All Four AirPods Apple Sells Have Noise Cancelling

All four AirPods models Apple sells today have Active Noise Cancellation, plus Transparency, Adaptive Audio and Conversation Awareness: AirPods 5, AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case, AirPods Pro 3 and AirPods Max 2. The models without noise cancelling are older ones — plain AirPods 4 and AirPods (2nd and 3rd generation) — and the original AirPods Max have it but miss Adaptive Audio.

The trap is the name. Apple sold two AirPods 4, and only the one called AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation has it. If you are buying second-hand or from a retailer clearing old stock, check the full model name.

Model by model, feature by feature

From Apple’s compare page and support pages, read on 17 October 2026.

Model	Noise cancelling	Transparency	Adaptive Audio	Conversation Awareness
AirPods 5	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
AirPods Pro 3	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
AirPods Max 2	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
AirPods Pro 2	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
AirPods Max (original)	Yes	Yes	No	No
AirPods 4	No	No	No	No
AirPods (3rd generation)	No	No	No	No
AirPods (2nd generation)	No	No	No	No

The first four rows are the models Apple currently sells. The rest no longer carry a price on Apple’s compare page. Apple’s support page on noise cancelling also lists the first AirPods Pro, which has noise cancelling and Transparency, but not Adaptive Audio.

One wrinkle in Apple’s own wording: support article 108918 opens by saying you can switch modes on “AirPods 4 and later”, but its model list, like the compare page, names only AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation. Plain AirPods 4 have no modes to switch.

Prices and fit for the four on sale

Model	Fit	Apple US price, 17 Oct 2026
AirPods 5	Open-ear, no ear tips	$129
AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case	Open-ear, no ear tips	$149
AirPods Pro 3	Silicone ear tips, five sizes	$249
AirPods Max 2	Over-ear	$549

Those are Apple’s own list prices; other retailers may charge less. So the cheapest way to get noise cancelling in Apple’s line is now the base AirPods 5, at the bottom of a $129 to $549 range.

What the three modes do

Noise cancelling uses microphones to pick up outside sound and plays what Apple calls anti-noise to cancel it, with an inward-facing microphone catching what is left inside your ear. Transparency does the opposite and lets outside sound in. Adaptive mode, in Apple’s description, blends the two and changes the level of noise you hear as your surroundings change; a slider sets how much it lets through. Conversation Awareness is one of the features Apple groups with Adaptive Audio as responding “to your environment automatically”.

We set out what any noise cancelling can and cannot remove, and why fit matters as much as the electronics, in how noise cancelling works.

Open-ear versus ear tips

This is the difference the feature table hides. Every model in Apple’s current line ticks the same four boxes, but AirPods 5 (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab) sit open in the ear with no tip to seal it, while AirPods Pro 3 (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab) come with silicone tips in five sizes. Apple puts a figure on the gap: AirPods Pro 3 have “up to 3x more Active Noise Cancellation” than AirPods 5, tested to the IEC 60268-24 standard. Apple does not say how much of that comes from the seal rather than the hardware.

AirPods 5, in turn, are rated at up to 1.5 times the noise cancelling of AirPods 4 with ANC, under the same standard. Apple’s launch release put that as “up to 50 percent more” noise removed; we covered both AirPods 5 models, and what the extra $20 adds, in AirPods 5 on paper.

If you already own AirPods

Your model’s name tells you which row of the table you are in. On an iPhone, the name appears in Settings when your AirPods are connected. If it says AirPods 4 without “Active Noise Cancellation”, or AirPods (2nd or 3rd generation), there is no noise cancelling to turn on. If you own the original AirPods Max, you have noise cancelling and Transparency but no Adaptive mode, which arrived on the Max line with AirPods Max 2 (affiliate link to Amazon, opens in a new tab).

If you are choosing between AirPods and other makers’ earbuds, our earbud shortlist averages what the reviews say about AirPods Pro 3 against Sony, Bose and Technics pairs. Beats, Apple’s other line, splits the same question differently: three of its eight models have no noise cancelling.

Questions people ask

Do AirPods 4 have noise cancelling?

Only one of the two models does. AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation has noise cancelling, Transparency, Adaptive Audio and Conversation Awareness. Plain AirPods 4 have none of those four, according to Apple’s compare page. Apple no longer lists a price for either on its compare page.

Do AirPods 5 have noise cancelling?

Yes, both models: AirPods 5 and AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case. Apple lists Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency, Adaptive Audio and Conversation Awareness for each. They are open-ear, with no silicone tips, and Apple rates AirPods Pro 3 at up to three times their noise cancelling.

Which AirPods do not have noise cancelling?

Plain AirPods 4 (without ANC), AirPods (3rd generation) and AirPods (2nd generation). None of the four models Apple sells now is without it.

Do the original AirPods Max have Adaptive Audio?

No. Apple’s compare page lists noise cancelling and Transparency for the original AirPods Max, but Adaptive Audio and Conversation Awareness as unavailable. Apple’s Adaptive Audio support page names AirPods Max 2 instead.

What is the difference between Transparency and Adaptive Audio on AirPods?

Transparency lets outside sound in so you can hear your surroundings. Adaptive mode, Apple says, blends noise cancelling and Transparency and adjusts the level of noise you hear as your surroundings change; you can set it to allow more or less noise.

Which AirPods have the strongest noise cancelling?

Among the earbuds, Apple says AirPods Pro 3 have up to three times the noise cancelling of AirPods 5, tested to IEC 60268-24. Apple does not compare AirPods Pro 3 with AirPods Max 2 in the same way.