AirPods Pro 2 with hearing aid feature

[jenifer north]

I want to buy

AirPods Pro 2's hearing aid feature​

I live in Italy and it is not available here yet. However, I can go and buy it in Monaco, not too far away.I am wondering if this would be feasible, and if this would work in Italy. I have just been quoted €5,500 for a MID PRICED hearing aid. I have MacBook Air M2 WITH SEQUOIA.

Thanks.

 

[rasg]

You can get your Airpods working in Italy despite the block if you have an Apple device (an iPhone 12 onwards OR an iPad) IF they are running an IOS older than 18.1.

You set it up in Headphone Accommodations in Accessibility in Settings.

How bad is your hearing? The Airpods are only good for mild to moderate hearing loss. The block doesn’t only work if you live in a country without approval. The block also works if your hearing is worse than moderate. The FDA in the US has set the criterion that Apple has to abide by.

I've been been using the feature since September but it has been available since September 2022 and I am using IOS 17.7.1. I used the Mimi app for my hearing test.

If I upgrade to IOS 18.1 will be unable to use them in the UK. Just like you in Italy.

They work really well for me.

 

[Night Spring]

The Airpods are only good for mild to moderate hearing loss. The block doesn’t only work if you live in a country without approval. The block also works if your hearing is worse than moderate. The FDA in the US has set the criterion that Apple has to abide by.

It's not the same block, though.

As I understand it, if you live in a country where the hearing aid function isn't approved, the function isn't available at all.

If you do live in a country with hearing aid approval, but have worse than moderate hearing loss, iOS doesn't automatically set up the AirPods for you as hearing aids based on your hearing test. But you can enter a hearing chart for a moderate hearing loss manually. The AirPods will then function as hearing aids configured for moderate hearing loss. Whether that amplification benefits you will depend on your individual situation.

 

[rasg]

You are right but if you set them up running on an IOS that is older than 18.1 they will still work for you.

If you have severe hearing loss they simply won't have sufficient volume BUT I know a few people with severe loss who do use the AirPods as a backup to their hearing aids and use them for music, TV, phone calls etc where they are really good.

I've heard two conflicting opinions on the volume of them using 18.1. A few saying they can go louder and others say the opposite.

 

[Night Spring]

You are right but if you set them up running on an IOS that is older than 18.1 they will still work for you.

If you have severe hearing loss they simply won't have sufficient volume BUT I know a few people with severe loss who do use the AirPods as a backup to their hearing aids and use them for music, TV, phone calls etc where they are really good.

I've heard two conflicting opinions on the volume of them using 18.1. A few saying they can go louder and others say the opposite.

Well... I skipped iOS 17, but on iOS 16, there was no true hearing aid function, just the Live Listening, which required me to place my iPhone close to the sound source I wanted to listen to.

The amplification I get from iOS 18's hearing aid mode is vastly superior to what I got from Live Listening on iOS 16. More clear, more stable. Volume, I don't know. It's not the volume itself that matters, more whether the sounds are sharp and distinct, not muddled.

 

[rasg]

I rewrote this.

Well... I skipped iOS 17, but on iOS 16, there was no true hearing aid function, just the Live Listening, which required me to place my iPhone close to the sound source I wanted to listen to.

The amplification I get from iOS 18's hearing aid mode is vastly superior to what I got from Live Listening on iOS 16. More clear, more stable. Volume, I don't know. It's not the volume itself that matters, more whether the sounds are sharp and distinct, not muddled.

I'm sorry but you are wrong on that. Transparency Mode and the ability to add your audiogram to AirPods was introduced on the AirPods Pro in IOS 14 way back in 2020. AirPod Pro 2s were launched in September 2022 around the same time that IOS 16 was released.

An article I found but there are many out there:

Apple Introduces Hearing Aid Functionality to Airpods Pro

Apple has introduced hearing aid functionality to Airpods Pro as part of their new IOS update, don't throw your hearing aids away just yet though

www.hearingaidknow.com

My main point about volume is purely aimed at people with worse than Moderate hearing problems. It goes without saying that the sounds have be sharp and distinct but that's what the different frequency boosts from the audiogram to each ear do.

Someone with severe or profound hearing loss will need much more volume going into their ears to hear much at all.

I've heard two conflicting opinions on the volume of them using 18.1. A few saying they can go louder and others say the opposite.

Here is a better explanation of what I said. I was working at the same time and I wasn't clear.

It is whether IOS 18.1 provides more volume than the previous option or less. I've heard people are saying both which can't be possible.

As I've said before they work very well for me running IOS 17.7.1 and I think I have better control as they’ve really simplified the menus in IOS 18.1.

Anybody living in a country that has not been approved can get them working as hearing aids as long as they use an IOS older than 18.1. I've only been told that it's not possible to roll back to IOS 17 but it's not something I have tried as I never updated to 18.1 in the first place.