How to use Apple’s Live Translate on your AirPods

At the same time When Apple announced the AirPods Pro 3 last year, the company also introduced a new feature called Live Translation. It makes the idea of ​​a described Babel fish evocative The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the GalaxyFact: Something sitting in your ear can instantly translate between languages, on demand.

Instead of an exotic fish, here we have wireless headphones from Apple. This isn’t actually limited to the latest earbuds, though given the timing of the launch, it will work with the AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation and AirPods Pro 2, as well as the AirPods Pro 3. It also works with the recently updated AirPods Pro Max, but only the 2026 version, not the original version of the Max.

There are some requirements on the iPhone side as well: iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or any iPhone 16 or iPhone 17 model is required. You must also download and install the latest iOS 26 software update on your phone.

Going beyond these basic requirements, you can have an instant language translator in your ears. From FaceTime video calls to outdoor trips, it’s a feature that can be extremely helpful in understanding others and making yourself understood.

Set up live translation

Download the languages ​​you need in advance.

Courtesy of Apple

This works via Apple Intelligence, so in addition to checking all the above requirements, you also need to turn on your iPhone’s AI capabilities if it’s not already enabled. From Settings in iOS, tap Apple Intelligence and SiriAnd make sure Apple intelligence The switch has been turned on.

Next, you need to select the languages ​​you want to work with. You need both the languages ​​you’re translating from and the languages ​​you’re translating from as well, so make sure you’re all covered before you try to start a conversation.

We assume that you have already gone through the AirPods setup process and that they are connected to your iPhone. Place them in (or on) your ears and find AirPods in the iOS settings menu. Tap the name you gave the headphones, then Languages To download any of them you need.

Apple says all the processing required for live translation is done privately on your phone. Your conversations are not sent 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 work can necessarily be done on the device.)

Use direct translation

You can turn on the feature from the Live tab in the Translate app.

Courtesy of Apple

After completing all the procedures, you can start live translation in several ways. You can head to the Apple Translate app on your iPhone and tap He lives below, choose the relevant languages, and then select Start the conversation.