Apple AirPods: Update Brings New Possibilities

It’s not just the iPhone and Macs that are getting new features these days – Apple’s AirPods are also being improved. In the future, users will be able to communicate with Siri without speaking. The call quality in noisy environments will also be even better.

Siri Interactions

As Apple announced, AirPods Pro owners will soon be able to interact with the new version of Siri without speaking. Users can, for example, simply respond to announcements from the voice assistant with a slight nod or shake of the head while wearing their AirPods. This makes it possible to accept or reject calls, interact with messages or manage notifications. These so-called Siri interactions can be useful in environments where it is particularly loud or where speaking is not possible.

Voice isolation

Another new feature is that call quality will be improved even further. More specifically, the upcoming update will also include Apple’s voice isolation for the AirPods Pro. The technology is already used on the iPhone, iPad and Mac. It isolates the caller’s voice and blocks out ambient noise even more effectively. This means the person on the other end of the line can understand the voice of the person they are talking to even better.

3D audio for gaming

Video game fans will be particularly pleased about the third and final new feature. According to Apple, personalized 3D audio with dynamic head tracking gives gamers a particularly “more immersive listening experience.”

In contrast to the two previously mentioned features, owners of third-generation AirPods and AirPods Max owners can enjoy the new feature in addition to owners of AirPods Pro. AirPods Pro offer “the best wireless audio latency Apple has ever made possible for mobile gaming.” AirPods Max receive improved voice quality, including 16-bit, 48 kHz audio.

Update in autumn

However, only a beta version of the new software is currently available for developers. As with iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia, the update for everyone else will not be available until autumn. So it will be a while before Apple AirPods owners can use the new features.