AirPods Pro Officially Get Hearing Aid Mode

Apple announced new hearing health features at its annual event Monday, the biggest being AirPods Pro are officially getting a hearing aid mode. 

Following a hearing test, your AirPods Pro will transform into a personalized hearing aid. Apple expects this hearing aid feature to be available this fall. Like other over-the-counter hearing aids, we can expect this feature to be for adults with mild or moderate hearing loss. 

Apple has already packed hearing health features into its AirPods, making an official move to over-the-counter hearing aid status nearly a matter of time.

Hearing aids have been notoriously expensive, in part because they’re not covered by many people’s insurance. When hearing aids became available over-the-counter and without prescription in late 2022, many people praised the rule as it could help remove some of the barriers to getting a hearing aid, such as high cost and perceived stigma of wearing them. However, uptake of hearing aids still pales in comparison to the amount of people who need them. 

The fact that people may use their AirPods as a hearing aid, instead of purchasing a completely new device, may help chip away barriers to daily communication for the estimated 1.5 billion people with hearing loss globally, the majority of which have milder symptoms. 

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