AirPods already offer several features related to hearing health and accessibility, but in a report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman (via 9to5mac) says that Apple plans to expand the capabilities of its headphones with a new «hearing aid mode».
Gurman notes that the AirPods Pro will not undergo any hardware changes in 2024, but will receive a new «hearing aid mode» with the release of iOS 18.
Previous hearing features on AirPods included Live Listen, which was launched in iOS 12 in 2018 and allowed you to effectively turn your iPhone into a microphone, transmitting recorded audio to your headphones. Also in 2021, Apple introduced Conversation Boost, which amplified the microphone to better hear the person talking next to you.
Meanwhile, a 2022 study showed that, thanks to some of its hearing features, AirPods Pro is already comparable to much more expensive specialized devices. It’s also worth noting that two years ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration established new guidelines approving the category of hearing aids available for purchase over the counter.
The announcement of iOS 18 is scheduled for the June WWDC conference and, as Gourmet previously noted, Apple considers it as «one of the largest iOS updates, if not the largest in the company’s history». In particular, it was about the integration of artificial intelligence functions into Siri, «Messages», Apple Music, Keynote and Pages, etc. It is also likely that iOS 18 will become similar to visionOS and get transparent menus.