AirPods Pro 2 Hearing Aid Feature Now Available in the UK

I had this running in the UK about 4 weeks ago.

No the hearing test was with 18.3 but the hearing aid feature wasn’t available

This is going to make a huge impact on the lives of many people bringing down the cost of hearing devices.

My partner suffers from Sudden Onset Hearing Loss (by sudden, hearing in one ear went from great to extremely deaf over 3 hours). Even ENT specialists dont seem to know what to do. Research was Hyperbaric treatment can improve or return hearing BUT you need to start it quickly. Not a week after losing hearing after trying antibiotics. Sadly my partner's solution was hearing aids or cochlear implant.

There are some new AI model aids now available and they do a fantastic job in noisy environments.
Music is a struggle and may always be. :(

The fact Apple are doing this all as free software on a device you've already purchased is awesome.

Just wish Australian authorities would approve it... hurry up!!!

I don't need hearing aids myself, but this feature really is a game-changer when it comes to the cost and ease of help for the hard-of-hearing.

My mother-in-law has bad-end-of-"moderate" hearing loss in one ear, and just-on-the-wrong-side-of-"severe" hearing loss in the other. She has a single hearing aid that she needed to go to a professional to get tested for, and cost something like $2000 2 or 3 years ago.

This $2000 device is nice, to be sure--8-hour battery life, inductive charger, links well to an iPad via bluetooth for FaceTime calls, compact, has an app for slight adjustments, and of course does its job and makes it so she can hear out of that ear.

Her hearing is bad enough I was guessing the AirPods wouldn't be able to help, but with the new firmware, I walked her through the few-minute Apple hearing test on my phone (a few times, in fact, and got nearly identical results each time, which is at least not a bad sign), helped her adjust the settings a bit, and she now has hearing aids for both ears for $200 that, at least according to her, sound at least as good as the $2000 one.

The dedicated hearing aid isn't without its advantages--it has about twice the battery life (which is a pretty big deal for a wear-all-day device), and is less visible since it's the over-the-ear type.

On the other hand, unlike AirPods the hearing aid is incredibly prone to getting the microscopic speaker tip clogged with earwax and is so small it's functionally impossible for an elderly person to clean, so every two or three weeks it will stop working until she complains and someone cleans it for her. The background noise filtering on the AirPods is notably better than the dedicated hearing aid (and adjustable), as is the conversation-aware filtering, and because of the microphone positions (the over-the-ear one has the microphone behind your ear toward the rear) it works better for listening to things in the direction you're facing rather than accidentally amplifying what's behind you.

Most fundamentally, though, you can now get full-featured hearing aids for both ears for less than 1/10 the cost, and you can do the test for it at home in 10 minutes instead of an audiologist appointment, and you can re-test yourself any time you want in case something changes. It's a miracle device when it comes to hearing aid for people who previously couldn't afford it.

The hearing test feature has been available in the UK since iOS 18.3 came out last month. I can’t comment on the hearing aid part as the test showed only very minor hearing loss.

I unfortunately have mild to moderate hearing loss (blasting music my iPod on non noise reduction headphones on london’s tube in the 00s) and have just turned on this feature.

Instantly it’s made an incredible noticeable difference to me with sounds now ‘crisper’.

AirPods 2 is one of apple’s best ever products and an absolute must have if you have an iPhone, iPad or Mac (and apple tv) imho.

Though the article was about the hearing aid feature, I didn't hear any words or see an example of how to turn it on and use it. Or if it works independently from a paired smart device like an iPhone or iPad. A quick explanation of the other modes would have been useful too.

I appreciate the author's attempt and effort - I have never made a video - but I'm wondering if he handed his AirPods to someone after they watched the video, if they'd know how to deploy them as hearing aids. They'd know it can be done, and they'd know how to take the hearing test. But then what?

https://support.apple.com/en-us/120992