While we don’t expect any new hardware for the AirPods Pro 2 this year – the lesser AirPods will get USB-C and other improvements in 2024, but the next AirPods Pro refresh isn’t reportedly scheduled until 2025 – it looks like the AirPods Pro series could get a huge feature upgrade in iOS 18 that could likely upset some existing audio companies.
According to Bloomberg Mark Gurman as reported by 9to5MacThis year’s iOS 18 upgrade brings a new hearing aid mode to Apple’s top AirPods. We’ve suspected something like this was coming for a while, after Gurman said last year that a hearing test feature was in the works, among other hearing health features.
Many have already found AirPods to be surprisingly cheap hearing aids – in fact, here’s a look at how you can use your AirPods Pro as a hearing aid – as current models have audio features like a Live Listen mode, which can better focus on individual speakers, and Conversation Boost mode, which amplifies the sound of the person in front of you. These properties can already be compared very well with some existing hearing aids.
This new Hearing Aid Mode apparently goes much further, although Gurman has no concrete details yet. But it is a very interesting development for anyone whose hearing could use a boost.
Why hearing aid mode can really be a big deal
Hearing aids are terribly expensive, but at their core they are not a very complicated technology. And that means the industry is ripe for the tech industry to emerge and improve. But until recently, the technology industry couldn’t do that because in the US, hearing aids were classified as medical devices and regulated by the FDA. As we reported last year, this “adds costs and complexity that simply don’t apply to regular earbuds, and has the side effect of keeping the competition out.”
That changed in 2022, when the FDA allowed the sale of hearing aids without a prescription. Apple has reportedly hired engineers from existing hearing aid manufacturers, and it obviously has years of audio experience through its AirPods division. So the question was always not if Apple would enter the hearing aid market, but when.
By combining Apple’s excellent AirPod integration with more traditional hearing aid features, it could create audio aids that are truly compelling. That’s good news for Apple, because it means it will sell more AirPods. But it’s also good news for us, because it should reduce prices tremendously. You know a market has been protected for too long when Apple prices seem like a budget option.
Such AirPods would also fit well with Apple’s long-term goal of helping its customers live better, healthier lives — and of making AirPods more than just earbuds by adding additional health tracking features as well. That’s a long-term goal rather than something we’ll see this year, but the arrival of a hearing aid mode in iOS 18 is a shot across the bow for existing manufacturers that they’ll hear very clearly.