What Hi-Fi recently conducted an interview of the process of making the AirPods 3 with Eric Treski and Gary Geaves.
The Apple development team detailed the work that came with producing the AirPods 3, with a statement that every component was customized and nothing came ‘off the shelf’. Going further, the newest AirPods had a new amplifier, bass port and acoustic system for sound quality, and that the open and unsealed fit presented a unique challenge to them.

Geaves also made mention of how Bluetooth was detrimental to sound quality and how they wanted ‘more bandwidth’. Ear shape diversity was also touched upon, with it leading to Adaptive EQ technology for ‘consistent frequency response regardless of fit for each person’.
The Apple exec said Apple did deep statistical research and extensive measurements to develop the 3rd gen AirPods, and collaborated with critical listeners and tuners to further improve the wireless earbuds.