Your hearing is incredibly important — after all, how are you going to listen to that embarrassing pop playlist without it? One of the easiest ways to damage your hearing is to listen to that embarrassing pop playlist on your AirPods at top volume. Apple wants to make sure that doesn't happen.
(Hearing damage, rather than your pop playlist. You will be free to listen to that.)
New hearing health options for AirPods Pro 2
There were loads of great things announced for the AirPods line in the Glowtime show (and some not-so-good — looking at you, AirPods Max USB-C). Beyond the two new pairs of AirPods 4, there were also some new features announced for the AirPods Pro 2 that aim to improve your hearing health.
The features are divided into three different sections — Prevention, which looks at stopping problems before they begin; Awareness, which is going to make you more aware of your hearing; and finally assistance, which helps those who might struggle with their hearing.
Prevention is made up of a few different features, using the ANC and the passive seal of the buds to lower the volume of the music that you're listening to so that you're not going to damage your hearing. Apple says, in fact, that the H2 processor in the earbuds will "reduce louder, more intermittent noise at 48,000 times per second". This feature will be on by default across all listening modes.
Then there's awareness, which will show you the health of your ears with a hearing test. You can initiate the test from a compatible Apple device, and it uses a "standard clinical approach called pure tone audiometry," according to Apple. The test is interactive, easy to understand, and will paint a holistic picture of your hearing. At the end, you'll get a personalized hearing profile for your AirPods Pro 2, which will be stored in the Health app. The data can even be shared with healthcare providers.
The Hearing Test results can also be used for personalized listening, adjusting the sound profile of the AirPods Pro 2 so that they sound excellent no matter your hearing.
Finally, assistance can turn your AirPods Pro 2 into de facto hearing aids, for people who have mild to moderate hearing loss. "Using the personalized hearing profile from the Hearing Test, this new feature seamlessly transforms AirPods Pro into a clinical-grade hearing aid" Apple says. Your AirPods Pro earbuds will work with games, movies, and other content so that you can hear them better, and more clearly.
These new features are all coming later this fall, and we'll be updating you the moment we test them.
