At the same time Apple announced the AirPods Pro 3 last year, the company also introduced a new feature called Live Translation. It makes the idea of the Babel fish, so evocatively described in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a reality: Something sitting in your ear that can instantly translate between languages, on demand.
Rather than an exotic fish though, here we have wireless headphones from Apple. This isn’t actually exclusive to the latest earbuds, despite the launch timing—it’ll work with the AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation and the AirPods Pro 2, as well as the AirPods Pro 3. It also works with the recently updated AirPods Pro Max, but just the 2026 version, not the original version of the Max.
There are some requirements on the iPhone side too: an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max, or any iPhone 16 or iPhone 17 model, are needed. You also have to have downloaded and installed the latest iOS 26 software update on your phone.
With those prerequisites out of the way, you can get your very own instant language interpreter in your ears. From FaceTime video calls to foreign trips, it’s a feature that can be hugely useful in understanding others and making yourself understood.
Set Up Live Translation
This works via Apple Intelligence, so as well as having checked all the requirements that are mentioned above, you also need to turn on your iPhone’s AI capabilities if they’re not enabled already. From Settings in iOS, tap Apple Intelligence & Siri, and make sure the Apple Intelligence toggle is switched on.
Next, you need to specify the languages you want to work with. You need both the languages you’re translating from and the languages you’re translating too, so make sure you’re fully covered before you try and strike up a conversation.
We’re assuming you’ve already been through the AirPods setup process and they’re connected to your iPhone. Pop them in (or on) your ears and find the AirPods in the iOS Settings menu. Tap on the name you’ve given the headphones, then Languages to download whichever ones you need.
Apple says that all the processing required for Live Translation is handled privately on your phone. Your conversations aren’t being piped back to Apple’s servers so they can be translated between languages. (It’s one of the reasons you need a newer iPhone and newer headphones, so the necessarily work can be done on-device).
Use Live Translation
With all the setup out of the way, you can get started with a Live Translation in a few ways. You can head to the Apple Translate app on your iPhone, tap the Live button at the bottom, choose the relevant languages, and then select Start Conversation.
If you have AirPods earbuds, you can press and hold the stems on both AirPods at the same time. Otherwise, you can say “Siri, start live translation” to enable the feature. A shortcut to the Translate app is available via Control Center if you need it, and you can also set up the Action button on your iPhone to launch the translate feature (pick Action Button from iOS Settings).
When someone is talking to you, you’ll hear a translation of what they’re saying in your chosen language in your ears, through the AirPods. When you’re speaking, your words are translated in the other direction: You can either show your conversation partner the translated text on your iPhone screen, in the Live tab of the Translate app, or have the translation play through your iPhone’s speakers. (Just tap the play button.)
Tap the X button onscreen to stop Live Translation. Apple does include a warning that AI-powered translations can be “inaccurate, unexpected, or offensive”—so if you see a puzzled or a shocked expression on the person you’re talking to, that might be why.
The post How to Use Apple’s Live Translation on Your AirPods appeared first on Wired.
