iOS 17 brought several new features to AirPods Pro 2. During the WWDC 2024 keynote, Apple also announced that the new iOS 18 system, alongside an AirPods Pro firmware update, would bring even more functions to Apple’s best earbuds later this year.
Among the changes, Apple announced the following:
- Siri Interactions: This feature lets you interact with phone calls, messages, notifications, and more by simply nodding or shaking your head.
- Voice Isolation: This feature is making the jump from the iPhone, iPad, and Mac directly to the AirPods Pro. Machine learning, running on the H2 chip in AirPods Pro and the paired iPhone, iPad, or Mac, isolates and enhances voice quality while removing significant background noise for the listener.
- Personalized Spatial Audio for games: When using AirPods Pro, gamers will now have the best wireless audio latency Apple has ever delivered for mobile gaming. AirPods Pro users can also enjoy improved voice quality, including 16-bit and 48kHz audio, when chatting with teammates and other players.
While these features will already make an enticing upgrade for AirPods Pro 2 users, a hidden feature remains. Discovered by Headphonesty, it seems Apple wants to give users more control over noise cancellation.
According to the publication, code references found on AirPods firmware show Apple wants to improve last year’s Adaptive Audio by giving users more control over noise cancellation. Once this feature is released, users can ask Siri to “remove more noise” or “remove less noise.”
Here’s how Apple describes Adaptive Audio:
A new listening mode that dynamically blends Transparency mode and Active Noise Cancellation together based on the conditions of a user’s environment to deliver the best experience at the moment. This will seamlessly tailor the noise control experience while users move between environments and interactions that are constantly changing throughout the day
That said, if Apple gets Adaptive wrong, you can tell Siri to adjust to better fit your needs.
iOS 18 and AirPods’ upcoming firmware updates are still in the early beta stages. BGR will let you know once we learn more about other features that might be released later this year.