AirPods 4
The new AirPods 4 are the most advanced and comfortable headphones Apple has ever created with an open-ear design, and today, customers can choose between two distinct models: AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). AirPods Max now come in midnight, starlight, blue, purple, and orange, and offer USB-C charging for more convenience. This fall, AirPods Pro 2 will introduce the world’s first end-to-end hearing health experience, delivering active Hearing Protection, a scientifically validated Hearing Test, and a clinical-grade Hearing Aid feature.
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Delivering a massive improvement in sound quality, AirPods 4 feature an entirely new acoustic architecture, low-distortion driver, and high dynamic range amplifier, and add Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking for the most immersive media experience. With the H2 chip, AirPods 4 unlock intelligent audio experiences only Apple silicon can deliver, such as Voice Isolation, enabling clearer call quality no matter the environmental conditions, and Siri Interactions, allowing users to simply nod their head yes or gently shake their head no to respond to Siri announcements. For even more control, AirPods 4 also feature a new force sensor on the stem to play or pause media and mute or end calls with a quick press.
Volume controls still seem to be limited to AirPods Pro.
Apple (Hacker News):
AirPods Pro add an innovative over-the-counter Hearing Aid capability for users with mild to moderate hearing loss. Using the personalized hearing profile from the Hearing Test, this new feature seamlessly transforms AirPods Pro into a clinical-grade hearing aid. After setup, the feature enables personalized dynamic adjustments so users have the sounds around them boosted in real time. This helps them better engage in conversation, and keeps them connected to the people and environment around them. With the incredible audio quality of AirPods Pro, the user’s personalized hearing profile is automatically applied to music, movies, games, and phone calls across their devices, without needing to adjust any settings. Users can also set up the Hearing Aid feature with an audiogram created by a hearing health professional.
My hearing aids are waterproof, the battery lasts 5 days (discardable) or 18-22 hours (rechargeable), and I can stream directly from my phone. The main quirks I have to deal with are bugs on iOS that fail to handle headphones being paired all the time (CarPlay, mainly). I can control the volume on my hearing aids, change programs for loud environments, and can often hear better than my friends in those loud environments.
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I don’t mean to dunk on the AirPods and their potential for people who don’t have or don’t want to try hearing aids. But if the people around you are that dissatisfied with their hearing aids then it really sounds like something’s gone wrong in the dispensing process.
Apple today announced that the AirPods Max are being updated with a USB-C charging port and new color options, including Midnight, Blue, Purple, Orange, and Starlight.
Previously:
Update (2024-09-12): Saagar Jha:
Interestingly AirPods 4 have a shorter advertised battery life than AirPods 3: from 6 hours to 5
Update (2024-09-17): Hartley Charlton:
Various media outlets and YouTube channels today shared their first impressions of the AirPods 4, reviewing the changes Apple has made to enhance comfort, sound, and functionality.
Update (2024-09-23): See also: Billy Steele (via MacRumors).
Update (2024-10-16): Jason Snell:
On the one hand, the fact that you can get noise cancellation on base AirPods is amazing. Their hard plastic body means that they can’t make a soft seal like the silicone tips on the AirPods Pro can, so there’s more outside audio leakage to compensate for. However, there’s a huge advantage there: If you can’t stand silicone ear tips sticking into your ears, maybe the AirPods 4 will let you finally use ANC AirPods for the first time.
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But here’s the thing: While AirPods 4 with noise cancellation are a step up from the base model and from previous models, that $70 difference (only $20 if you can find AirPods Pro 2 on Amazon for $199, as I can right now) between the models comes with a huge leap in quality.
When I put the AirPods 4 with ANC in my ears while the house next door was being loudly power washed, I could hear my music and the faint sound of power washing. On an airplane, the hum of the engines was tamped down. Great! But in contrast, when I used my AirPods Pro 2 in those situations, the power washing sound was gone, and so was the hum of the engines. Apple’s claim that the AirPods Pro are twice as good at noise cancellation might be a bit of a head-scratcher in terms of how it’s calculated, but it’s not wrong.
Update (2024-10-21): Steve Troughton-Smith:
The ANC AirPods 4 certainly passed the ✈️ test. Blown away by how effective they are for regular old earbuds — completely nullify the noise of the airplane and make listening to music (and announcements) easy. Coming from the AirPods Max, I’m impressed.
Update (2024-10-30): John Voorhees (via Steven Aquino):
My brief experience with hearing assistance has been wild and surprising in a very good way. I’m fortunate that my hearing loss is mild. At the same time, though, the difference from using hearing assistance is so noticeable that I don’t want to take my AirPods out of my ears. I’m sure the novelty of hearing assistance will wear off and become the ‘new normal,’ but I won’t forget the experience of those first hours using it. It was remarkable.
Tried the Hearing Aid test and features in iOS 18 today. It varies between moderate and severe (~60 dB) and is willing to function as hearing aids, but I’m unable to consistently understand speech with them.
