The features list for Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 continues to grow. One of the key updates in the last few months was the addition of a Hearing Aid capability, so that users who had mild or moderate hearing loss could wear the earbuds. Apple announced on Monday, Feb. 24 that this feature is now available in the U.K. as a free software update.
The feature is already live in several countries but until now only the Hearing Test was available to British users. That test was useful to tell users if they had hearing issues, but now they can use AirPods Pro 2 as regular hearing aids.
The test plays a series of tones and the user touches the display when they hear them. It’s designed so that you can’t game the test by simply pressing rhythmically for the 5 minutes it lasts.
The Hearing Aid feature is now live because of U.K. government changes. “With the new policy guidance from the U.K. Department of Health and Social Care, we look forward to bringing the hearing aid feature on AirPods Pro 2 in the coming weeks to help improve the daily lives of so many U.K. users,” Apple said.
The Hearing Test provides a personalized hearing profile which allows the AirPods to work as a hearing aid. It’s a clinical-grade hearing aid, too with the ability to let users adjust the experience easily at any time.
Regular hearing aids are designed to work for longer periods, but AirPods Pro 2 will need recharging after a matter of hours, which may not be ideal. However, a quick charge by placing the earbuds in the AirPods case for five minutes gives another hour of usage.
The new feature is available right now—it doesn’t need a new iOS update to be delivered, Apple makes it happen server-side.
And a big benefit of wearing AirPods Pro 2 as a hearing aid is escaping the stigma that some feel comes with traditional hearing aids.
