Right now, AirPods Pro 3 Live Translation works with five languages: English (both UK and US), French (France), German (Germany), Portuguese (Brazil), and Spanish (Spain). It's a solid starting lineup, but admittedly limited if you were hoping for broader coverage.
The good news? Apple has confirmed that Chinese (Mandarin in both simplified and traditional forms), Italian, Japanese, and Korean are coming later in 2025. That expansion will make the feature significantly more useful for travelers and international conversations.
Here's what you need to actually use this feature: an iPhone 15 Pro or newer running iOS 26 or later, with Apple Intelligence turned on. The Live Translation feature relies on Apple Intelligence for the heavy lifting, which is why older iPhones don't qualify. You'll also need both your AirPods and your iPhone updated to the latest software.
Before your first conversation, you'll need to download the language models for both languages you want to translate between. Go to Settings > AirPods > Translation > Languages to grab them. Everything processes on your phone after that—no data goes to Apple's servers, which is nice for privacy.
To start translating, just press and hold both AirPod stems until you hear a chime, then start talking. You can also use Siri or the Translate app if you prefer. If only one of you has AirPods, no worries—you can have your iPhone play the translation out loud through its speaker so your conversation partner can understand you.
The feature works best when both people are wearing compatible AirPods, since everyone hears translations directly in their ears without any awkward back-and-forth with phone speakers.
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