I am curious how the lag is with airpods pro 3 (could also be another usb-c airpods version)when using apple's usb-c 3,5mm audio cable? and will this than work on windows too?
Depends on which device you’re using with the AirPods. With an iPhone 16 Pro and I would think the iPhone 17 lineup, there’s no lag at all. There’s a Possi Bility that Apple is going to activate a new audio profile. Spr Avs. It’s in the code for the AirPod Pro threes, and the iPhone 17’s. And that’s going to lead to lossless audio. But also a massive minimization of any lag when watching videos or listening to audio. That also means that VoiceOver will be relatively lag free. At the moment, I’m using an iPhone 17 Pro. Everything is pretty usable and speedy and not regard.
they can charge by USB-C, I think they can also be updated over USB-C, though I'd have to check on that. There is no audio over USB-C though, not like the AirPods Max USB-C.
There is no way of getting wired audio from the AirPods Pro 2, 3 or the standard AirPods 4.
Depends on which device you’re using with the AirPods. With an iPhone 16 Pro and I would think the iPhone 17 lineup, there’s no lag at all. There’s a Possi Bility that Apple is going to activate a new audio profile. Spr Avs. It’s in the code for the AirPod Pro threes, and the iPhone 17’s. And that’s going to lead to lossless audio. But also a massive minimization of any lag when watching videos or listening to audio. That also means that VoiceOver will be relatively lag free. At the moment, I’m using an iPhone 17 Pro. Everything is pretty usable and speedy and not regard.
There’s no way to connect them through wires though. These are wireless headphones. The USB-C connection is on the case and only the case. You might be thinking of AirPods Max.
Tbh I per testing I haven't encountered any lag at all with any phone i've used airpods with, iphone 12, 15pro etc. I'd say if your using ios or apple hardware lag with voiceover is there isn't lag at all. At least per my experience.
There certainly isn't significant lag, but there is lag. The only reason I say this though is because I've used my AirPods on mac whilst game mode is on which doubles the sampling rate of bluetooth devices and cuts latency down to something almost instantaneous. I only noticed the lag afterwards when I turned game mode off.
I'm trying to work out how to turn it on artificially. There was a work around prior to Mac OS 26, but XCode 26 doesn't seem to play well with the instruction. If I get it working, I'll certainly share it.
Interesting regarding the lossless between APP3 and iPhone 17. It's kinda pointless in an EarBud where so much DSP is already going on. Even on the AirPods Max it's a very subtle shift. As you say though, it might be they use it to cut latency too which would be sad as it will mean I'll have to upgrade my phone after all.
thanks for the tip with game mode. I am a bit confused can you enable that without running a game? I understand the bedirectional cable for the airpods max but also read that you can use it to connect your airpods to a 3,5 mm audioport?
Again, there is no way to connect wired audio from anything but the AirPods Max. AirPods Pro 3, 2, AirPods 4, etc are exclusively wireless. That's all you get. If you want wired you will have to buy the AirPods Max which is compatible with the 3.5 mm to either USB-C or lightening cable, depending on the model of the AirPods Max.
Just to clarify further, AirPods Max are over ears, so being wired works. The other AirPods are single devices you put in each ear which communicate wirelessly with each other and your device.
yes it does. I am sorry for the confusion. I thought that usb-c airpods have a dac in the case. Could you please explain how to enable game modus on the mac? I am using a mac m1.
Lag is minimal with wireless AirPods, but is far from being non-existent, and when you add that to applications that already add latency in order to improve accessibility, like terminal, and if on top of that you add connections to remote systems at the other side of the Atlantic ocean over the Internet, all of it adds up making the experience more frustrating with wireless audio, but I do notice lag even using standard user interface controls both on a 2025 Mac Studio and an iPhone 17 Pro.
Latency is the only reason why I ended up buying AirPods Max some time ago, which have always been able to connect to analog audio sources with Apple's bidirectional cable, and with the latest firmware they can also connect directly to USB audio sources, while at the same time providing common AirPods features like Transparency and Active Noise Cancellation that are not possible with a fully analog setup. As a matter of fact, and thanks to owning other sets of AirPods, I don't even have my AirPods Max wirelessly paired with any of my devices since I only use them wired.
Unfortunately there isn't currently, as of Mac OS 26 Taho, possible to manually enable. You have to have a game running which switches it on. In my case I was using One Cast to connect to an XBox.
There used to be a way of turning it on pre Mac OS 26 using XCode, but that no longer works. If I find a way, I'll post it up on the forum. I have suggested that it would be a good feature to apple accessibility but, like all my genius ideas, it seems to have been ignored. Sad now.
I'll do some quick research on enabling Game Mode. If that's something that I can enable easily like by just running something on the GPU using Metal I'll just post the code here, otherwise I won't pursue it because I already have a lot on my plate as it is.
According to the Gemini summary, Game Mode requires a full screen application to trigger, so it might be possible to enable if I just simulate a new display containing a completely useless full-screen window, but display management requires tapping into private frameworks, and creating a new virtual display might have unintended consequences to the normal desktop experience, so this is something that I can't confirm without experimenting with in practice.
Comments
Airpod pro 3
It works best for apple products,probably windows if the pro 2 do so, the 3 will also.
Wired connection
There is no wired connection for AirPods Pro 3. The only devices you can connect to 3.5 mil jacks are the AirPods Max lightening and USB-C versions.
It is a shame. Jawbone, I think it was, had a case that acted as a bluetooth hub for the earbuds which you could then plug into a 3.5 jack.
