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Apple's AirPods Pro hearing health features

282 points by elsewhen 2y ago

gedy 2y ago
Unless I'm misunderstanding, the news here is Apple is adding a hearing test app, and "officially" stating that you can use your Airpods Pro like hearing aids. I mention this as you can use these today as hearing aids, you just need to use a third party app to create your audiogram. I have fairly bad hearing loss and use Airpods instead of hearing aids.
- dagmx 2y ago
  You are missing that these are now cleared as hearing aids by the government.
  - gedy 2y ago
    Well kinda in my second point but yes correct. I mentioned as I kept assuming you couldn't use these as such yet, but have been using happily for months now after I realized the functionality was all there.
  - mmcconnell1618 2y ago
    As an approved medical device I wonder if you can buy airpods with a HSA now?
    - trollbridge 2y ago
      I suspect the answer is "yes", and probably with an FSA now too. There is a similar situation with the Natural Cycles app, which is cleared by the FDA as a medical device, so you can buy it with an FSA or HSA, or have insurance pay for it - which is mandatory, since it is legally a birth control device, which they have to cover. (It is also a steal for the insurance company since it costs roughly $10 a month.) I expect that insurance plans that cover hearing aids are going to cover this eventually, as a set of AirPods Pro 2 is $249, which is substantially cheaper than other hearing aids on the market. An open question is if any other manufacturer will be able to get a device that works this well at this price point - the amount of software and chip design engineering that went into H2 and the bridgeOS or RTKitOS that the AirPods run is just not something smaller manufacturers will be able to easily copy. Now, I wish I could find a better eartips fit for my ears... XS doesn't pass in the app as having a good enough seal, and S is just a little bit uncomfortable for me for all day use.
      - mschuster91 2y ago
        > An open question is if any other manufacturer will be able to get a device that works this well at this price point - the amount of software and chip design engineering that went into H2 and the bridgeOS or RTKitOS that the AirPods run is just not something smaller manufacturers will be able to easily copy. Well, "classic" hearing aids have two features that I don't see Apple replicating any time soon: longer battery life (AirPods roughly last around 4-6 hours depending on battery degradation and usage, whereas hearing aids run for days) and most especially, support for audio induction loops [1] - basically PA systems for the impaired, you'll find these in churches, conference/meeting rooms, concert halls/stadiums and in the UK also in taxicabs. Classic hearing aids will have their place for quite the time to come. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_induction_loop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_induction_loop
      - yunohn 2y ago
        Highly recommend giving Comply Foam tips a shot - I got them a few years ago, total game changer. I replace them approx every year, since they wear out based on your usage pattern. https://www.complyfoam.com/products/apple-airpods-pro-ear-tips https://www.complyfoam.com/products/apple-airpods-pro-ear-ti...
        tstrimple 2y ago
        I must be particularly hard on mine, or wear them far too much. A 3 pack of comply tips will only last me six months. The foam starts to tear and flake off after a while. I'm still quite happy to replace them because the sound isolation and comfort are much better than the silicon tips.
- pahkah 2y ago
  Yep, the path for this official recognition was cleared by the executive order two years ago that allowed for hearing aids to be sold over the counter!
- wrycoder 2y ago
  Without the new software, there is no boost to external sound in transparency mode, so they are not useful as hearing aids. I’m looking forward to testing the new release.
  - ilt 2y ago
    That’s incorrect. I have been using Airpods Pro for 7 months now for my hearing loss. They do boost sounds in transparency mode if you choose to.
  - pmcjones 2y ago
    Actually you can set up a good approximation using iPhoneOS>Settings>Accessibility>Audio & Visual>Headphone Accommodations. Under Custom Audio Setup, you can select a audiogram, such as produced by an app like Mimi, or scanned in from your audiologist.
- m463 2y ago
  FDA approval means you can call them hearing aids, not just some marketing term.
  - grahamj 2y ago
    Either way it's just a label. You've already been able to do the same thing for years. Just use the free Mimi hearing test app, save the audiogram to Health, then apply it in headphone accommodations.
    - m463 2y ago
      https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/hearing-aids/otc-hearing-aids-what-you-should-know https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/hearing-aids/otc-hearing... Seems like they are regulated for safety, and there are lots of (decent) requirements.
- grahamj 2y ago
  Yep. I still haven't been able to determine if this "new" feature is any different from what already exists. I hope so because when you enable your audiogram for transparency it sounds like you're in an ASMR video. There's no way to make it sound natural but louder, which is what I would expect from a hearing aid.
  - MBCook 2y ago
    The audio gram stuff existed, but wasn’t well known and as mentioned required a third party app. The hearing aid stuff was only recently certified by the FDA as an OTC hearing aid. Apple has had a mode for a many years where AirPods + iPhone could act like a hearing aid. But it didn’t meat the medical classifications.
    - an_d_rew 2y ago
      Actually you have been able to import your audiogram for at least the last two versions of iOS (16+), no third-party app required. But it was simply called "an accommodation". Can't call it a hearing aid until you were approved by the FDA!
    - grahamj 2y ago
      Right but the question is how much - if at all - different hearing aid mode is from what was already there. It's possibly it was already compliant but simply hadn't been certified. Or maybe it's way different, I haven't been able to find any information on any differences.
- alwillis 2y ago
  Here's what's new: * Air Pods 2 were approved by the FDA in September * iOS (and iPadOS) 18.1, for which the release candidate was released earlier today, comes with the ability to enable hearing aid mode and with a hearing test * based on the hearing test, the AirPods can automatically compensate how things sound to you * Apple has announced that iOS 18.1 will be released next week Details: https://www.apple.com/accessibility/hearing/ https://www.apple.com/accessibility/hearing/
tptacek 2y ago
Using AirPods as ear protection for concerts was new to me!
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- distantaidenn 2y ago
  I use them for movie theaters and other loud places. Works a charm!
  - hesdeadjim 2y ago
    Do they manage to cut out the sound of people eating and messing with their candy packaging? Drives me nuts.
distantaidenn 2y ago
Always been sensitive to sounds and have taken effort over my life to protect my hearing. It may look silly, but I still plug my ears when a large truck/train passes by. Result is, even at my age, I can still hear those annoying high frequency teenage repellents (ubiquitous in Tokyo). Can also hear some of my electric devices charging. I'm glad to see such steps being taken by Apple. I always bring my noise canceling buds (Sony, Apple) with me when I go see movies. It's literally painful to watch movies in modern theaters without them. Just too damned loud! Apple's on the right track. Personalized health and more daily monitoring of said health is gonna be a sea change event.
- modeless 2y ago
  Same here, right down to the experience in Tokyo. Both grandfathers had hearing loss and the impact it had on them socially was sad to see. Even with hearing aids. I hope to avoid that fate.
- nikolatt 2y ago
  Wait, those high frequency sounds in Tokyo are teenage repellents? I thought they are bird/insect repellants. I could hear the sounds and was literally getting mini headaches walking around.
  - leoxiong 2y ago
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito
  - ipnon 2y ago
    Yes you can even adjust the frequency based on which demographics you want to keep from loitering. There is a predictable hearing loss curve for the highest frequencies. You could set it to 20kHz to keep little kids away, or even go as low as 16kHz if you want to keep everyone younger than about college age away. This also happens to be an easy way to test the degree of your own hearing loss compared to your age group.
  - stavros 2y ago
tzs 2y ago
