Another year, another set of white plastic stems for your ears.
Apple dropped a new AirPods Pro model, and the internet has already split into two camps: people who will buy them no matter what, and people who will post a 4,000-word thinkpiece about how they're a "walled garden trap." Both groups are correct.
Let's get the boring stuff out of the way.
Not "audiophile weeps into his $900 wired IEMs" good, but genuinely good for wireless earbuds.
The noise cancellation is better than last time, which is the most predictable sentence in tech journalism.
Transparency mode still feels like a minor superpower when you're ordering coffee.
Battery life is fine. "Fine" is doing a lot of work there, but unless you're mainlining podcasts for twelve straight hours, you'll survive.
The charging case is smaller, which matters to exactly zero people but gives reviewers something to say.
Here's the actual issue: these aren't competing with other earbuds.
They're competing with the ones already in your pocket.
If you own the previous generation, the upgrade is the tech equivalent of trading in a 2022 Honda for a 2024 Honda.
The real magic is the ecosystem lock-in, and Apple knows it.
Seamless switching between your iPhone, iPad, and Mac is genuinely convenient, right up until you try to use them with an Android phone and suddenly they're just expensive earplugs.
You're paying a premium for features that get nerfed the second you leave Apple's walled garden.
Grab something from Sony or Google and pocket the difference.
For iPhone users who've never owned Pro-level earbuds?
The convenience is real, the fit is solid for most ears, and the case will inevitably get lost in your couch cushions like every other tiny gadget you own.
The uncomfortable truth is that Apple has gotten very good at selling you things you already functionally own.
They're also a reminder that "excellent" and "necessary" are two very different words, and only one of them shows up on your credit card statement. **Our take:** Buy them if you're upgrading from the ancient non-Pro model or switching from cheap buds.
Final Thoughts
Skip them if you bought the last Pro version, because you're basically paying full price for a slightly better version of something already sitting in your bag.