Apple AirPods Pro 2 Set to Receive Exciting New Features

3 new features are coming to your Apple AirPods Pro 2 very soon

Fans of Apple's home-brewed wireless earbuds were expecting the Glowtime iPhone 16 event to bring some major product updates across the board. They were sadly wrong, but while we didn't see the AirPods Pro 3, AirPods Lite (although they're kind of the new AirPods 4 - the version without ANC) or AirPods Max 2, the company did announce three new features coming to an older device. Coming "this fall", the Apple AirPods Pro 2 are going to get three new features that are all themed around your hearing health. These are aimed at "prevention, awareness and assistance" according to the company, and while they might not all be useful to all AirPods users, the more niche one could still be a game-changer for some users. Before we jump in, though, we need to cop to some vague wording in the headline: that "very soon" is from Apple but there isn't an official release date for these three features. The company has said that the last one will come to over 100 countries and regions "this fall" but that could mean any time before December. When these features do roll out, they'll be available via an iOS 18 update that's pushed to your smartphone. Let's start with prevention. This first new AirPods Pro 2 feature is a hearing protection mode that's designed to remove particularly loud sounds around you. With it, a machine-learning algorithm will identify and cancel out dangerously-loud sounds, with the Glowtime presentation showing some people playing loud rock music with AirPods in. Presumably, this hearing protection mode works like a super-powerful heavy-duty noise cancellation, that lacks as much nuance as the standard mode but substitutes that for pure strength. Apple has confirmed that the mode will be turned on by default, which implies you can turn it off if you'd like to damage your hearing quicker. Next up is awareness, which Apple is using to inform people better about their hearing health. This is a hearing test, which is hosted in the Health app on your iPhone or iPad, that lets you work out just what your hearing is really like. The test will apparently take around five minutes, and consists of you having to identify a hard-to-hear sound. Once you complete the test, you'll be shown a hearing profile through the Health app, and can use this to chart the changes in your hearing over time. Apple isn't the first company to offer a hearing test feature on its earbuds, with Sony and Nothing amongst the others, but these are largely to better tune the music on the buds. The AirPods Pro 2 seemingly won't use this hearing data to equalize or improve your music, but it actually gives you the hearing data so it's better for health. Finally is the assistance mode, which is a clinically-approved hearing aid mode that you can use with your AirPods Pro 2. As that description suggests, this turns your buds into a hearing aid to help you hear speech and background sounds. Medical hearing aids can run to be thousands of dollars for top-tier offerings and the AirPods Pro 2 don't cost anywhere near that. These are the only three features announced for the AirPods Pro 2; AI skeptics will be happy to know that there was no mention of Apple Intelligence anywhere near them, and it was a bigger update than the ones the AirPods Max are getting (which is purely a few new color schemes).

Apple announced upgrades to all of its AirPods models. Here are the 4 best features

Apple's AirPods lineup received a list of upcoming hardware and software upgrades. Although there's much to discuss, these four features stand out the most. During Apple's annual hardware event, the company announced two new AirPods in the fourth-generation lineup, new software features for the premium AirPods Pro 2, and some minor hardware upgrades to the over-ear AirPods Max. Also: Everything Apple announced at it's 'Glowtime' event: AI features, AirPods, Apple Watch Series 10, more Each pair of Apple headphones debut with interesting upgrades which should make any audio and Apple fanatic excited to try what's new. Although there are plenty of things to be excited about, there are a few standout features worth noting. Let's go over the best ones. Apple announced an innovative feature coming to AirPods Pro 2 when iOS 18 is released on Monday, September 16. This feature is called hearing aid mode and is only available on Apple's premium earbuds. Users can complete a hearing test with their AirPods Pro 2, and the results are stored on the health app on their iPhone. Also: Your AirPods Pro 2 can soon double as over-the-counter hearing aids. Here's how Then, if needed, the AirPods Pro 2 can use the wearer's results and double as an over-the-counter hearing aid. This feature will allow the Pro 2 earbuds to use their directional microphones to amplify conversational noises for users who have difficulty hearing conversations in noisy environments. Apple is still waiting for the FDA to approve this feature, but the company expects the approval to be ready for iOS 18's release. Apple's AirPods Pro 2 feature a small speaker on the bottom of the charging case that rings when you press "Play Sound" in the Find My app. This speaker helps you locate your AirPods when they're nearby, but you can't pinpoint exactly where they are. Apple implemented the Find My speaker into the AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation. Apple refreshed its over-ear headphones, the AirPods Max, during this year's iPhone event. Although the upgrades only include new colors and a USB-C port, I'm satisfied with the USB-C compatibility. The AirPods Max with a Lightning port made wired listening feel like a science experiment. Users had to use two adapters to listen to wired audio, and there was no promise that extra dongles would get the job done. Now, if you have an iPhone 15 or newer, you can plug a USB-C cable into your iPhone and AirPods Max and begin listening. If you have an iPhone 14 or older, you can use a Lightning-to-USB-C adapter to plug into the new AirPods Max. Apple's AirPods selections had a considerable audio and software features gap between the second and third-generation AirPods and the AirPods Pro 2. If you wanted AirPods with noise cancellation, you had to purchase the Pro 2, even if you didn't plan on using their more sophisticated audio features. Also: Two reasons why I'm thrilled that there's no new Apple Watch Ultra or AirPods Pro Now, you can buy the AirPods 4 with noise cancellation, which offer upgraded audio features like spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, transparency mode, and adaptive audio without overpaying for the Pro 2 earbuds. I call the mid-tier AirPods 4 the "Goldilocks" AirPods because they are right in the middle between Apple's lower-end AirPods and the more advanced AirPods Pro 2.