Based on the graph it looks like the hearing test only tests out to 8 kHz. That's disappointing. That's also the limit at most audiologists offices. It would be nice to have a good test that goes farther.
- shiroiushi 2y ago
  Audiologists don't seem to care about your high-frequency hearing.
  - MBCook 2y ago
    They’re mostly focused on where speech and everyday important sounds (car that’s about to run you over, fire alarm, doorbell, etc) are right?
    - shiroiushi 2y ago
      Of course, the "important sounds" are mostly below 8 kHz, but I think they're missing out by not looking at higher-frequency sound sensitivity, since that's the first thing you lose.
      - amelius 2y ago
        Having access to this data would only crush the souls of most audiophiles out there.
windex 2y ago
Fragile and too expensive to replace often. The software updates that apple pushes on to them screws them up. Happened to my first set of airpods and swore off of them since then. The batteries are awful too. My go to since then has been the one plus z2 headsets, brilliant call quality, great form factor, decent ANC, and fantastic battery.
- tptacek 2y ago
  Because everything I've ever heard about acquiring dedicated hearing aids has been about what a joy they are to purchase, maintain, and operate.
  - analog31 2y ago
    Just adding to this, for the general audience, hearing aids are thousands of dollars, and virtually all users describe the industry as a "racket." Features that improve their functionality, such as adapters for Bluetooth etc., are dedicated hardware modules with proprietary interfaces, and expensive too. Also, everybody I know who has hearing aids eventually ends up getting them at Costco.
  - MBCook 2y ago
    That’s what I’ve heard too. And they didn’t like the ones they had to get in the end, they didn’t work well but that was all insurance would cover. But if they’re $4000 a pair, that’s _sixteen_ pairs of AirPods 2 Pro. Assuming you don’t get them on sale. So if you lose/break ‘em every 6 months, which seems quite excessive, that’s still 8 years to break even with “real” hearing aids. And that’s not to mention the fact that you can buy replacement individual AirPods or cases cheaper than a full set. Or just get AppleCare so replacements are even cheaper if you tend to lose/damage them a lot. Even if you buy them and they convince you hearing aids would be useful but you want more traditional hearing aids, it still seems like it might be a good value. Compared to risking $4000 on something you might not even feel is that useful to you.
    - LUmBULtERA 2y ago
      And/or Buy the AirPods Pros at Costco. Headphones fall under their standard return policy (or did as of about 2 years ago) so if they break, you have quick and easy recourse.
artdigital 2y ago
Went to see an artist (DJ) I liked and forgot my filters. Remembered that I had my AirPods Pro and used them in transparency mode and after only 10 minutes completely forgot I had them even in. I was surprised how good they worked as hearing protection! Now when I’m at festivals and I have friends without earplugs, I usually recommend them to just use their AirPods Pro (if they have some) instead of buying cheap plugs
- Gigachad 2y ago
  I've done that. At some point I felt like they weren't doing anything and pulled them out only to discover what a good job they had been doing. They lower the volume while keeping the sound pretty much the same. It's incredible.
- whoitwas 2y ago
  This comment confuses me, but makes sense. Concerts are for consuming sound, people wear ear plugs??? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose? Like a blindfold in a theater?
  - Peanuts99 2y ago
    I know several people who have permanent hearing damage as a result of loud clubs in their 20s. Gotta look after your hearing when listening to love music.
    - whoitwas 2y ago
      That's horrible. It sounds odd to me because I wear earplugs to sleep or do loud things. To not hear things seems the opposite of a concert.
  - bouvin 2y ago
    Earplugs lower the volume, they do not cut the sound completely. Good earplugs (I use Etymotics myself) can do this without affecting the sound quality, making concerts enjoyable and safe.
an_d_rew 2y ago
As a mid-50 year old who discovered two years ago that he has moderate hearing loss (50-55 dB HL), I will be forever grateful to Apple for doing this. If anybody from the accessibility teams is reading this, please know that it is difficult for me to overstate my gratitude and my appreciation for the amount of work this must've taken. Music sounds unbelievably better through my AirPod pros, and I didn't even know what I had lost until I heard it again. I'm willing to bet that a lot of my middle aged compatriots don't even know how much their hearing has degraded… Get your hearing test tested, folks, while you still have it!
- analog31 2y ago
  Yes, and protect your hearing while you can. Turn down your tunes. Disclosure: Working musician. I wear musician's earplugs when playing in bands.
  - an_d_rew 2y ago
    Totally agree but there's a small caveat... Everybody has vastly different sensitivities to sound exposure. Even identical twins with identical sound exposures can have drastically different hearing profiles especially as they age. I actually have always been very careful with my hearing; there is some evidence that I may have a very very mild congenital birth defect that makes me prone to hearing loss, but that's largely speculation. My wife is actually older than me and has a spectacularly sensitive hearing - as does her mother! - and she's the drummer! (The wife, not her mother :-) I just do keys and vocals...) That's why it's so important that everyone protect their hearing because even though it's not too loud for the people around you, it might be too loud for you - and you won't know until it's too late.
    - formerly_proven 2y ago
      Hearing being a "logarithmic" sense and decibels make this a bit weird to me. Like losing 6 dB of hearing in a car crash is considered negligible and insignificant, but that actually means the ears lost half their sensitivity in a flash (and it's never coming back, just like teeth). Likewise your 50 dB hearing loss is considered moderate, but actually represents a 300-fold reduction in acuity.
SamuelAdams 2y ago
> there’ll be detailed comparisons between the AirPods Pro 2 and existing OTC devices in the near future once iOS 18.1 is widely available. As someone with a diagnosed, severe hearing loss, I wonder how these compare to prescription hearing aids. I currently wear a pair of Phonak hearing aids and am looking to replace them, but I wonder if spending 5-6k on another pair is worth it versus the OTC or Apple AirPod options that exist today.
- an_d_rew 2y ago
  My experience is that they serve different purposes. I have a very nice and expensive set of ReSound hearing aids and they're fabulous at what they do, which is focus on speech and kind of on music if I set them for that. They're also unobtrusive and easily last 18-20 hours on a charge. I forget I'm wearing them, and nobody notices that I have them. My AirPods I use primarily for running and listening to music because they just sound unbelievably better, and they're probably fine for a concert although I haven't done that with them. But I think for long-term use every day all day it wouldn't be that comfortable or unobtrusive. Would love to hear the experience of somebody who's trying it, though!
  - nomel 2y ago
    Looking at the web, they’re also over $4500. I think the people who will most appreciate the AirPods are the ones that can now afford to put something in their ear to help their hearing.
  - wenc 2y ago
    I don't have hearing loss, but I wear 2 pairs of AirPods Pro 2 over the course of a 10 hour day. The reason I have 2 pairs is because 1 pair only gets 5-6 hours of battery life, and I need to swap them while they recharge in the case. Comfort? To me, very comfortable. I just leave them in there with Active Noise Canceling on all the time. I may be showing my age, but if you remember "Get Smart", AirPods Pro 2 are like a Cone of Silence -- except they actually work.
  - blendo 2y ago
    In my experience, the rubbery Apple ear tips in the AirPods have better sound isolation and audio quality, but foam aftermarket tips better keep the AirPods from falling out.
aeternum 2y ago
I'd like to see Apple run some opt-in scientific trials. For example: Does active noise cancellation result in more or less hearing loss? Or Alcohol consumption: Apple Health could ask each day how many drinks you had and many people want to track it anyway. Correlate that to health metrics at a wide scale. It'd be much more powerful than any currently existing study given the userbase likely to opt-in. Let people see exactly the data that will be uploaded prior to consenting to alleviate any privacy concerns. They already have stronger data-protection and anonymity mechanisms than those used by most studies built directly into the phone.
- aaomidi 2y ago
  > Correlate that to health metrics at a wide scale. It'd be much more powerful than any currently existing study given the userbase likely to opt-in. Apple did run something like this in their heart research study. But not specifically counting drinks, just more survey like questions.
- alwillis 2y ago
  > I'd like to see Apple run some opt-in scientific trials. Several organizations have used ResearchKit to conduct studies: https://www.apple.com/lae/researchkit/ https://www.apple.com/lae/researchkit/
  - aeternum 2y ago
    Cool, I didn't realize this was a thing. Kind of disappointing to see only 2-3 studies available through the Apple Research app though, I wonder why it isn't more widely used. Do most research teams have to build their own app?
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
irjustin 2y ago
> Transparency mode in many of today’s earbuds sounds totally natural and lifelike, yet I still constantly remove my buds to show someone they’ve got my undivided attention. That way of thinking has to change when popular earbuds start pulling double duty as hearing aids. It’s a powerful way to reduce the stigma that’s all too common with hearing aids, but this shift will take time. This will never be not true. You're fighting human nature. The vast majority of people don't need hearing aids and those who do you'll likely know they need a hearing aid if you're having regular or more personal conversations. If you're getting your order taken at Starbucks, you can totally have ears in even today.
- renewiltord 2y ago
  Societal views change. Moving from the Jabra Jawbone to AirPods it seems like it went from “that asshole business guy” to “literally everyone” in no time. When I was young, talking on a Bluetooth headset while walking down the street was worthy of derision. Things have changed a lot since then.
  - MBCook 2y ago
    To go back way further, wasn’t Sony worried about the Walkman initially because the only people who wore headphones at the time out and about tended to use them for hearing aids at the time? That’s what I remember hearing. Obviously that changed when they got super popular. Your AirPods comparison is fantastic I had totally forgotten the phenomenon of “blue tools”.
  - ghaff 2y ago
    Yeah. There was a period when the Borg look was widely seen as representing “At any moment someone more important than you could call me.”
- acdha 2y ago
  When was the last time you heard someone get called “four eyes” for wearing glasses? Mockery used to be common but society can improve and it seems like accepting people with disabilities as fully human has been improving even if we still have room to go.
hanniabu 2y ago
So if you use Android you won't be able to use this feature?
- duskwuff 2y ago
  Not currently, no. I have a feeling that it might be difficult for Apple to obtain FDA authorization for a system consisting in part of a device that Apple didn't manufacture (i.e. an Android phone). Getting the iPhone + Airpods system authorized was unusual enough already.
- makeitdouble 2y ago
  There are a bunch of other makers already selling OTC ear aids, they will probably be a better choice specifically with android. e.g. https://hearing.electronics.sony.com/ https://hearing.electronics.sony.com/
- joquarky 2y ago
  You can't even configure a great majority of the features on Android.
iamsanteri 2y ago
It’s interesting that I perceive my hearing is still pretty stellar albeit during a surprise attack in my military service, a guy started firing his assault rifle right next to my unprotected ear…
- blendo 2y ago
  Yikes! Did it also have a blast suppressor? Those things make gunshots MUCH louder to folks beside you.
asdfman123 2y ago
The technology that destroyed my hearing is now here to save it!
- switch007 2y ago
  That's modern capitalism for you.
  - Solstinox 2y ago
    Humans creating problems they then need to then solve transcends and predates any ideology. Capitalism just lets you scale it out to new heights! :)
thorn 2y ago
I do love my AirPods Pro and use them in all modes except for spatial audio. I have a bug that I cannot fix for almost a year: reversed channels when connected to MacBook Pro M1. Especially the spatial audio is totally wrong. I have tried everything, resetting AirPods, Mac, Bluetooth, reinstalling drivers. It is fine with my iphone. But just totally wrong with my particular MBP. Any ideas?
- M4v3R 2y ago
  Use Spotlight to open the “Audio MIDI Setup” app, select your AirPods Pro in the sidebar and check if channels are correctly configured there.
Almondsetat 2y ago
You can say a lot of things about Apple, but which other consumer-facing tech company adds features meant to accompany people throughout every phase of their lives? People are growing with their smartphones, and the need for some functionalities only starts to become obvious later in life.
- lnsru 2y ago
  It’s just marketing. A plus point in differentiation matrix from gazillion competitors. And a justification for a higher price tag. The products are nice though.
  - an_d_rew 2y ago
    I understand your point and in someway do agree that it is marketing and it is a way of differentiating themselves. But inly to justify a higher price tag? Yes it is true they are premium products, but I don't think it's true that they're that much more expensive than similar items occupying the same marketing niche from other manufacturers. And they are far more than an order of magnitude cheaper than even a low end set of hearing aids. But all of that is despite the point. Samsung, Sony, Bose,… The list goes on. I have bought high-end headphones from them all, some with some without noise cancellation. In ear, over the ear, wired and Bluetooth... the list goes on. NOBODY has a headphone that accommodates my hearing loss except Apple. And they started doing it years ago as a feature buried in the accessibility settings. But they kept improving it to the point where it is now FDA approved. "A plus point in a differentiation matrix…?" This is the kind of action that buys customer loyalty for life. I hope you never get to experience the depth of hearing loss that many of us have and how utterly transformative this kind of technology not just can be, but IS.
    - TiredOfLife 2y ago
      Samsung has had amplified passthrough for years.
    - uberduper 2y ago
      Bose made a product ~10 years back called Hearphones which were far more capable than what Apple is doing here. IIRC Jabra earbuds have had "hearing aid" features for years. They, unfortunately, don't help with single side deafness the way the Hearphones do. Apple isn't doing anything groundbreaking here but they are doing it at a very competitive price. The airpod features also do not help with single side deafness. :(
thenoblesunfish 2y ago
I've watched a couple of members of my parents generation struggle to admit they need hearing aids, and prefer not to wear them a lot of the time, even when they miss things people say. I doubt the current generations are going to have that problem!
wodenokoto 2y ago
A large part of the article focuses on using airpods at concerts and how loud the environment can be. - Can airpods tell me how loud a room is? - Which settings should I use for a concert to preserve fidelity? How do they compare to "concert" branded consumer earplugs, like Loop/Etymotic/SoundProtex ?
- ValentineC 2y ago
  I've actually tried using the AirPods Pro 2 transparency mode at a Coldplay concert where I was gifted a last minute ticket. > Can airpods tell me how loud a room is? I don't think so, but my Apple Watch can. > Which settings should I use for a concert to preserve fidelity? How do they compare to "concert" branded consumer earplugs, like Loop/Etymotic/SoundProtex ? Transparency mode was fine, but focuses on blocking and reproducing sound through the built-in microphone and speakers. They will never be as good as "concert" earplugs which reduce volume evenly.
larodi 2y ago
Next comes translation on the fly and boom - Apple suddenly listens to the world. But of course is nothing recorded, sure that. Although the undisputed value in all this, won’t we still find it weird everything is always being (recorded and) processed. Or perhaps is weird when it’s not if you are born this way. A new post-modernism of yet unknown proportions is going to be in a dare need. Can’t stop thinking of Aldous Huxley with this and Adderall and all.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- jmull 2y ago
  > Apple suddenly listens to the world. If Apple wants to listen to everything everyone says, they already are. (And where they go, and with whom they communicate, etc.)
miki123211 2y ago
