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Tom’s Hardware
Tom’s Hardware
Technology
Jowi Morales

AirPods Pro hacked using Faraday cage and microwave as a jammer to fool geofencing — enthusiast activates hearing aids feature in AirPods Pro in geoblocked India

Faraday United States India AIDS Apple
IPad in front of Faraday cage.

An India-based tech enthusiast who bought a pair of AirPods Pro 2 for their hard-of-hearing grandma to use as hearing aids discovered the feature is geoblocked in India due to regulatory restrictions. So, instead of throwing in the towel and calling it a day, Rithwik Jayasimha (@thel3l) and the Lagrange Point tech enthusiast guild built a Faraday cage and a microwave jammer to spoof the location and unlock the hearing aid feature on the earbuds.

According to the group, hearing aids in India cost between approximately $600 and $9,500 (INR 50,000 and INR 800,000), putting them out of the range of most users. On the other hand, AirPods Pro 2 is just half the price of the cheapest hearing aids at around $300 (INR 24,900), making it an excellent substitute for those with hearing problems. To use earbuds as hearing aids, you need to be in a country where Apple doesn’t geoblock the feature, run iOS or iPadOS 18.1 or newer, have the AirPods Pro 2, and ensure that it uses the 7B19 firmware or newer.

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