Unfortunately , this isn't a feature of AirPods earbuds.
re weried connection
but airpods pro 3 are usb-c airpods? the same for airpods pro 2 and airpods 4?
Not really much lag if any
Depends on which device you’re using with the AirPods. With an iPhone 16 Pro and I would think the iPhone 17 lineup, there’s no lag at all. There’s a Possi Bility that Apple is going to activate a new audio profile. Spr Avs. It’s in the code for the AirPod Pro threes, and the iPhone 17’s. And that’s going to lead to lossless audio. But also a massive minimization of any lag when watching videos or listening to audio. That also means that VoiceOver will be relatively lag free. At the moment, I’m using an iPhone 17 Pro. Everything is pretty usable and speedy and not regard.
USB-C
they can charge by USB-C, I think they can also be updated over USB-C, though I'd have to check on that. There is no audio over USB-C though, not like the AirPods Max USB-C.
There is no way of getting wired audio from the AirPods Pro 2, 3 or the standard AirPods 4.
Not really much lag if any
Depends on which device you’re using with the AirPods. With an iPhone 16 Pro and I would think the iPhone 17 lineup, there’s no lag at all. There’s a Possi Bility that Apple is going to activate a new audio profile. Spr Avs. It’s in the code for the AirPod Pro threes, and the iPhone 17’s. And that’s going to lead to lossless audio. But also a massive minimization of any lag when watching videos or listening to audio. That also means that VoiceOver will be relatively lag free. At the moment, I’m using an iPhone 17 Pro. Everything is pretty usable and speedy and not regard.
There’s no way to connect them through wires though. These are wireless headphones. The USB-C connection is on the case and only the case. You might be thinking of AirPods Max.
Re lag
Tbh I per testing I haven't encountered any lag at all with any phone i've used airpods with, iphone 12, 15pro etc. I'd say if your using ios or apple hardware lag with voiceover is there isn't lag at all. At least per my experience.
Interesting re game mode on mac
There certainly isn't significant lag, but there is lag. The only reason I say this though is because I've used my AirPods on mac whilst game mode is on which doubles the sampling rate of bluetooth devices and cuts latency down to something almost instantaneous. I only noticed the lag afterwards when I turned game mode off.
I'm trying to work out how to turn it on artificially. There was a work around prior to Mac OS 26, but XCode 26 doesn't seem to play well with the instruction. If I get it working, I'll certainly share it.
Interesting regarding the lossless between APP3 and iPhone 17. It's kinda pointless in an EarBud where so much DSP is already going on. Even on the AirPods Max it's a very subtle shift. As you say though, it might be they use it to cut latency too which would be sad as it will mean I'll have to upgrade my phone after all.
wired option for airpods usb-c
thanks for the tip with game mode. I am a bit confused can you enable that without running a game? I understand the bedirectional cable for the airpods max but also read that you can use it to connect your airpods to a 3,5 mm audioport?
Only AirPods Max
Again, there is no way to connect wired audio from anything but the AirPods Max. AirPods Pro 3, 2, AirPods 4, etc are exclusively wireless. That's all you get. If you want wired you will have to buy the AirPods Max which is compatible with the 3.5 mm to either USB-C or lightening cable, depending on the model of the AirPods Max.
Just to clarify further, AirPods Max are over ears, so being wired works. The other AirPods are single devices you put in each ear which communicate wirelessly with each other and your device.
Hope that clarifies things.
re only airpods max
yes it does. I am sorry for the confusion. I thought that usb-c airpods have a dac in the case. Could you please explain how to enable game modus on the mac? I am using a mac m1.
Lag is definitely there
Lag is minimal with wireless AirPods, but is far from being non-existent, and when you add that to applications that already add latency in order to improve accessibility, like terminal, and if on top of that you add connections to remote systems at the other side of the Atlantic ocean over the Internet, all of it adds up making the experience more frustrating with wireless audio, but I do notice lag even using standard user interface controls both on a 2025 Mac Studio and an iPhone 17 Pro.
Latency is the only reason why I ended up buying AirPods Max some time ago, which have always been able to connect to analog audio sources with Apple's bidirectional cable, and with the latest firmware they can also connect directly to USB audio sources, while at the same time providing common AirPods features like Transparency and Active Noise Cancellation that are not possible with a fully analog setup. As a matter of fact, and thanks to owning other sets of AirPods, I don't even have my AirPods Max wirelessly paired with any of my devices since I only use them wired.
Game Mode
Unfortunately there isn't currently, as of Mac OS 26 Taho, possible to manually enable. You have to have a game running which switches it on. In my case I was using One Cast to connect to an XBox.
There used to be a way of turning it on pre Mac OS 26 using XCode, but that no longer works. If I find a way, I'll post it up on the forum. I have suggested that it would be a good feature to apple accessibility but, like all my genius ideas, it seems to have been ignored. Sad now.
Re: Game Mode
I'll do some quick research on enabling Game Mode. If that's something that I can enable easily like by just running something on the GPU using Metal I'll just post the code here, otherwise I won't pursue it because I already have a lot on my plate as it is.
According to the Gemini summary, Game Mode requires a full screen application to trigger, so it might be possible to enable if I just simulate a new display containing a completely useless full-screen window, but display management requires tapping into private frameworks, and creating a new virtual display might have unintended consequences to the normal desktop experience, so this is something that I can't confirm without experimenting with in practice.