AirPods 5 Put Noise Cancelling in the $129 Model, On Sale September 18

Apple announced AirPods 5 on Tuesday with Active Noise Cancellation on both models, including the $129 entry version. Pre-orders opened the same day and the earbuds reach stores on Friday, September 18, in the United States and more than 65 other countries and regions.

That single change is the news. With AirPods 4, noise cancelling was reserved for the more expensive of the two models, and anyone paying the lower price got an open-ear bud without it. AirPods 5 keep the $129 starting price and add ANC to it.

What separates the $129 and $149 models

Both tiers share the same acoustics and the same noise cancelling. The $149 version, sold as AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case, adds three things: a wireless charging case, a force sensor on the stem that responds to a swipe for volume, and longer runtime. Apple rates that model at up to 5 hours of listening with ANC switched on, and up to 22 hours in total with the case. The cheaper case is listed at up to 20 hours of combined playback.

So the $20 gap buys convenience rather than sound. If you already charge over USB-C and adjust volume on your phone, the entry model gives you the same audio.

How much quieter they actually get

Apple says AirPods 5 remove up to 50 percent more external noise than AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation. Two changes are credited: a multiport acoustic architecture, a first for Apple's open-ear design, and reworked computational audio processing.

Worth keeping in perspective: this is an open-ear bud, not a sealed in-ear tip. Open designs let ambient sound in by physical design, so a 50 percent improvement is measured against the previous open-ear generation, not against the sealed AirPods Pro. Commuters who want maximum isolation are still shopping in a different part of the range.

The rest of the audio feature list carries over and expands: next-generation Adaptive EQ, Personalised Spatial Audio, an improved Transparency mode, Adaptive Audio that blends transparency with ANC, and Conversation Awareness, which drops the volume when you start talking.

The features that need iOS 27

This is the part buyers get wrong. Several headline features are tied to Apple Intelligence, not to the earbuds themselves. Live Translation, hands-free Siri AI and enhanced dictation require a compatible iPhone running the current software with Apple Intelligence available in a supported language.

iOS 27 ships on Monday, September 14 — four days before the earbuds arrive — so anyone pre-ordering now should update first. Head-gesture replies, where a nod accepts a call and a shake declines it, sit in the same bucket.

AirPods 5 still work as ordinary Bluetooth earbuds with Android phones, Windows laptops and anything else that pairs. You lose the Apple-specific layer: automatic device switching, Find My tracking, Spatial Audio head tracking and everything gated behind Apple Intelligence.

Where and when you can buy them

• Pre-orders: open now, from Apple and its retail partners
• On sale: Friday, September 18
• Markets: the United States and more than 65 other countries and regions at launch
• Prices: $129 for AirPods 5, $149 with the Wireless Charging Case. Apple quotes local pricing per market; we are not converting the US figures

Apple also lists improved dust, sweat and water resistance over the previous generation, and says the earbuds are built with 40 percent recycled material by weight. Full specifications are listed in Apple's own announcement and on its product pages.

The launch confirms what had been reported ahead of the event, that Apple would ship two AirPods 5 models on September 9. What was not clear until today was the split: the expectation was one model with ANC and one without, and instead both got it. The earbuds arrive in the same week as iOS 27 and alongside an iPhone 18 Pro line that rose $100 in price. Against that, holding the AirPods line at $129 while adding a feature stands out.