AirPods Pro 2
This year, Apple did not release a new version of AirPods Pro, but simply made a firmware for the second-generation headphones with additional features. Now you can control them even without using your hands, just by nodding your head. Convenient? Not the right word. Especially when you are walking down the street with bags or bags in your hands, and you can’t touch your smartphone or headphones to receive a call. That’s just along with the release of the new firmware in September 2024 Air Pods Pro 2 surprised users with something else.
After the update, while in the case, the second-generation AirPods Pro periodically emit strange sounds, more like a squeak. For two months, owners of Apple headphones tried to guess what happened to their devices and whether it was true that they broke, but as it turned out, this feature should actually benefit, not scare.
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Beeping in your AirPods headphones
For the first time, the AirPods Pro 2 squeak was detected by users of headphones on firmware 7A294. This version of the software was released simultaneously for headphones with both a Lightning connector and USB-C. It included head nod control, advanced voice isolation with improved spatial audio, and reduced latency in games. Currently, the 7B21 firmware is up-to-date for AirPods Pro 2.After installing it, the functions of a hearing aid, hearing verification and protection became available for headphones.
However, even after installing it, the squeak did not disappear anywhere. Fortunately, Apple recently updated the information on the AirPods Pro 2 support page and told everything there. To find out what strange sounds your headphones make, just click on this link and scroll to the very bottom of the page :
” To ensure optimal performance of the AirPods ‘ microphones and speakers (for example, to provide high-quality hearing test results), the AirPods headphones can periodically emit a quiet beep when they are in the charging case.”
In fact, this function can be called self-diagnosis of headphones. That’s just how the results of such testing can be used, no one knows, except, perhaps, Apple itself. You can’t view them in a separate app, and you can’t detect them in the settings either. It is possible that if the headphones detect some kind of failure, then in this case they will notify you, but at the time of writing this article, no mention of such behavior of the AirPods Pro 2 could be found. The most interesting thing is that Apple could have behaved a little differently, because it scared a huge number of owners of the company’s headphones with such a squeak.
It was enough just to tell about this innovation in a pop-up window, and everything would be much more transparent and understandable. Even if at the moment you still have never encountered the squeak of the AirPods Pro 2, then do not worry, sooner or later you will still hear the cherished sound. I must say right away that other headphones are not subject to this behavior. So if you have AirPods 4 or even AirPods Pro 1, then you will not hear anything from them. Good or bad, I can’t say, but it seems to me that if the headphones do not beep, but lie in the case, without making unnecessary sounds, then this is their advantage. I would also like to understand what such self-diagnosis provides and where it can be used in the future.
How to enable hearing testing in AirPods Pro 2
By the way, about the AirPods Pro 2. In the fall of 2024, the company’s headphones received several major updates that brought a large number of interesting features to them. In particular, now AirPods Pro can be used as a hearing aid. However, there is one very serious nuance. This feature works only in the USA and Canada. Unfortunately, hearing testing is also not available anywhere else by default. Here’s how you can do it :
- Connect the AirPods Pro 2 headphones to your iPhone and insert them in your ears;
- Open the Safari browser;
- Insert the following text in the address bar:
x-apple-health://HearingAppPlugin.healthplugin/HearingTest
- Tap the Go button on your keyboard;
- Follow the instructions that appear on the screen.
As you can see, you don’t need any special skills to enable hearing testing in the AirPods Pro 2. Just a browser and some free time. Keep in mind that testing should be done in a room with perfect silence. Before starting, the system will evaluate the conditions around you and let you know if it can be enabled. Be ready to tap on the screen in time. The main thing is to read carefully what you need to do. Even if you don’t need a hearing aid, take a hearing test on your iPhone. This way you’ll know for sure that you don’t have any hearing problems, or you’ll be able to figure out whether you should contact specialists.
