Airpods Pro 2 as Hearing Aids

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tehgerbil

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#3300593 23-Oct-2024 16:26

In case anyone is interested, here are the settings you receive:

Verdict: VERY freaking cool.

They're essentially like adaptive mode on steroids. I found my hearing was actually not nearly as bad as I thought it was, which is a pleasant surprise.

And as you can change the test result the hearing aid feature is based upon, it's easy to provide your buds to someone else for them to test their hearing too.

Battery life doesn't seem hugely affected, but time will tell.

Eva888

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#3300594 23-Oct-2024 16:27

ben28:

yes, worked on my airpods pro 2 yesterday. I did 2 tests and both tests showed similar results, left ear not so good

Which devices did you use and are you in NZ? Which version AirPods. Mine show 7A305. I am on iOS 18.01

Am wondering if only iphone 15 and up are compatible.

Paul1977

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#3300595 23-Oct-2024 16:38

Is this just renaming the settings that have been there on the Pros for ages, but buried in the accessibility settings? I'm not hard of hearing (I don't think), but did some testing when my grandfather lost his hearing aids. If you find the right settings my Pro 2s have been able to function as quasi hearing aids for at least a year.

snj

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#3300597 23-Oct-2024 16:42

Eva888:

Which devices did you use and are you in NZ? Which version AirPods. Mine show 7A305. I am on iOS 18.01

Am wondering if only iphone 15 and up are compatible.

It's 18.1 RC (Developer & Public beta, but the build should go public next week) not 18.0.1. You have to specifically opt in for the beta builds.

snj

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#3300598 23-Oct-2024 16:47

Paul1977:

Is this just renaming the settings that have been there on the Pros for ages, but buried in the accessibility settings? I'm not hard of hearing (I don't think), but did some testing when my grandfater lost his hearing aids. If you find the right settings my Pro 2s have been able to function as quasi hearing aids for at least a year.

It's what they're describing at https://www.apple.com/nz/airpods-pro/hearing-health/ where it's acting more like a traditional hearing aid. You're right though, ANC & passthrough earbuds/etc have been recommended for a while for light hearing loss and tinnitus related issues, my mum has been in a few tinnitus studies and they've come up before this but the feature is really making her consider getting them now.

So yeah, this is basically taking them into to the medical hearing aid market (which is also why it's patchy on what countries approvals would be granted for on release).

Also, thanks @tehgerbil & @ben28 for the confirmations, and screenshots. Very helpful!

Paul1977

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#3300599 23-Oct-2024 16:52

snj:

Paul1977:

Is this just renaming the settings that have been there on the Pros for ages, but buried in the accessibility settings? I'm not hard of hearing (I don't think), but did some testing when my grandfater lost his hearing aids. If you find the right settings my Pro 2s have been able to function as quasi hearing aids for at least a year.

It's what they're describing at https://www.apple.com/nz/airpods-pro/hearing-health/ where it's acting more like a traditional hearing aid. You're right though, ANC & passthrough earbuds/etc have been recommended for a while for light hearing loss and tinnitus related issues, my mum has been in a few tinnitus studies and they've come up before this but the feature is really making her consider getting them now.

So yeah, this is basically taking them into to the medical hearing aid market (which is also why it's patchy on what countries approvals would be granted for on release).

Also, thanks @tehgerbil & @ben28 for the confirmations, and screenshots. Very helpful!

Attached is a screenshot from 18.0.1, which looks and functions more or less the same as it did under iOS 17 (and I think 16 as well). Looks pretty much the same as the "new" hearing aid functionality to me...

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Eva888

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#3300605 23-Oct-2024 17:03

From Apple

*The Hearing Test and Hearing Aid features will be supported on AirPods Pro 2 with the latest firmware, paired with a compatible iPhone or iPad with iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 and later.

What is a compatible iPhone and iPad it doesn’t say.

jarledb

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#3300620 23-Oct-2024 18:05

iOS 18 is compatible with iPhone XR/XS and newer.

Source: Techradar

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ben28

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#3300687 23-Oct-2024 20:23

yes I'm in New Zealand , iphone 13, ios 18.1 public beta, the firmware on the airpods 2 is 7b13d

Just upgrade your phone to the public beta, put your airpods on charge, take out the airpods, listen to music for a few seconds, put back in the case still charging, keep your iphone near and they should update within 30 minutes

ben28

Eva888

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#3300709 23-Oct-2024 21:06

ben28:

yes I'm in New Zealand , iphone 13, ios 18.1 public beta, the firmware on the airpods 2 is 7b13d

Just upgrade your phone to the public beta, put your airpods on charge, take out the airpods, listen to music for a few seconds, put back in the case still charging, keep your iphone near and they should update within 30 minutes

Theres the difference, your AirPods are on firmware 7b13d. According to https://support.apple.com/en-nz/106340 I am on the latest 7a305 and there is no mention of yours. I’ve tried to force an update but it’s just not going further than 7a305

i can’t get public beta as have already downloaded 18 and 18 01. That option is only available before the download.

Frustrating to say the least.

jarledb

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#3300738 23-Oct-2024 22:03

Eva888:

i can’t get public beta as have already downloaded 18 and 18 01. That option is only available before the download.

You won't have to wait long for 18.1, it is scheduled to be released next week.

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snj

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#3301585 25-Oct-2024 21:36

Got my mum sorted with a pair of APPs (I'm jealous, still have the AP2s myself), and threw the public beta on her iPad and got it set up. From what I could see the hearing test process looked really smooth from start to finish with the usual Apple finesse. Again, thanks for those testing & confirming it was enabled for NZ with the beta.