The future is now, it seems, and Apple is right in the thick of it. Cupertino is reportedly working on a new feature for AirPods that would allow people to translate conversations live and in person.
The news comes via Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Per Gurman, Apple intends to release the new feature “as part of an AirPods software upgrade due later this year.” He also notes that the feature will likely coincide with the release of iOS 19.
It would work mostly through an app on the iPhone. In the example Gurman gave, if an English speaker was talking to a Spanish speaker, the phone would listen to the Spanish speaker, translate, and send the translation to the AirPods. The phone would then listen for the English speaker’s response, translate it, and play it out loud over the iPhone.
This is similar to how other companies do it. Google’s Pixel Buds have used a similar method for several years now, and Samsung’s Galaxy Buds lineup received the feature in 2024. Both competitors also use the method of translating over the phone and playing it over the earbuds.
Should Apple get the translation feature up and going with the release of iOS 19, it would be the latest in a long line of rumors that iOS 19 is going to be a major release. Cupertino is reportedly working on overhauling iOS, iPadOS, and even macOS with new icons and menus, changing how apps behave, and more. Gurman wrote that iOS 19 would be “one of the most dramatic software overhauls in the company’s history.”
While the translation feature would be in the software only, Apple is also rumored to be working on a radical new pair of AirPods that house cameras. The camera-laden AirPods would launch in 2027 if the rumors are true. Much like Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses, the camera would be mostly for looking at the user’s environment instead of photography. The AirPods would take in the visual data and use it with Apple Intelligence to process what’s going on around the user and give them better information.
We’ll likely learn more about iOS 19 and its various features, potentially including the AirPods translation feature, at Apple’s WWDC event this summer. We may have to wait a bit longer to hear more about the camera-equipped AirPods.
