Earlier this year, in front of a massive crowd both online and in person, Apple gave us a glimpse of the future it sees for AirPods. They're no longer just an audio device, but one with big health features built in — the AirPods Pro 2 can now be used as clinical grade hearing aids.
According to analyst Mark Gurman we're going to see more health features coming to the little white buds. Writing for Bloomberg, he tells us that we're looking at a heart rate monitor, temperature sensor, and "technology that tracks a slew of physiological measures."
How's it all going to fit?
Apparently, the biggest challenge is "getting the AirPods to measure a user's heart rate." Presumably, all of these fitness features could work together to gain a more holistic view of your health, taking figures from different parts of the body. As for how useful they might be on their own remains to be seen — my initial thought was "well, all you'd need is to wear your AirPods when you go for a run, you wouldn't need your iPhone or your Apple Watch!"
But then where are your tunes going to come from?
Gurman does tell us that we might see heart rate monitoring in the AirPods Pro 3, which he says are in "early development." We're hoping to see those at some point next year, so looks like we'll get an idea of what health features they have soon.
Oh, and one more thing
Fitness features aren't the only thing that seem to be coming to AirPods — and it's all in service of Apple Intelligence. A future pair of AirPods could feature cameras, which would, according to a different Bloomberg report, "be used to capture data that would be processed by AI and assist people in their daily routines."
What this actually means and how it would work remains to be seen, but Gurman tells us its a little way off. Either way, Apple seems to be working on a whole range of AirPods Pro 3 (or 4, or maybe even 5) features — although some of them have me concerned.
I'm not sure how I feel about AirPods anymore
AirPods are tiny — and they have to fit in an incredible range of sensors, drivers, and batteries already before Apple has even seen fit to fill them with cameras, heart rate monitors, and temperature readers. At what point do the AirPods Pro become a tech device rather than an audio one, and what will it mean for the line as a whole?
I don't know about you, but I'm more interested in the audio portion of the AirPods. That, after all, is where they get the most use, as they play my music while I ride the metro or the bus. I'd like them to do that well first before they start getting crammed with more sensors and gadgets.
Given that, while still one of the best pairs of noise canceling earbuds, they've been overtaken by the likes of the WF-1000XM5 and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds when it comes to sound and ANC, Apple still has some work to do in that sector. And I'm not sure if there are any sensors, cameras, or monitors that'll make up for it.
