One of the biggest pieces of news from the Glowtime event for the AirPods line was the new, noise-canceling version of the AirPods 4. Where the feature was usually reserved for the most expensive models in the AirPods Pro 2 and the AirPods Max, a slightly more costly version of the base model AirPods will now bring the feature to the masses.
That left many of us wondering — where does that leave the AirPods Pro 2 and their noise canceling? Is it just the silicon ear tips that are now the draw to the more expensive model? Well, Apple has just answered our question, and it makes perfect sense.
The noise canceling isn't going to be as good
Going by the AirPods Pro 2 page on the Apple website, if you scroll to the bottom and find the small print, you'll find the line that reveals all: "Up to 2x more Active Noise Cancellation compared with AirPods Pro (1st generation) and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation." So, that gives us our main answer: The AirPods Pro 2 will block twice as much noise as the AirPods 4.
There is some good news there, hidden away in some manner — the AirPods 4 noise canceling could be considered as good as the noise canceling in the first generation of the AirPods Pro. That's very encouraging because while the ANC in those earbuds isn't as good as their follow-up, it was still excellent at blocking the outside world.
That just leaves a question — previous open earbuds, which share a design ideal with the AirPods 4, have been terrible at blocking out noise thanks to their lesser seal inside the ear. Apple must have some incredible trickery up its sleeve to get it to be so good that those having AirPods 4 hands-on experiences are surprised by its quality.
How good it is, however, remains to be seen — but you can bet your bottom dollar we'll be testing out when we get our hands on a pair.