It feels like mainstream technology is slowly replacing most if not all accessibility devices, and I think that's a really good thing for those who need them! This already happened to blind people. We used to have color testers, specialized audiobook / ebook players, GPS devices, text scanning / OCR machines, devices for banknote recognition, barcode readers, talking scales, thermometers, blood pressure meters and so on, all as separate devices, all extremely expensive. Nobody really had or carried all of these at once, though most people had at least some, it was just too expensive and impractical. Nowadays, while those devices still exist, all you really need is any smartphone (even a low-end Android will do, though iOS is much better for this use case IMO), a free screen reader, which both OSes include by default, and a couple of free / cheap apps. Things like talking scales can be replaced with accessories connected over Bluetooth that don't technically talk, but that expose the measurements to your smartphone screen reader.
- jillesvangurp 2y ago
  Interesting perspective. I never thought about this properly. But it seems things like Google Lens and other machine vision apps paired with a good screen reader can help blind people to "see". I did some recent experiments with the openai api recently to see if I could make sense of photos by classifying and describing things. That worked surprisingly well for the absolute minimal effort I put in (<30 minutes) and I've been meaning to follow up on that to properly turn that in a product feature in our app. Anyway, something simple hooked up to a camera shouldn't take that long to code. There might be good enough locally running models for machine vision as well. Reading signs, menus, describing what's in front of you, etc. I bet that there is some low hanging fruit there for visually impaired people that are a bit handy with programming in terms of really useful apps that they could develop with this. Another aspect of using consumer tech like this is that it's normal. People wearing airpods don't stand out as hearing impaired or special. Most hearing aids on the other hand are clearly recognizable as such. I imagine some people don't like wearing them for that reason. They are kind of ugly, generally. Unlike e.g. glasses, there's no such thing as designer hearing aids. They are kind of a necessary evil for people. Apple is being clever here by tapping into a market of aging but wealthy people with a taste for good stuff.
- 2y ago
harvie 2y ago
Imagine being student taking an exam... Normaly you would be disallowed to have bluetooth earpiece, but you would be allowed to have hearing aid. I'll let you think of the possible outcomes...
- Aaron2222 2y ago
  Hearing aids with Bluetooth are hardly new, they've been around for years at this point.
- JKCalhoun 2y ago
  I would think only an oral exam would require the test-taker to need hearing assistance. And so now we're into a narrower likelihood.
sharpshadow 2y ago
I was disappointed that Apple had to downgrade the ANC in Airpods back then because of copyright problems, but they went full in and created a much stronger product out of it!
jmull 2y ago
> And the main tradeoff with the AirPods Pro 2 is battery life: they can last for around six hours with the hearing aid engaged, which doesn’t match what you’ll get from many OTC and prescription hearing aids. Since they are comparing to devices $1K and up, maybe getting two pairs makes sense.
petesergeant 2y ago
You can — today — use an app like Mimi to get a hearing test on your phone, which will write an audiogram to Apple Health, which you can then get your phone to use to tailor how your headphones sound. It’s amazing stuff.
thimabi 2y ago
According to Apple’s website, the hearing protection feature will only work in the U.S. and Canada, but nothing is said about the hearing aid feature. Does this mean that the latter will be available internationally? It would be a game changer for me!
015a 2y ago
I think its awesome that Apple has built these features, and I prefer to live in a world where they exist versus don't. The hearing aid feature, to me, is a little overblown. It feels to me like the biggest positive impact it will have is, with some luck, forcing down the price of typical hearing aids and opening up the conversation on more competition. It might also be good in a pinch, and good for lower income customers(?), but I think at the end of the day there's a reason why hearing aids are generally pretty slim, skin colored, and innocuous. There's no reason why I have to take my Airpods out when I order Chipotle, I can hear everyone perfectly fine with them in, but I do because there will always be social stigma talking with someone who has earplugs in. There was an "event" on Threads a while back where a wedding photographer asked "the world's" opinion about asking attendees to take their Apple Watches off. Some people say "oh hell yeah, those are gaudy, I don't want any of my wedding party even wearing one at any point in the event", meanwhile one person responded "The Apple Watch is literally a medical device for me, I need to wear it as often as possible, I can't take it off". Idk; feels like a related concept. Sometimes the social stigma doesn't matter, these devices drive some people insane with anxiety about their health, Apple's marketing plays up the anxiety because it sells hardware every year... at some point, someone will say "I can't take the Airpods out, they're my hearing aids, as diagnosed by iOS 18.1", and maybe this is just me being an old man yelling at clouds, but... that's cringe, go see a doctor. The other angle I don't hear talked about enough: The Air Pods Pros don't have the battery life to really fill the same role as hearing aids.
stacktraceyo 2y ago
My AirPod pros gave me / exasperated my existing tinnitus when used with noise cancellation
- penjelly 2y ago
  noticed something similar with my non airport Noise cancelling earbuds. If I had to guess, I'd say those frequencies we can't hear are still damaging our ears
- tim333 2y ago
  That's interesting. I wonder if you have the kind of tinnitus that produces a noise the AirPods can pick up? That could cause feedback.
- stacktraceyo 2y ago
  There’s a giant Apple support thread with lots of people who had the same problem.
mmmlinux 2y ago
My girlfriend is hard of hearing and wears hearing aids. When we first started dating I tried them at one point to see what it sounded like. I knew right then apple was going to come for that market. I was like my airpods can do real time noise cancellation, these cant even amplify with out a very noticeable delay. Also if you're a costco member you can get your hearing checked in their audiology department. its included in your membership. you should use it.
anaclet0 2y ago
This is pretty cool! Exclusive inside Apple’s audio lab where the company is taking on hearing loss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOkiDwH98sE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOkiDwH98sE
kylehotchkiss 2y ago
I'm not a father at this point in my life but one of my small fears is that the sound of a baby crying would cause me a headache very quickly (based on my experience on airplanes) and that I would struggle to be a more present father because of it. Has anybody tried a slight volume reduction adjustment with AirPods, or maybe one of those special earplugs that just make things quieter and noticed any difference in their parenting?
- i_v 2y ago
  Yes! I’ve used Etymotic Research’s concert/motorcycle earplugs for a few years now but there are a few others on the market for mild noise reduction. It’s roughly a 10 dB reduction and makes a lot of loud sounds more tolerable (including toddler temper tantrums) while also still being able to have conversations. I keep a pair in every bag and find them pretty helpful in loud restaurants and bars. I keep my AirPods as a backup, sometimes with some brown and pink noise (slightly lower pitch than white noise).
pSYoniK 2y ago
I've seen this mentioned before here in the comments, but custom fitted ear protection isn't that expensive if you consider the amount of time you can use them for and especially if you consider the damage to your hearing in terms of monetary elements. I had to work in very loud and noisy environments and I also cycled to work through rush hour traffic in a busy city. The roughly 150$ for a custom molded in-ear protectors/filters (they lower between 10 and 25 db specifically aimed at limiting big event noises - music/announcers/etc). You can even get models with swappable filters, so you can easily get a few filters for different needs and swap them out. Check with your local pharmacy or doctor and get them. If you can't afford them as $150 is a lot for many people, I've had a friend use the loop in ear protectors, but at an event where we worked a 16 hour day, he said that they got very uncomfortable, while my custom-fitted ones were still good!

282 points by elsewhen 2y ago

gedy 2y ago

Unless I'm misunderstanding, the news here is Apple is adding a hearing test app, and "officially" stating that you can use your Airpods Pro like hearing aids. I mention this as you can use these today as hearing aids, you just need to use a third party app to create your audiogram. I have fairly bad hearing loss and use Airpods instead of hearing aids.

dagmx 2y ago
You are missing that these are now cleared as hearing aids by the government.
- gedy 2y ago
  Well kinda in my second point but yes correct. I mentioned as I kept assuming you couldn't use these as such yet, but have been using happily for months now after I realized the functionality was all there.
- mmcconnell1618 2y ago
  As an approved medical device I wonder if you can buy airpods with a HSA now?
  - trollbridge 2y ago
    I suspect the answer is "yes", and probably with an FSA now too. There is a similar situation with the Natural Cycles app, which is cleared by the FDA as a medical device, so you can buy it with an FSA or HSA, or have insurance pay for it - which is mandatory, since it is legally a birth control device, which they have to cover. (It is also a steal for the insurance company since it costs roughly $10 a month.) I expect that insurance plans that cover hearing aids are going to cover this eventually, as a set of AirPods Pro 2 is $249, which is substantially cheaper than other hearing aids on the market. An open question is if any other manufacturer will be able to get a device that works this well at this price point - the amount of software and chip design engineering that went into H2 and the bridgeOS or RTKitOS that the AirPods run is just not something smaller manufacturers will be able to easily copy. Now, I wish I could find a better eartips fit for my ears... XS doesn't pass in the app as having a good enough seal, and S is just a little bit uncomfortable for me for all day use.
    - mschuster91 2y ago
      > An open question is if any other manufacturer will be able to get a device that works this well at this price point - the amount of software and chip design engineering that went into H2 and the bridgeOS or RTKitOS that the AirPods run is just not something smaller manufacturers will be able to easily copy. Well, "classic" hearing aids have two features that I don't see Apple replicating any time soon: longer battery life (AirPods roughly last around 4-6 hours depending on battery degradation and usage, whereas hearing aids run for days) and most especially, support for audio induction loops [1] - basically PA systems for the impaired, you'll find these in churches, conference/meeting rooms, concert halls/stadiums and in the UK also in taxicabs. Classic hearing aids will have their place for quite the time to come. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_induction_loop https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_induction_loop
    - yunohn 2y ago
      Highly recommend giving Comply Foam tips a shot - I got them a few years ago, total game changer. I replace them approx every year, since they wear out based on your usage pattern. https://www.complyfoam.com/products/apple-airpods-pro-ear-tips https://www.complyfoam.com/products/apple-airpods-pro-ear-ti...
      - tstrimple 2y ago
        I must be particularly hard on mine, or wear them far too much. A 3 pack of comply tips will only last me six months. The foam starts to tear and flake off after a while. I'm still quite happy to replace them because the sound isolation and comfort are much better than the silicon tips.
pahkah 2y ago
Yep, the path for this official recognition was cleared by the executive order two years ago that allowed for hearing aids to be sold over the counter!
wrycoder 2y ago
Without the new software, there is no boost to external sound in transparency mode, so they are not useful as hearing aids. I’m looking forward to testing the new release.
- ilt 2y ago
  That’s incorrect. I have been using Airpods Pro for 7 months now for my hearing loss. They do boost sounds in transparency mode if you choose to.
- pmcjones 2y ago
  Actually you can set up a good approximation using iPhoneOS>Settings>Accessibility>Audio & Visual>Headphone Accommodations. Under Custom Audio Setup, you can select a audiogram, such as produced by an app like Mimi, or scanned in from your audiologist.
m463 2y ago
FDA approval means you can call them hearing aids, not just some marketing term.
- grahamj 2y ago
  Either way it's just a label. You've already been able to do the same thing for years. Just use the free Mimi hearing test app, save the audiogram to Health, then apply it in headphone accommodations.
  - m463 2y ago
    https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/hearing-aids/otc-hearing-aids-what-you-should-know https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/hearing-aids/otc-hearing... Seems like they are regulated for safety, and there are lots of (decent) requirements.
grahamj 2y ago
Yep. I still haven't been able to determine if this "new" feature is any different from what already exists. I hope so because when you enable your audiogram for transparency it sounds like you're in an ASMR video. There's no way to make it sound natural but louder, which is what I would expect from a hearing aid.
- MBCook 2y ago
  The audio gram stuff existed, but wasn’t well known and as mentioned required a third party app. The hearing aid stuff was only recently certified by the FDA as an OTC hearing aid. Apple has had a mode for a many years where AirPods + iPhone could act like a hearing aid. But it didn’t meat the medical classifications.
  - an_d_rew 2y ago
    Actually you have been able to import your audiogram for at least the last two versions of iOS (16+), no third-party app required. But it was simply called "an accommodation". Can't call it a hearing aid until you were approved by the FDA!
  - grahamj 2y ago
    Right but the question is how much - if at all - different hearing aid mode is from what was already there. It's possibly it was already compliant but simply hadn't been certified. Or maybe it's way different, I haven't been able to find any information on any differences.
alwillis 2y ago
Here's what's new: * Air Pods 2 were approved by the FDA in September * iOS (and iPadOS) 18.1, for which the release candidate was released earlier today, comes with the ability to enable hearing aid mode and with a hearing test * based on the hearing test, the AirPods can automatically compensate how things sound to you * Apple has announced that iOS 18.1 will be released next week Details: https://www.apple.com/accessibility/hearing/ https://www.apple.com/accessibility/hearing/

tptacek 2y ago

Using AirPods as ear protection for concerts was new to me!

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distantaidenn 2y ago
I use them for movie theaters and other loud places. Works a charm!
- hesdeadjim 2y ago
  Do they manage to cut out the sound of people eating and messing with their candy packaging? Drives me nuts.

distantaidenn 2y ago

Always been sensitive to sounds and have taken effort over my life to protect my hearing. It may look silly, but I still plug my ears when a large truck/train passes by. Result is, even at my age, I can still hear those annoying high frequency teenage repellents (ubiquitous in Tokyo). Can also hear some of my electric devices charging. I'm glad to see such steps being taken by Apple. I always bring my noise canceling buds (Sony, Apple) with me when I go see movies. It's literally painful to watch movies in modern theaters without them. Just too damned loud! Apple's on the right track. Personalized health and more daily monitoring of said health is gonna be a sea change event.

modeless 2y ago
Same here, right down to the experience in Tokyo. Both grandfathers had hearing loss and the impact it had on them socially was sad to see. Even with hearing aids. I hope to avoid that fate.
nikolatt 2y ago
Wait, those high frequency sounds in Tokyo are teenage repellents? I thought they are bird/insect repellants. I could hear the sounds and was literally getting mini headaches walking around.
- leoxiong 2y ago
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito
- ipnon 2y ago
  Yes you can even adjust the frequency based on which demographics you want to keep from loitering. There is a predictable hearing loss curve for the highest frequencies. You could set it to 20kHz to keep little kids away, or even go as low as 16kHz if you want to keep everyone younger than about college age away. This also happens to be an easy way to test the degree of your own hearing loss compared to your age group.
- stavros 2y ago

tzs 2y ago

Based on the graph it looks like the hearing test only tests out to 8 kHz. That's disappointing. That's also the limit at most audiologists offices. It would be nice to have a good test that goes farther.

shiroiushi 2y ago
Audiologists don't seem to care about your high-frequency hearing.
- MBCook 2y ago
  They’re mostly focused on where speech and everyday important sounds (car that’s about to run you over, fire alarm, doorbell, etc) are right?
  - shiroiushi 2y ago
    Of course, the "important sounds" are mostly below 8 kHz, but I think they're missing out by not looking at higher-frequency sound sensitivity, since that's the first thing you lose.
    - amelius 2y ago
      Having access to this data would only crush the souls of most audiophiles out there.

windex 2y ago

Fragile and too expensive to replace often. The software updates that apple pushes on to them screws them up. Happened to my first set of airpods and swore off of them since then. The batteries are awful too. My go to since then has been the one plus z2 headsets, brilliant call quality, great form factor, decent ANC, and fantastic battery.

tptacek 2y ago
Because everything I've ever heard about acquiring dedicated hearing aids has been about what a joy they are to purchase, maintain, and operate.
- analog31 2y ago
  Just adding to this, for the general audience, hearing aids are thousands of dollars, and virtually all users describe the industry as a "racket." Features that improve their functionality, such as adapters for Bluetooth etc., are dedicated hardware modules with proprietary interfaces, and expensive too. Also, everybody I know who has hearing aids eventually ends up getting them at Costco.
- MBCook 2y ago
  That’s what I’ve heard too. And they didn’t like the ones they had to get in the end, they didn’t work well but that was all insurance would cover. But if they’re $4000 a pair, that’s _sixteen_ pairs of AirPods 2 Pro. Assuming you don’t get them on sale. So if you lose/break ‘em every 6 months, which seems quite excessive, that’s still 8 years to break even with “real” hearing aids. And that’s not to mention the fact that you can buy replacement individual AirPods or cases cheaper than a full set. Or just get AppleCare so replacements are even cheaper if you tend to lose/damage them a lot. Even if you buy them and they convince you hearing aids would be useful but you want more traditional hearing aids, it still seems like it might be a good value. Compared to risking $4000 on something you might not even feel is that useful to you.
  - LUmBULtERA 2y ago
    And/or Buy the AirPods Pros at Costco. Headphones fall under their standard return policy (or did as of about 2 years ago) so if they break, you have quick and easy recourse.

artdigital 2y ago

Went to see an artist (DJ) I liked and forgot my filters. Remembered that I had my AirPods Pro and used them in transparency mode and after only 10 minutes completely forgot I had them even in. I was surprised how good they worked as hearing protection! Now when I’m at festivals and I have friends without earplugs, I usually recommend them to just use their AirPods Pro (if they have some) instead of buying cheap plugs

Gigachad 2y ago
I've done that. At some point I felt like they weren't doing anything and pulled them out only to discover what a good job they had been doing. They lower the volume while keeping the sound pretty much the same. It's incredible.
whoitwas 2y ago
This comment confuses me, but makes sense. Concerts are for consuming sound, people wear ear plugs??? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose? Like a blindfold in a theater?
- Peanuts99 2y ago
  I know several people who have permanent hearing damage as a result of loud clubs in their 20s. Gotta look after your hearing when listening to love music.
  - whoitwas 2y ago
    That's horrible. It sounds odd to me because I wear earplugs to sleep or do loud things. To not hear things seems the opposite of a concert.
- bouvin 2y ago
  Earplugs lower the volume, they do not cut the sound completely. Good earplugs (I use Etymotics myself) can do this without affecting the sound quality, making concerts enjoyable and safe.

an_d_rew 2y ago

As a mid-50 year old who discovered two years ago that he has moderate hearing loss (50-55 dB HL), I will be forever grateful to Apple for doing this. If anybody from the accessibility teams is reading this, please know that it is difficult for me to overstate my gratitude and my appreciation for the amount of work this must've taken. Music sounds unbelievably better through my AirPod pros, and I didn't even know what I had lost until I heard it again. I'm willing to bet that a lot of my middle aged compatriots don't even know how much their hearing has degraded… Get your hearing test tested, folks, while you still have it!

analog31 2y ago
Yes, and protect your hearing while you can. Turn down your tunes. Disclosure: Working musician. I wear musician's earplugs when playing in bands.
- an_d_rew 2y ago
  Totally agree but there's a small caveat... Everybody has vastly different sensitivities to sound exposure. Even identical twins with identical sound exposures can have drastically different hearing profiles especially as they age. I actually have always been very careful with my hearing; there is some evidence that I may have a very very mild congenital birth defect that makes me prone to hearing loss, but that's largely speculation. My wife is actually older than me and has a spectacularly sensitive hearing - as does her mother! - and she's the drummer! (The wife, not her mother :-) I just do keys and vocals...) That's why it's so important that everyone protect their hearing because even though it's not too loud for the people around you, it might be too loud for you - and you won't know until it's too late.
  - formerly_proven 2y ago
    Hearing being a "logarithmic" sense and decibels make this a bit weird to me. Like losing 6 dB of hearing in a car crash is considered negligible and insignificant, but that actually means the ears lost half their sensitivity in a flash (and it's never coming back, just like teeth). Likewise your 50 dB hearing loss is considered moderate, but actually represents a 300-fold reduction in acuity.

SamuelAdams 2y ago

> there’ll be detailed comparisons between the AirPods Pro 2 and existing OTC devices in the near future once iOS 18.1 is widely available. As someone with a diagnosed, severe hearing loss, I wonder how these compare to prescription hearing aids. I currently wear a pair of Phonak hearing aids and am looking to replace them, but I wonder if spending 5-6k on another pair is worth it versus the OTC or Apple AirPod options that exist today.

an_d_rew 2y ago
My experience is that they serve different purposes. I have a very nice and expensive set of ReSound hearing aids and they're fabulous at what they do, which is focus on speech and kind of on music if I set them for that. They're also unobtrusive and easily last 18-20 hours on a charge. I forget I'm wearing them, and nobody notices that I have them. My AirPods I use primarily for running and listening to music because they just sound unbelievably better, and they're probably fine for a concert although I haven't done that with them. But I think for long-term use every day all day it wouldn't be that comfortable or unobtrusive. Would love to hear the experience of somebody who's trying it, though!
- nomel 2y ago
  Looking at the web, they’re also over $4500. I think the people who will most appreciate the AirPods are the ones that can now afford to put something in their ear to help their hearing.
- wenc 2y ago
  I don't have hearing loss, but I wear 2 pairs of AirPods Pro 2 over the course of a 10 hour day. The reason I have 2 pairs is because 1 pair only gets 5-6 hours of battery life, and I need to swap them while they recharge in the case. Comfort? To me, very comfortable. I just leave them in there with Active Noise Canceling on all the time. I may be showing my age, but if you remember "Get Smart", AirPods Pro 2 are like a Cone of Silence -- except they actually work.
- blendo 2y ago
  In my experience, the rubbery Apple ear tips in the AirPods have better sound isolation and audio quality, but foam aftermarket tips better keep the AirPods from falling out.

