AirPods 5 are the first open-ear AirPods with Active Noise Cancellation at this level, and the box contains no ear tips. Apple lists the contents as the earbuds, a charging case and documentation. AirPods Pro 3, by contrast, ship with five silicone tip sizes.
That single difference in the box is the whole engineering problem. A sealed tip blocks noise before any electronics are involved. An open-ear earbud has to do the work with microphones, a driver and processing, which is why Apple’s superlative for AirPods 5 is scoped to open-ear designs rather than to earbuds in general.
The fit facts Apple publishes
| Item | AirPods 5 | AirPods Pro 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Ear tips in the box | None | Five silicone tip sizes |
| Earbud dimensions | 30.2 x 18.3 x 18.1 mm | 30.9 x 19.2 x 27.0 mm |
| Earbud weight | 4.3 g | 5.55 g |
| Size options | One shape, no sizes published | Five tip sizes |
| Fit test | None published | Not covered on the pages we can read |
| Water and dust rating | IP57 | IP57 |
| ANC claim | Up to 1.5x more than AirPods 4 with ANC | Comparison page says up to 3x more than AirPods 5 |
| Price | $129, or $149 with the Wireless Charging Case | $249 |
Apple publishes no ear sizes, no fit range and no adjustment step for AirPods 5. The shape either sits where it is meant to sit or it does not, and there is nothing in the box to change that. Our launch report has the price and battery detail for both models.
Don’t miss the best of The Mac Observer
Set us as a preferred source and our Apple reporting ranks higher in your Google Search results and Discover feed — one tap, no account changes.
The shell has not changed since AirPods 4
The AirPods 5 earbud measures 30.2 x 18.3 x 18.1 mm and weighs 4.3 g. Those are the same figures Apple lists for AirPods 4 and for AirPods 4 with ANC. The case is the same 46.2 x 50.1 x 21.2 mm as well.
So the physical shape that holds the earbud in position and determines how much outside noise reaches the ear is unchanged from the generation Apple now says AirPods 5 beats by 1.5x. Apple credits the gain to a new multiport acoustic architecture and improved computational audio, not to a new fit.
| Model | Earbud dimensions | Earbud weight | Tips in the box |
|---|---|---|---|
| AirPods 4 | 30.2 x 18.3 x 18.1 mm | 4.3 g | None |
| AirPods 4 with ANC | 30.2 x 18.3 x 18.1 mm | 4.3 g | None |
| AirPods 5 | 30.2 x 18.3 x 18.1 mm | 4.3 g | None |
| AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case | 30.2 x 18.3 x 18.1 mm | 4.3 g | None |
| AirPods Pro 3 | 30.9 x 19.2 x 27.0 mm | 5.55 g | Five silicone sizes |
Apple has also removed the USB-C cable from the AirPods box this year, which is worth knowing before September 18 but changes nothing about how the earbuds sit.
What the vent tells you
Apple’s specs page lists a vent system for pressure equalization on AirPods 5. A vent is what an unsealed design uses to avoid the pressure build-up a closed canal creates, and it is a structural admission that air, and therefore sound, has a path.
Apple publishes no leakage figure for any AirPods model, in either direction. There is no measurement of how much outside noise gets in past the shell, and none of how much of what you are playing escapes.
Why fit decides more here than on a sealed earbud
- The cancellation is entirely electronic, because no tip is blocking anything mechanically.
- The microphones Apple lists are dual beamforming plus one inward-facing microphone, and the inward one only helps if the earbud is where the design expects it to be.
- Apple publishes no tolerance for how far off that position the system still works.
- Apple rates both models IP57 for dust, sweat and water, which is an improvement on the IP54 of AirPods 4 with ANC, but a water rating says nothing about acoustic fit.
- Nobody outside Apple has worn a pair yet, so no report of how well they stay put, or of how they sound, exists at any price.
The honest position on September 12 is that fit is the biggest open variable on this product and Apple has published nothing that would let anyone predict it. The full event recap and the keynote live blog cover the rest of the AirPods 5 feature set.
What Apple has not said
Apple has not published ear tip options, fit sizes, a fit test, an acoustic seal figure, a leakage figure, a frequency range or a decibel rating for AirPods 5. It has not said how much of the 1.5x claim depends on the earbud sitting correctly, and it has not listed colors on the specs page. Our pre-event rumor roundup set out what was expected of the design, and Apple’s published dimensions say the shell did not change.
AirPods 5 reach Apple Stores and retail on Friday, September 18, which is the first day anyone can try the fit for themselves. iOS 27 arrives free on Monday, September 14, four days earlier.
