Apple’s iOS 26 is finally out, and with its release, there’s a lot to officially unpack (sorry, beta features don’t count). Naturally, most of the new stuff pertains to your iPhone; you’ve got Visual Intelligence, which allows AI to both see and interact with your screen; Live Translation in the Messages, FaceTime, and Phone apps; and a new, streamlined Camera app that should make it easier to switch between video and still photo modes.
But it’s not all about the iPhone. Buried in all those feature tweaks and upgrades are some substantive improvements to AirPods, and the best part is you don’t need to rush out to buy the AirPods Pro 3 to take advantage. With a firmware update rolled out on Sept. 15, AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 (when coupled with iOS 26) get all of the features listed below with just a download.
If you’ve got compatible AirPods and an iPhone, here’s everything coming your way—for free!
Camera Control
Sure, you could take pictures the old-fashioned way by tapping the shutter button in your Camera app, but this is 2025, and it’s time to step into the future. In iOS 26, you can use AirPods to snap photos with the new Camera Control feature. Once enabled (go to settings, your name, and then Camera Control), you can select a gesture to use the feature when you have the Camera app open. Your options are either “Press once” or “Press and hold” on your AirPods stems, and both will initiate a countdown until a picture is taken.
This might not be a feature you’re using all the time, but if you’re in a situation where you don’t want to fumble around with your iPhone, it could come in handy.
Battery notifications
If you have battery anxiety about your AirPods, Apple is throwing you a bone in iOS 26 with notifications that tell you when your wireless earbuds are fully charged. Perhaps more helpfully, it will also tell you when your case needs to be juiced up so you don’t leave the house with dead AirPods.
“Studio quality” recording
This one is for all the podcasters and YouTubers. According to Apple, iOS 26 brings better recording quality to AirPods, thanks in part to the H2 chip first introduced on the AirPods Pro 2. Using the beamforming microphones, Apple says its recording quality upgrade will also work better in noisy environments.
That same upgrade will also equate to what Apple is calling “more natural vocal texture and clarity” with calls and FaceTime. Even better, the upgrade isn’t just for iPhone, but also iPad and Mac, and works across features like Voice Memos, dictation in Messages, and video conferencing apps like Webex. I’ll have to test this feature out myself to see how “studio quality” it is, but on the surface, it sounds great, no pun intended.
Sleep detection
I hate sleeping with wireless earbuds in, but that doesn’t mean I’ve never tried. I’ve personally never fallen asleep with AirPods or any other pair stuck in my ears, but if you have, then Apple now has a feature for that. For AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4, iOS 26 can detect when you’ve fallen asleep and pause the content you’re listening to. I wouldn’t want this feature activated if you’re trying to block out someone’s snoring, but if you’re listening to a podcast, this could help make sure you don’t miss all the gory details of that true crime fodder you like to nod off to.
Live Translation
AirPods Pro 3 aren’t the only buds capable of using Apple’s new Live Translation feature—a pair of AirPods with an H2 chip and ANC (AirPods Pro 2 with Lightning and USB-C, and AirPods 4 with ANC) can also get in on the action, and all you need is an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone running iOS 26. ICYMI, Live Translation is exactly what it sounds like: a feature that is able to translate speech in real-time. That all runs on-device, too. If you want to know more about how Live Translation works, you can read more from our AirPods Pro 3 review.
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