aeternum 2y ago

I'd like to see Apple run some opt-in scientific trials. For example: Does active noise cancellation result in more or less hearing loss? Or Alcohol consumption: Apple Health could ask each day how many drinks you had and many people want to track it anyway. Correlate that to health metrics at a wide scale. It'd be much more powerful than any currently existing study given the userbase likely to opt-in. Let people see exactly the data that will be uploaded prior to consenting to alleviate any privacy concerns. They already have stronger data-protection and anonymity mechanisms than those used by most studies built directly into the phone.

aaomidi 2y ago
> Correlate that to health metrics at a wide scale. It'd be much more powerful than any currently existing study given the userbase likely to opt-in. Apple did run something like this in their heart research study. But not specifically counting drinks, just more survey like questions.
alwillis 2y ago
> I'd like to see Apple run some opt-in scientific trials. Several organizations have used ResearchKit to conduct studies: https://www.apple.com/lae/researchkit/ https://www.apple.com/lae/researchkit/
- aeternum 2y ago
  Cool, I didn't realize this was a thing. Kind of disappointing to see only 2-3 studies available through the Apple Research app though, I wonder why it isn't more widely used. Do most research teams have to build their own app?
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irjustin 2y ago

> Transparency mode in many of today’s earbuds sounds totally natural and lifelike, yet I still constantly remove my buds to show someone they’ve got my undivided attention. That way of thinking has to change when popular earbuds start pulling double duty as hearing aids. It’s a powerful way to reduce the stigma that’s all too common with hearing aids, but this shift will take time. This will never be not true. You're fighting human nature. The vast majority of people don't need hearing aids and those who do you'll likely know they need a hearing aid if you're having regular or more personal conversations. If you're getting your order taken at Starbucks, you can totally have ears in even today.

renewiltord 2y ago
Societal views change. Moving from the Jabra Jawbone to AirPods it seems like it went from “that asshole business guy” to “literally everyone” in no time. When I was young, talking on a Bluetooth headset while walking down the street was worthy of derision. Things have changed a lot since then.
- MBCook 2y ago
  To go back way further, wasn’t Sony worried about the Walkman initially because the only people who wore headphones at the time out and about tended to use them for hearing aids at the time? That’s what I remember hearing. Obviously that changed when they got super popular. Your AirPods comparison is fantastic I had totally forgotten the phenomenon of “blue tools”.
- ghaff 2y ago
  Yeah. There was a period when the Borg look was widely seen as representing “At any moment someone more important than you could call me.”
acdha 2y ago
When was the last time you heard someone get called “four eyes” for wearing glasses? Mockery used to be common but society can improve and it seems like accepting people with disabilities as fully human has been improving even if we still have room to go.

hanniabu 2y ago

So if you use Android you won't be able to use this feature?

duskwuff 2y ago
Not currently, no. I have a feeling that it might be difficult for Apple to obtain FDA authorization for a system consisting in part of a device that Apple didn't manufacture (i.e. an Android phone). Getting the iPhone + Airpods system authorized was unusual enough already.
makeitdouble 2y ago
There are a bunch of other makers already selling OTC ear aids, they will probably be a better choice specifically with android. e.g. https://hearing.electronics.sony.com/ https://hearing.electronics.sony.com/
joquarky 2y ago
You can't even configure a great majority of the features on Android.

iamsanteri 2y ago

It’s interesting that I perceive my hearing is still pretty stellar albeit during a surprise attack in my military service, a guy started firing his assault rifle right next to my unprotected ear…

blendo 2y ago
Yikes! Did it also have a blast suppressor? Those things make gunshots MUCH louder to folks beside you.

asdfman123 2y ago

The technology that destroyed my hearing is now here to save it!

switch007 2y ago
That's modern capitalism for you.
- Solstinox 2y ago
  Humans creating problems they then need to then solve transcends and predates any ideology. Capitalism just lets you scale it out to new heights! :)

thorn 2y ago

I do love my AirPods Pro and use them in all modes except for spatial audio. I have a bug that I cannot fix for almost a year: reversed channels when connected to MacBook Pro M1. Especially the spatial audio is totally wrong. I have tried everything, resetting AirPods, Mac, Bluetooth, reinstalling drivers. It is fine with my iphone. But just totally wrong with my particular MBP. Any ideas?

M4v3R 2y ago
Use Spotlight to open the “Audio MIDI Setup” app, select your AirPods Pro in the sidebar and check if channels are correctly configured there.

Almondsetat 2y ago

You can say a lot of things about Apple, but which other consumer-facing tech company adds features meant to accompany people throughout every phase of their lives? People are growing with their smartphones, and the need for some functionalities only starts to become obvious later in life.

lnsru 2y ago
It’s just marketing. A plus point in differentiation matrix from gazillion competitors. And a justification for a higher price tag. The products are nice though.
- an_d_rew 2y ago
  I understand your point and in someway do agree that it is marketing and it is a way of differentiating themselves. But inly to justify a higher price tag? Yes it is true they are premium products, but I don't think it's true that they're that much more expensive than similar items occupying the same marketing niche from other manufacturers. And they are far more than an order of magnitude cheaper than even a low end set of hearing aids. But all of that is despite the point. Samsung, Sony, Bose,… The list goes on. I have bought high-end headphones from them all, some with some without noise cancellation. In ear, over the ear, wired and Bluetooth... the list goes on. NOBODY has a headphone that accommodates my hearing loss except Apple. And they started doing it years ago as a feature buried in the accessibility settings. But they kept improving it to the point where it is now FDA approved. "A plus point in a differentiation matrix…?" This is the kind of action that buys customer loyalty for life. I hope you never get to experience the depth of hearing loss that many of us have and how utterly transformative this kind of technology not just can be, but IS.
  - TiredOfLife 2y ago
    Samsung has had amplified passthrough for years.
  - uberduper 2y ago
    Bose made a product ~10 years back called Hearphones which were far more capable than what Apple is doing here. IIRC Jabra earbuds have had "hearing aid" features for years. They, unfortunately, don't help with single side deafness the way the Hearphones do. Apple isn't doing anything groundbreaking here but they are doing it at a very competitive price. The airpod features also do not help with single side deafness. :(

thenoblesunfish 2y ago

I've watched a couple of members of my parents generation struggle to admit they need hearing aids, and prefer not to wear them a lot of the time, even when they miss things people say. I doubt the current generations are going to have that problem!

wodenokoto 2y ago

A large part of the article focuses on using airpods at concerts and how loud the environment can be. - Can airpods tell me how loud a room is? - Which settings should I use for a concert to preserve fidelity? How do they compare to "concert" branded consumer earplugs, like Loop/Etymotic/SoundProtex ?

ValentineC 2y ago
I've actually tried using the AirPods Pro 2 transparency mode at a Coldplay concert where I was gifted a last minute ticket. > Can airpods tell me how loud a room is? I don't think so, but my Apple Watch can. > Which settings should I use for a concert to preserve fidelity? How do they compare to "concert" branded consumer earplugs, like Loop/Etymotic/SoundProtex ? Transparency mode was fine, but focuses on blocking and reproducing sound through the built-in microphone and speakers. They will never be as good as "concert" earplugs which reduce volume evenly.

larodi 2y ago

Next comes translation on the fly and boom - Apple suddenly listens to the world. But of course is nothing recorded, sure that. Although the undisputed value in all this, won’t we still find it weird everything is always being (recorded and) processed. Or perhaps is weird when it’s not if you are born this way. A new post-modernism of yet unknown proportions is going to be in a dare need. Can’t stop thinking of Aldous Huxley with this and Adderall and all.

