Det ser ud til, at Apple arbejder på at introducere live oversættelsesfunktioner til AirPods med iOS 19, som forventes at blive lanceret i efteråret. Selvom denne funktion allerede har været tilgængelig på Google put live translation in the Pixel Buds back in 2017 og er blevet udvidet til andre enheder med Google Assistant, er Apple nu ved at følge med. Historisk set har Apple fokuseret mere på sundheds- og kamerafunktioner til deres premium-øretelefoner. Men snart kan brugere opleve en realtids sprogoloversættelse, der minder om Babel Fish fra "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," hvilket vil gøre tværgående sprogkommunikation mere gnidningsløs for AirPods-brugere.

Real-time translation in AirPods: what to expect

The news comes via the well-connected Mark Gurman at Bloomberg (paywall), who says that it'll deliver a "Star Trek-like experience to AirPods users".

According to the report, the feature will make use of your AirPods as well as your iPhone. Your phone will translate the other person's speech and play that translation in your AirPods; it'll then take your speech, translate it and play that to the other person via your iPhone's speaker.

The feature will be tied to iOS 19, which should be widely compatible with iPhones going back several years – though if the feature is billed as being part of Apple Intelligence, it may be limited to only newer devices.

And if it's made available to every model of AirPods, I'll be amazed: I suspect it'll be reserved for Apple's more premium earbuds with active noise cancellation, to make sure you can be focused on people's voices.

But perhaps I'll be wrong and it'll be a nice upgrade for all the best AirPods – after all, the iPhone seems to be doing the heavy lifting.

With AirPods Pro 3 expected later this year, it's possible Apple will decide to make the feature exclusive to its newest buds, though I think that's unlikely.