Instead of getting a new pair of AirPods Pro 2, Apple has just announced significant upgrades to its existing AirPods lineup, with a specific focus on hearing health for the AirPods Pro 2.
We explain all the hearing tools that will soon be available on the AirPods Pro 2, from the ability to perform at-home hearing test and even transform your AirPods Pro 2 into a “clinical grade” hearing aid.
There are three new tools found across the AirPods Pro 2 which work to help improve users’ hearing health.
Hearing Protection, which will be enabled by default, uses machine learning to actively reduce external noise, whether you’re attending a concert or you’re actually performing on stage.
Connect your AirPods to your iPhone and you can perform your own hearing test in the comfort of your own home. It’s easy too and just requires you to tap the screen when you hear tones through the AirPods at different frequencies, with your results shown clearly within the health app.
Finally, the AirPods Pro 2 will now act as an over-the-counter “clinical grade” hearing aid for mild to moderate hearing loss. This mode will transfer your AirPods Pro 2 into your own personal hearing aid, helping you to hear your surroundings better.
This mode, alongside the AirPods Pro 2’s existing pro-level sound quality, means you’ll be able to hear both your audio and your surroundings better.
Apple explained in its keynote that it expects to receive FDA clearness “soon”, so at the time of writing these tools are not medically approved yet.
According to Apple, all the above hearing tools will be available in the iOS 18 software update coming later this year. It will also be available across 100 countries and regions, including the US, Germany and Japan. At the time of writing, we don’t know if it will be available in the UK.
