What’s happened? In a move straight out of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the latest iOS 26 beta suggests a real-time translation feature could be coming to your AirPods.
- First reported by 9to5Mac, the iOS 26 developer beta points to a new feature triggered by pressing both AirPods at once.
- The image shows words in English, Portuguese, French, and German.
- The feature is linked with the AirPods Pro (2nd Gen) and the AirPods (4th Gen).
This is important because: Apple didn’t mention a real-world translation tool during the WWDC 25 conference, but a Bloomberg report from earlier this year hinted that something similar could be in the works.
- Apple already offers a Live Translation feature for FaceTime, Messages, and Phone.
- The same functionality is available in devices from other brands like the Samsung Galaxy S24 series and later, as well as Meta Ray-Bans.
- A feature like this will likely run solely on the AirPods themselves, so it isn’t clear what iPhones will support translation. It’s likely it will be limited to the same devices that support Live Translation.
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Why should I care? A real-world translation feature will make it possible to understand what someone says to you in a supported language, even if you don’t speak it. If that person also has a device that offers translation features, your AirPods could function like the Babelfish technology, allowing you to hold a conversation in two different languages.
- Apple might be restricting the feature to the upcoming iPhone 17 lineup due to latency requirements.
- While Spanish isn’t specifically listed in the preview, it is one of the languages supported by the Live Translate app (along with Korean, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese.)
