Insane new AirPods feature will completely change the game for anyone going on holiday

Apple has unveiled a new AirPods feature fans have dubbed the 'future in your ears' - and it's going to be a gamechanger when travelling abroad.

It was the iPhone 17 announcement yesterday (9 September) as the latest model of smartphone was rolled out for presentation, with them unveiling their thinnest ever iPhone along with all the usual bells and whistles they've got to add to the fresh tech.

Not everything has been received well, some folks are rather miffed that the iPhone Air is going to cost more than the 17 despite being smaller while there's been considerable criticism of the lack of a 17 Pro that comes in black.

There's even been some mockery from their smartphone rival Samsung as well, as they pointed out that Apple have yet to make a phone which can fold like theirs.

Samsung posted '#iCant believe this is still relevant' as they quoted a tweet from 2022 saying 'let us know when it folds' to Apple.

The newer AirPods will have an incredibly useful new feature (Apple)

Despite some of the derision there was an announcement which got a lot more praise from viewers as they were excited to put it to use on their travels.

This feature is the new Live Translation service which their new AirPods Pro 3 will be able to hear what other people have said in their own language and then speak the translation into your ears.

Apple Intelligence, Apple's own AI service, will attempt to work out what someone is saying to you while noise cancelling voices around you so you can better hear the translation.

The languages that will be available from launch are English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish, while Apple is working on adding Italian, Japanese, Korean, and simplified Chinese by the end of the year.

Of course this translation service is only going to help so much if the other person doesn't have AirPods since you won't magically be able to speak their language, but you will be able to hold out your phone which will keep a translated transcript of what you're saying to someone else.

Apple explained: "To interact with someone who doesn’t have this hands-free capability, there’s an option to use iPhone as a horizontal display, showing the live transcription of what the user is saying in the other person’s preferred language."

There's a transcription feature if the person you're talking to doesn't own AirPods (Apple)

It's all a bit Star Trek, having automatically translating earpieces, but it's an exciting development which has got people interested.

One person said they would be 'first in line if the translation works', which may not always be the case depending on how good their AI is at picking up on voices or accents.

Someone else said if it worked as advertised they'd 'just end up wearing my AirPods full time', while a third said it sounded like the 'perfect upgrade'.

The translation will also work for AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 and later as long as they're paired with an iPhone that comes with Apple Intelligence and is running iOS 26 or later.