Apple’s AirPods Pro hearing health features are as good as they sound

Apple introduced a trio of main new listening to well being options for the AirPods Professional 2 in September together with clinical-grade listening to assist performance, a listening to take a look at, and extra sturdy listening to safety. All three will roll out subsequent week with the discharge of iOS 18.1, and so they might mark a watershed second for listening to well being consciousness. Apple is about to immediately flip the world’s hottest earbuds into an over-the-counter listening to assist.

That additionally means we’re about to enter an period the place we’ll must get comfy with individuals carrying earbuds always. There’s a notion that leaving your earbuds in whereas speaking with different individuals is impolite. Transparency mode in lots of right this moment’s earbuds sounds completely pure and lifelike, but I nonetheless continuously take away my buds to point out somebody they’ve received my undivided consideration. That mind-set has to vary when well-liked earbuds begin pulling double obligation as listening to aids. It’s a robust strategy to scale back the stigma that’s all too widespread with listening to aids, however this shift will take time.

Over the past a number of days, I’ve been capable of preview Apple’s listening to well being options. At instances, the expertise has been emotionally intense. I’m somebody who grew up with a Discman and iPod mainly connected to my hip, and I’ve been to numerous live shows over the many years. I additionally haven’t seen an audiologist since 2018 or so. That’s something however uncommon; Apple says 80 p.c of adults within the US haven’t had their listening to checked in at the very least 5 years. Placing a take a look at proper in your iPhone is a surefire manner to enhance that pattern.

Do you know there are individuals who’ve already been changing ear plugs with the AirPods Professional at live shows? Till this fall, Apple had by no means endorsed such a use case or marketed its earbuds as listening to safety units. The corporate knew individuals have been doing it, however saved quiet on the topic.

That’s now modified. With iOS 18.1 and the soon-to-be-released AirPods firmware replace, the AirPods Professional 2 will supply listening to safety always throughout noise cancellation, transparency, and adaptive audio modes. There’s no “live performance mode” or a particular setting to toggle. You’ll be able to consider this as an growth of the loud sound discount choice that was already in place. Listening to safety is on by default, and Apple says “an all-new multiband excessive dynamic vary algorithm” helps to protect the pure sound of live shows and different stay occasions.

Which listening mode you’ll use for live shows comes down to non-public desire. I’ve discovered adaptive audio works nicely because it enables you to customise whether or not you like extra noise cancellation or extra passthrough. However even in full transparency mode, some degree of listening to safety is energetic. The extra noise cancellation that’s utilized, the longer you’ll be able to stay in comparatively loud environments.

There are limits to what the AirPods Professional 2 can deal with; Apple’s listening to safety isn’t minimize out for very loud, sudden noises like gunfire, fireworks, or a jackhammer. Sustained noises over 110 dBa are additionally an excessive amount of for the earbuds. Some golf equipment and live shows can positively exceed that threshold, so bear in mind.

You’ll want a quiet house when taking Apple’s listening to take a look at. Earlier than getting began, your iPhone will do a fast evaluation of ear tip match and environmental noise to make sure you’re good to go. All of those listening to well being options are calibrated for Apple’s inventory silicone suggestions, so in case you’re utilizing aftermarket third-party suggestions (together with foam), there’s no assure you’ll get the optimum expertise. As soon as the take a look at begins, you simply faucet the display everytime you hear any of the three-beep tone sequences.

There are a couple of key issues to learn about Apple’s listening to take a look at. For one, it’s designed as a way to’t predict or recreation it. The take a look at can play any frequency at any time, so no two are the identical. Apple checks your left ear first, and right here’s one thing I want I’d recognized getting into: it’s fully regular to listen to nothing in any respect for a number of seconds at a time. It was in these moments, when 5, six, and even 10 seconds would move by with out an apparent tone sequence, the place I’d begin feeling fairly anxious. 

My greatest recommendation is to keep away from questioning in case you ought to be listening to one thing at a given second and as an alternative simply concentrate on the tones as they arrive. Some could be extremely faint. There are visible cues that allow you to know the take a look at remains to be transferring alongside even throughout silence — the obvious one being a big circle that animates onscreen all through the method. (You’ll additionally discover a progress dial for every ear that fills as you’re taking it.)

I took the take a look at twice a number of days aside, and my outcomes for each ears fall beneath “little to no listening to loss.” Having just lately turned 40, I’ll take that. The ranges are as follows:

• Little to No Loss: As much as 25 dBHL
• Gentle Loss: 26 – 40 dBHL
• Average Loss: 41 – 60 dBHL
• Extreme Loss: 61 – 80 dBHL
• Profound Loss: Above 80 dBHL

I additionally realized that my left ear has positively misplaced a bit extra through the years than my proper, which is one thing I’ve by no means seen in every day life. The slight distinction between my two checks is strictly the margin that Apple expects for individuals who take it a number of instances. Outcomes are saved within the Well being app, the place you’ll be able to export particular person checks (or all of them) as a pdf. Right here’s how one in every of mine charts out:

You too can import charts from checks you’ve taken with a listening to skilled. This knowledge is what’s used to configure the listening to assist characteristic.

Apple’s listening to take a look at solely takes round 5 minutes, nevertheless it felt like a lengthy 5 minutes for me and everybody else I’ve let strive it. Once more, that’s most likely as a result of it’s been too lengthy since many people have performed this. The second time wasn’t almost as worrying. I can positively see the listening to take a look at having a viral second on TikTok and different social media, which looks like an ideal factor for consciousness throughout. Listening to loss is extremely widespread: 1.5 billion individuals around the globe live with some extent of it, in line with the World Well being Group.

For these 18 years and older with gentle to average listening to loss, the AirPods Professional 2 can now function a clinical-grade listening to assist. As soon as enabled, you may as well toggle on a “Media Help” setting that makes use of your listening to take a look at outcomes to optimize the sound of music, cellphone calls, and video content material.

Throughout the settings menu, you should use sliders to tremendous tune the listening to assist characteristic’s amplification, tone, and steadiness. These choices are additionally accessible through Management Heart on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Very like you’ll be able to slide a finger on the AirPods Professional 2 stem to regulate quantity, you should use that very same gesture to manage amplification when the listening to assist mode is energetic. You’ll be able to solely use the listening to assist characteristic when in transparency mode. Apple’s directions for the listening to assist characteristic advise that it takes time (in some instances weeks) for purchasers to get absolutely accustomed to the sound.

Having the ability to use Apple’s $250 earbuds as a listening to assist is a big deal for many who can profit from this functionality. However they gained’t be proper for everybody. Individuals with extra extreme listening to loss will nonetheless want to hunt different options. And the primary tradeoff with the AirPods Professional 2 is battery life: they’ll final for round six hours with the listening to assist engaged, which doesn’t match what you’ll get from many OTC and prescription listening to aids.

However it is a huge milestone — and it appears inevitable that Samsung, Google, and different tech heavyweights will observe Apple’s lead pretty rapidly. I’m all for that, even when it feels unusual that listening to assist performance has change into the newest side of ecosystem lock-in. We spent a very long time bemoaning the lack of the headphone jack. With developments like this, and earbuds serving to to enhance high quality of life for thus many individuals, we’re lastly beginning to see a worthwhile payoff.

Pictures by Chris Welch / The Verge