​Will the AirPods 3 also come with spatial audio support?

Óscar Gutiérrez/CNET

That's the rumor. First introduced with the release of iOS 14 on the AirPods Pro, and later on the AirPods Max, spatial audio uses accelerometers and gyroscopes to give a virtual surround sound effect when watching supported movies, TV shows and listening to music on an iPhone or iPad.

The 52audio report suggests battery life would stay the same as the second-generation AirPods: around five hours in total. The case would also hold additional charge, like it does now. In leaked images, the case looks like it splits the difference between the more square AirPods and rectangular AirPods Pro cases.

As for the sound quality there's no clear detail yet on what to expect, although it's likely that there would be improvements in fidelity over regular AirPods. TF International Securities research analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a strong track record of Apple rumors, released a note back in July claiming that the AirPods 3 would feature a similar system-in-package to the AirPods Pro, which means audio quality would likely be comparable.

It's also safe to assume that AirPods and AirPods Pro features like quick switching will also come to the AirPods 3.