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jmull 2y ago
> Apple suddenly listens to the world. If Apple wants to listen to everything everyone says, they already are. (And where they go, and with whom they communicate, etc.)

miki123211 2y ago

It feels like mainstream technology is slowly replacing most if not all accessibility devices, and I think that's a really good thing for those who need them! This already happened to blind people. We used to have color testers, specialized audiobook / ebook players, GPS devices, text scanning / OCR machines, devices for banknote recognition, barcode readers, talking scales, thermometers, blood pressure meters and so on, all as separate devices, all extremely expensive. Nobody really had or carried all of these at once, though most people had at least some, it was just too expensive and impractical. Nowadays, while those devices still exist, all you really need is any smartphone (even a low-end Android will do, though iOS is much better for this use case IMO), a free screen reader, which both OSes include by default, and a couple of free / cheap apps. Things like talking scales can be replaced with accessories connected over Bluetooth that don't technically talk, but that expose the measurements to your smartphone screen reader.

jillesvangurp 2y ago
Interesting perspective. I never thought about this properly. But it seems things like Google Lens and other machine vision apps paired with a good screen reader can help blind people to "see". I did some recent experiments with the openai api recently to see if I could make sense of photos by classifying and describing things. That worked surprisingly well for the absolute minimal effort I put in (<30 minutes) and I've been meaning to follow up on that to properly turn that in a product feature in our app. Anyway, something simple hooked up to a camera shouldn't take that long to code. There might be good enough locally running models for machine vision as well. Reading signs, menus, describing what's in front of you, etc. I bet that there is some low hanging fruit there for visually impaired people that are a bit handy with programming in terms of really useful apps that they could develop with this. Another aspect of using consumer tech like this is that it's normal. People wearing airpods don't stand out as hearing impaired or special. Most hearing aids on the other hand are clearly recognizable as such. I imagine some people don't like wearing them for that reason. They are kind of ugly, generally. Unlike e.g. glasses, there's no such thing as designer hearing aids. They are kind of a necessary evil for people. Apple is being clever here by tapping into a market of aging but wealthy people with a taste for good stuff.
2y ago

harvie 2y ago

Imagine being student taking an exam... Normaly you would be disallowed to have bluetooth earpiece, but you would be allowed to have hearing aid. I'll let you think of the possible outcomes...

Aaron2222 2y ago
Hearing aids with Bluetooth are hardly new, they've been around for years at this point.
JKCalhoun 2y ago
I would think only an oral exam would require the test-taker to need hearing assistance. And so now we're into a narrower likelihood.

sharpshadow 2y ago

I was disappointed that Apple had to downgrade the ANC in Airpods back then because of copyright problems, but they went full in and created a much stronger product out of it!

jmull 2y ago

> And the main tradeoff with the AirPods Pro 2 is battery life: they can last for around six hours with the hearing aid engaged, which doesn’t match what you’ll get from many OTC and prescription hearing aids. Since they are comparing to devices $1K and up, maybe getting two pairs makes sense.

petesergeant 2y ago

You can — today — use an app like Mimi to get a hearing test on your phone, which will write an audiogram to Apple Health, which you can then get your phone to use to tailor how your headphones sound. It’s amazing stuff.

thimabi 2y ago

According to Apple’s website, the hearing protection feature will only work in the U.S. and Canada, but nothing is said about the hearing aid feature. Does this mean that the latter will be available internationally? It would be a game changer for me!

015a 2y ago

I think its awesome that Apple has built these features, and I prefer to live in a world where they exist versus don't. The hearing aid feature, to me, is a little overblown. It feels to me like the biggest positive impact it will have is, with some luck, forcing down the price of typical hearing aids and opening up the conversation on more competition. It might also be good in a pinch, and good for lower income customers(?), but I think at the end of the day there's a reason why hearing aids are generally pretty slim, skin colored, and innocuous. There's no reason why I have to take my Airpods out when I order Chipotle, I can hear everyone perfectly fine with them in, but I do because there will always be social stigma talking with someone who has earplugs in. There was an "event" on Threads a while back where a wedding photographer asked "the world's" opinion about asking attendees to take their Apple Watches off. Some people say "oh hell yeah, those are gaudy, I don't want any of my wedding party even wearing one at any point in the event", meanwhile one person responded "The Apple Watch is literally a medical device for me, I need to wear it as often as possible, I can't take it off". Idk; feels like a related concept. Sometimes the social stigma doesn't matter, these devices drive some people insane with anxiety about their health, Apple's marketing plays up the anxiety because it sells hardware every year... at some point, someone will say "I can't take the Airpods out, they're my hearing aids, as diagnosed by iOS 18.1", and maybe this is just me being an old man yelling at clouds, but... that's cringe, go see a doctor. The other angle I don't hear talked about enough: The Air Pods Pros don't have the battery life to really fill the same role as hearing aids.

stacktraceyo 2y ago

My AirPod pros gave me / exasperated my existing tinnitus when used with noise cancellation

penjelly 2y ago
noticed something similar with my non airport Noise cancelling earbuds. If I had to guess, I'd say those frequencies we can't hear are still damaging our ears
tim333 2y ago
That's interesting. I wonder if you have the kind of tinnitus that produces a noise the AirPods can pick up? That could cause feedback.
stacktraceyo 2y ago
There’s a giant Apple support thread with lots of people who had the same problem.

mmmlinux 2y ago

My girlfriend is hard of hearing and wears hearing aids. When we first started dating I tried them at one point to see what it sounded like. I knew right then apple was going to come for that market. I was like my airpods can do real time noise cancellation, these cant even amplify with out a very noticeable delay. Also if you're a costco member you can get your hearing checked in their audiology department. its included in your membership. you should use it.

anaclet0 2y ago

This is pretty cool! Exclusive inside Apple’s audio lab where the company is taking on hearing loss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOkiDwH98sE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOkiDwH98sE

kylehotchkiss 2y ago

I'm not a father at this point in my life but one of my small fears is that the sound of a baby crying would cause me a headache very quickly (based on my experience on airplanes) and that I would struggle to be a more present father because of it. Has anybody tried a slight volume reduction adjustment with AirPods, or maybe one of those special earplugs that just make things quieter and noticed any difference in their parenting?

i_v 2y ago
Yes! I’ve used Etymotic Research’s concert/motorcycle earplugs for a few years now but there are a few others on the market for mild noise reduction. It’s roughly a 10 dB reduction and makes a lot of loud sounds more tolerable (including toddler temper tantrums) while also still being able to have conversations. I keep a pair in every bag and find them pretty helpful in loud restaurants and bars. I keep my AirPods as a backup, sometimes with some brown and pink noise (slightly lower pitch than white noise).

pSYoniK 2y ago

I've seen this mentioned before here in the comments, but custom fitted ear protection isn't that expensive if you consider the amount of time you can use them for and especially if you consider the damage to your hearing in terms of monetary elements. I had to work in very loud and noisy environments and I also cycled to work through rush hour traffic in a busy city. The roughly 150$ for a custom molded in-ear protectors/filters (they lower between 10 and 25 db specifically aimed at limiting big event noises - music/announcers/etc). You can even get models with swappable filters, so you can easily get a few filters for different needs and swap them out. Check with your local pharmacy or doctor and get them. If you can't afford them as $150 is a lot for many people, I've had a friend use the loop in ear protectors, but at an event where we worked a 16 hour day, he said that they got very uncomfortable, while my custom-fitted ones were still good!