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On September 9, 2024, Apple Inc announced hearing health features coming to AirPods Pro 2, which provide the world’s first all-in-one hearing health experience including a clinical-grade, over-the-counter Hearing Aid feature.
Included in these new features is Hearing Protection to help users prevent exposure to loud environmental noise while preserving the sound signature of what they’re listening with AirPods Pro.
Apple also is introducing a clinical-grade hearing test based on the standard clinical approach called pure-tone audiometry that users can take themselves with their AirPods Pro and a compatible iPhone or iPad.
AirPods Pro will also include innovative over-the-counter (OTC) Hearing Aid capability for users with mild to moderate hearing loss. Using the personalized hearing profile from the Hearing Test, this new feature seamlessly transforms AirPods Pro into a clinical-grade hearing aid. After setup, the feature enables personalized dynamic adjustments so users have the sounds around them boosted in real time. With the AirPods Pro, the user’s personalized hearing profile is automatically applied to music, movies, games, and phone calls across their devices, without needing to adjust any settings. Users can also set up the Hearing Aid feature with an audiogram created by a hearing health professional. The Hearing Aid feature was clinically validated in a controlled, randomized study that evaluated the perceived benefit of the feature and its custom settings compared to an audiologist-assisted setup.
After taking the Hearing Test, the user’s hearing profile can also help to personalize the AirPods Pro listening experience for even more people, including those with little to no hearing loss who can still benefit from specific adjustments at individual frequencies. To help provide the best listening experience, Media Assist is an all-new feature that helps boost certain parts of speech on a phone call or instruments within a soundtrack to help an even broader population.
Apple also offers additional accessibility features for users to customize settings to meet their hearing needs. For more information, see Apple's news release about these new features.
