We’re less than two days from one of Apple’s biggest events in recent history, where the company will use its “Awe dropping” event to reveal several new products and services.
Chief among these is the upcoming iPhone 17 series, and Apple is expected to launch four new models, like last year. However, unlike the previous year, Apple is making sizable changes to the product lineup, and joining the ranks of phones like the Tecno Pova Slim and Galaxy S25 Edge by opting for an ultra-thin body in the iPhone 17 Air.
With the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max set to join the slim iPhone 17 Air, it would be easy to be mistaken into thinking that this will be all that Apple announces on Tuesday. Yet, we’ll almost certainly also see the Apple Watch Series 11, possibly the Apple Watch Ultra 3, and the new AirPods Pro 3, the latter expanding on Apple’s approach to health in headphones.
Here’s why the AirPods Pro 3 rumors are the most exciting for me, and could be the biggest announcement from the Apple Event this week.
The latest in Apple’s attempts to build a health ecosystem
The best Apple Watches and the latest in Apple’s wearable products share a common feature: a core focus on health and the application of data from the same sensors.
The hearing test features on the AirPods Pro 2 showed that Apple can breathe new life into existing hardware in a way that makes that product even more essential, but the AirPods Pro 3 could take this to the next level.
The latest rumors about the AirPods Pro 3 suggest that they could be Apple’s best yet. Why? It’s not just audio, but rather that they are expected to feature heart rate monitoring, which would be a transformative feature.
This may seem strange, but it makes considerable sense; doctors have several different health metrics they can track from within your ears, and being able to check your heart rate accurately also has many potential health benefits.
A potentially transformative feature for AirPods Pro users
The AirPods Pro 3 technically won’t be the first Apple product to have this feature — it was introduced on the Powerbeats Pro 2 earlier this year — but considering the popularity of the AirPods Pro lineup, it’s clear that this move would yield the largest number of active users for this feature.
When you use the Powerbeats Pro 2 and place both earbuds in your ears with heart rate monitoring enabled, Apple states that the LED optical sensors measure heart rate by detecting blood flow through pulsing at over 100 times per second.
Like other Apple Health features, this should integrate with the best fitness apps on the Apple Watch and the iPhone. This feature will also presumably have redundancies, similar to those found on the Powerbeats Pro 2, specifically in how it prioritizes data from one device over another.
Heart-rate data from the Apple Watch takes precedence over that from the Powerbeats Pro 2, but it remains to be seen whether any key improvements in the AirPods Pro 3 would alter this existing dynamic.
The other key Apple Event rumors
Beyond this heart rate sensing feature that I’m extremely excited about, Tuesday’s Apple Event could deliver a host of new products and changes to the Apple ecosystem that have long-ranging implications.
The most notable change will be the iPhone 17 Air, as Apple joins the ranks of ultra-thin phones like the Galaxy S25 Edge and Tecno Pova Slim in prioritizing thickness over core specifications. It’s expected to measure around 5.5mm, which would make it slightly thinner than the ultra-thin alternatives. However, it won’t be Apple’s thinnest product, as the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is even thinner.
Beyond the iPhone 17 Air, we also expect the Apple Event to yield a new regular iPhone 17, as well as the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Leading up to the Apple Event, there haven’t been a large number of leaks for these, but the key changes we expect is a shift from titanium back to the aluminum used for previous years, a half-glass rear that’s ideal for MagSafe charging, and a redesigned camera bump that’s unique, if not excessively large.
There’s also a host of new colors, with Apple expected to expand the color options in the Pro lineup finally. The highlight of these is the Orange color that previously leaked, although it’s unclear whether it will be as vibrant as the renders in person; there’s a strong chance that it’ll be far more muted, although I hope Apple is bold enough to launch it with the same vibrancy as the leaks suggest. If it does, this could be a truly awe-dropping moment.,
