After months of teasers and leaks, the Powerbeats Pro 2 were finally announced by Apple today. A key new feature built into the Powerbeats Pro 2 is heart rate monitoring, and that functionality is expected to expand to AirPods in the future.
When both Powerbeats Pro 2 earbuds are placed in the ears, and heart rate monitoring is active, Apple says LED optical sensors pulse at over 100 times per second to measure heart rate via blood flow. The feature integrates with popular fitness apps to collect data during workouts and sync it to the Apple Health app on the iPhone.
The feature is based on the Apple Watch's heart rate sensing technology. If someone is wearing both Powerbeats Pro 2 and an Apple Watch, Apple says apps will default to using Apple Watch heart rate data, and it will likely be the same for future AirPods.
In his coverage of the Powerbeats Pro 2 announcement today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated that new AirPods with heart rate monitoring are "still many months away" from launching. The feature is likely to be available on the AirPods Pro 3, which are currently expected to launch in late 2025 at the earliest.
