- The image in iOS 26 shows what looks like a real -time translation
- Will require an Apple Intelligence compatible device
- Could be iPhone 17 only, and maybe 16 pro / max
The latest beta developer of iOS 26 apparently revealed a major unexpected upgrade for AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2: World Real, real -time translation.
As 9TO5MAC reports, the iOS 26 Beta 6 developer contains a new system asset showing that the two AirPods rods are pressed simultaneously. The image seems to refer to the translate application and displays several words in several languages, notably Hello, Danke, Obrigado, Hello, Olá and Bye.
Danke, apple
Apple announced that Live Translate last month on WWDC, but not for the real cat: Apple focused on FaceTime and phone calls as well as on messages. But the live translation and face to face was disclosed earlier this year by Bloomberg, so we knew that it was in preparation. We just didn’t know when it happened.
There are a lot of things that we do not know about this new feature, including the requirements of the device: Airpods and Airpods Pro do not have the power to execute the translation in real time, so this will be managed by your phone, iPad or Mac.
We also do not know what languages will be taken care of when the functionality is launched, although clearly the assets disclosed in some shows (Portuguese, French, German and uh, English).
It seems likely that the functionality will initially support a fairly small selection of languages and require a recent iPhone, iPad or Mac: Live translation for telephone calls and Facetime already announced is available for English (United Kingdom and the United States), French, German, Brazilian Portuguese and Spanish and requires a device compatible with Apple Intelligence.
It is possible that, as Apple did with Apple Intelligence last year, the new functionality can be exclusive to the iPhone 17 and the pro models of last year.
