeks either way. I’m sure that looking for a button won’t be top of your priority list, but hey – at least it’s more confirmation that they’re probably coming soon.
