Force Touch Controls

Instead of buttons, current AirPods use tap-based controls that rely on the accelerometers within the earbuds. It’s not a bad idea, but we’ve always found it a bit awkward, and we suspect Apple agrees.

The AirPods Pro introduced Force Touch style controls in the stems, which require you to squeeze rather than tap to perform various functions. With a new stem design coming to the AirPods 3, it’s likely this new control style will come over as well.