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

Apple announced a trio of major new hearing health features for the AirPods Pro 2 in September including clinical-grade hearing aid functionality, a hearing test, and more robust hearing protection. All three will roll out next week with the release of iOS 18.1, and they could mark a watershed moment for hearing health awareness. Apple is about to instantly turn the world’s most popular earbuds into an over-the-counter hearing aid.

That also means we’re about to enter an era where we’ll need to get comfortable with people wearing earbuds at all times. There’s a perception that leaving your earbuds in while talking with other people is rude. 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.

Over the last several days, I’ve been able to preview Apple’s hearing health features. At times, the experience has been emotionally intense. I’m someone who grew up with a Discman and iPod basically attached to my hip, and I’ve been to countless concerts over the decades. I also haven’t seen an audiologist since 2018 or so. That’s anything but unusual; Apple says 80 percent of adults in the US haven’t had their hearing checked in at least five years. Putting a test right on your iPhone is a surefire way to improve that trend.

Prevention: hearing protection

Did you know there are people who’ve already been replacing ear plugs with the AirPods Pro at concerts? Until this fall, Apple had never endorsed such a use case or advertised its earbuds as hearing protection devices. The company knew people were doing it, but kept quiet on the subject.

That’s now changed. With iOS 18.1 and the soon-to-be-released AirPods firmware update, the AirPods Pro 2 will offer hearing protection at all times across noise cancellation, transparency, and adaptive audio modes. There’s no “concert mode” or a specific setting to toggle. You can think of this as an expansion of the loud sound reduction option that was already in place. Hearing protection is on by default, and Apple says “an all-new multiband high dynamic range algorithm” helps to preserve the natural sound of concerts and other live events.

Which listening mode you’ll use for concerts comes down to personal preference. I’ve found adaptive audio works well since it lets you customize whether you prefer more noise cancellation or more passthrough. But even in full transparency mode, some level of hearing protection is active. The more noise cancellation that’s applied, the longer you can remain in relatively loud environments.

There are limits to what the AirPods Pro 2 can handle; Apple’s hearing protection isn’t cut out for extremely loud, sudden noises like gunfire, fireworks, or a jackhammer. Sustained noises over 110 dBa are also too much for the earbuds. Some clubs and concerts can definitely exceed that threshold, so be aware.

Awareness: the Apple hearing test

You’ll need a quiet space when taking Apple’s hearing test. Before getting started, your iPhone will do a quick analysis of ear tip fit and environmental noise to ensure you’re good to go. All of these hearing health features are calibrated for Apple’s stock silicone tips, so if you’re using aftermarket third-party tips (including foam), there’s no guarantee you’ll get the optimal experience. Once the test begins, you just tap the screen whenever you hear any of the three-beep tone sequences.

There are a few key things to know about Apple’s hearing test. For one, it’s designed so that you can’t predict or game it. The test can play any frequency at any time, so no two are the same. Apple tests your left ear first, and here’s something I wish I’d known going in: it’s completely normal to hear nothing at all for several seconds at a time. It was in those moments, when five, six, or even 10 seconds would pass by without an obvious tone sequence, where I’d start feeling pretty anxious. 

My best advice is to avoid wondering if you should be hearing something at a given moment and instead just focus on the tones as they come. Some can be incredibly faint. There are visual cues that let you know the test is still moving along even during silence — the most obvious one being a large circle that animates onscreen throughout the process. (You’ll also notice a progress dial for each ear that fills as you take it.)

I took the test twice several days apart, and my results for both ears fall under “little to no hearing loss.” Having recently turned 40, I’ll take that. But I also learned that my left ear has definitely lost a bit more over the years than my right, which is something I’ve never noticed in daily life.

The slight difference between my two tests is exactly the margin that Apple expects for people who take it multiple times. Results are stored in the Health app, where you can export individual tests (or all of them) as a pdf. Here’s how one of mine charts out:

You can also import charts from tests you’ve taken with a hearing professional. This data is what’s used to configure the hearing aid feature.

Apple’s hearing test only takes around five minutes, but it felt like a long five minutes for me and everyone else I’ve let try it. Again, that’s probably because it’s been too long since many of us have done this. The second time wasn’t nearly as stressful. I can definitely see the hearing test having a viral moment on TikTok and other social media, which seems like a great thing for awareness all around.

Assistance: AirPods as hearing aids

For those 18 years and older with mild to moderate hearing loss, the AirPods Pro 2 can now serve as a clinical-grade hearing aid. Once enabled, you can also toggle on a “Media Assist” setting that uses your hearing test results to optimize the sound of music, phone calls, and video content.

Within the settings menu, you can use sliders to fine tune the hearing aid feature’s amplification, tone, and balance. These options are also accessible via Control Center on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Much like you can slide a finger on the AirPods Pro 2 stem to adjust volume, you can use that same gesture to control amplification when the hearing aid mode is active. You can only use the hearing aid feature when in transparency mode.

Being able to use Apple’s $250 earbuds as a hearing aid is a huge deal for those who can benefit from this capability. But they won’t be right for everyone. People with more severe hearing loss will still need to seek other solutions. 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.

But this is a big milestone — and it seems inevitable that Samsung, Google, and other tech heavyweights will follow Apple’s lead fairly quickly. I’m all for that, even if it feels strange that hearing aid functionality has become the latest aspect of ecosystem lock-in. We spent a long time bemoaning the loss of the headphone jack. With advancements like this, and earbuds helping to improve quality of life for so many people, we’re finally starting to see a worthwhile payoff.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge