I’m not a salesperson. Never have been. Frankly I’m very bad at it lol. But every so often, something lands in my life that doesn’t just make things easier—it makes things possible.

When the AirPods Pro 2 came out, I wrote about how much of a breakthrough they were for me . Noise-canceling meant I could finally manage conversations and daily life without getting ambushed by every barking dog, clanging dish, or humming refrigerator. For the first time, I could filter the world on my own terms. That felt huge.

So when I heard that the AirPods Pro 3 doubled the noise cancellation? Let’s just say I was at the Apple Store on opening day. To be honest, if that had been the only upgrade, I still would’ve bought them. Because for me, this isn’t about shiny features—it’s about survival. And now, I can walk past a jackhammer, or a street band, or a construction site without my nervous system short-circuiting. That’s not convenience; that’s liberation.

But the real magic is adaptive mode. Instead of shutting out the world completely, it lets me hear the natural sounds around me—the wind, the birds, the everyday hum of life—while quietly lowering only the noises that leap over my sensory threshold. That balance means I can finally experience my surroundings without being overwhelmed by them.

And here’s the bonus: in a crowded café or Meetup, I can focus on the person I’m talking to while the background voices fade just enough to stop pulling me under. For someone who used to drown in overlapping conversations, that’s nothing short of revolutionary.

Of course, humor helps too. My partner jokes that Apple should add one last feature: a true “selective mute” button. Imagine pointing it at someone mid-rant and—silence. He swears I already have that ability and use it on him. (No comment. 😏)

The magic here is that what looks like “just earbuds” for most people has become a tool of accessibility, empathy, and connection for me. It shields me when I need it, opens the world when I want it, and even helps me break down language barriers—like at a blockchain Meetup in Spain, where live translation through the Pro 3s turned a foreign lecture into a lesson I could actually join.

So yeah—how about them apples? 🍏

Takeaway:

The best tech doesn’t just upgrade; it liberates. For some of us, these tools mean the difference between withdrawing from the world and fully living in it. And that’s worth every bit of the hype.

Stay odd, stay curious, and keep those apples coming.

—Oddly Robbie