Apple‘s AirPods Pro have been a game changer for iPhone users, offering convenient wireless listening and industry-leading noise cancellation. But with the upcoming release of iOS 18 this fall, Apple is taking AirPods Pro to the next level with a series of innovative features that leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Get ready for a more intuitive and personalized AirPods Pro experience, thanks to these five exciting additions coming to iOS 18:
1. Head gesture controls: goodbye buttons, hello head nods
Imagine answering a call with a simple nod or declining it with a shake of your head. With iOS 18, Apple is introducing head gestures as a new way to control your AirPods Pro completely hands-free and voice-free. This innovative feature allows for seamless call management without reaching for your phone or uttering a word.
Head gestures will also reportedly extend to Siri interactions, letting you control messages, notifications, and more with just a head movement.
2. Crystal clear calls: Voice Isolation cuts the noise
Ever been on a call in a noisy environment and worried the other person couldn’t hear you clearly? iOS 18 brings Voice Isolation to AirPods Pro, a feature already available on iPhones for clearer calls. This technology utilizes machine learning to distinguish your voice from surrounding noise, such as wind or traffic. By filtering out unwanted sounds, Voice Isolation ensures your voice comes through crisp and clear, even in the most distracting environments.
3. Personalized spatial audio for gamers
iOS 18 brings Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking to AirPods (3rd generation), AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max. This next-level audio experience creates an immersive soundscape that puts you right in the middle of the game, just like having a surround sound system on your head. Whether you’re hearing footsteps approaching from behind or explosions rocking the battlefield, spatial audio places you in the center of the action for a truly unforgettable gaming experience.
On top of the immersive soundstage, Apple boasts the best wireless audio latency ever achieved for mobile gaming with AirPods Pro on iOS 18. This translates to seamless audio that perfectly syncs with the visuals on your screen, eliminating any distracting lag. Plus, gamers can enjoy improved voice chat quality with 16-bit, 48kHz audio, ensuring clear communication with teammates and opponents alike. Game developers can also leverage spatial audio within their games, further enhancing the overall experience.
4. Granular control over adaptive audio: fine-tune your noise cancellation
The second-generation AirPods Pro already featured Adaptive Noise Cancellation, a technology that automatically adjusts noise cancellation based on your environment. However, iOS 18 introduces “Customize Adaptive Audio,” a new menu that allows for granular control over this feature. This means you can choose the exact level of noise cancellation you desire, letting in more or less ambient noise depending on your preference.
5. Hearing aid mode
According to a report by Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman, iOS 18 might introduce a new “hearing aid mode” for AirPods Pro. While AirPods Pro already offer Conversation Boost, which amplifies the volume and clarity of speech directly in front of the user, this new mode could potentially transform AirPods Pro into a hearing assistance device. It’s important to note that Apple hasn’t explicitly marketed AirPods Pro as hearing aids, and this feature is still under speculation. However, the possibility of incorporating hearing assistance functionalities is an exciting development that could benefit users with mild hearing loss.
