Apple Are Entering The Audiology World

It is rumoured that Apple’s new AirPods Pro will reportedly gain ‘hearing aid mode’ with iOS18 in late 2024. So what does this mean for you?

Well, you may be aware that they have a couple of features already for hearing impaired people; ‘live listen’ feature launched in 2018 which streams sound via the iPhone’s microphone to either Bluetooth enabled hearing aids or Airpods. The other feature they have now is ‘conversation boost’ launched in 2021 that tries to amplify sound.

What will this new ‘hearing aid mode’ do differently? To be honest, we are unsure at this stage but all will likely be revealed at their Keynote Conference on 10th June 2024. What we do know is that iOS18 is due mid-September 2024. Its rumoured that the 3rd incarnation of the Airpods Pro is due late 2024 or early 2025.

Our predictions for Apple’s ‘hearing aid mode’ and what it means for the audiology industry stem from the fact they are one of the most well known and trusted companies in the world and have one of the largest advertising budgets to boot.

The hearing aid mode does not sound like a standalone product, Apple are rolling this out into their top selling Airpods Pro product line. Therefore it could be likely that Apple could push this feature as the main focus of the advertising for the new product aimed at the older generation.

Apple clearly want a piece of the global hearing aid market which is worth upwards of $8 Billion a year and growing. This could cause some confusion given that people looking for a hearing solution will see that Airpods Pro cost significantly less than a pair of prescription hearing aids from an audiologist.

However, we believe that Apple entering the audiology market will be a good thing for breaking the stigma surrounding hearing aid use. Most of us know Apple as the biggest and ‘coolest’ technology company in the world and they will be talking about the benefits of better hearing. Apple should help normalise the treatment of hearing loss in my eyes; it will help make hearing loss a normal conversation around the dinner table, help people understand the benefits of better hearing and generally just putting hearing loss on people’s radars - that they may have a certain level of hearing ability and what could better hearing sound like.

We believe normalising hearing treatment will start to make the pathway of seeking help from an audiologist an easier journey for all parties. This will not happen overnight but hopefully normalising hearing aids will amount to less stress surrounding vanity concerns and people perceiving wearing hearing aids as ‘aging’.

One rumour about the iOS update is that users will be able to perform a simplified hearing test though the Airpods Pro via the iPhone - this will then reprogram the frequency response where necessary. Again, this is something that will help normalise having a hearing test, as its something that most adults do not have on a regular basis (unlike check ups at the dentist or optician).

We think many people will buy the new Airpods Pro as a result of the hearing aid mode and experience the benefits. However what they will soon likely release is that they need a full time solution. This will probably be due to battery life (a few hours as appose to a full day with current hearing aid technology) and also the perception that is it deemed antisocial to wear Airpods/earbuds in certain social situations e.g. while out to dinner in company. So we believe a lot of people will come to the conclusion they need significantly more than what the Airpods can offer as a hearing aid.

High Peak Hearing will keep you updated on the subject as and when we hear more. Its certainly very interesting that such a huge tech company is taking hearing loss seriously.