New AirPods update: Allows You To Customize Noise Cancellation

The latest AirPods firmware shows that Apple is working on a new control to allow further customization of noise cancellation. This was previously unknown, or at least the change was not announced.

Customize noise cancellation

Apple announced a number of new features for the AirPods family at the WWDC developer conference, but did not mention customizable noise cancellation.

Now the online magazine Headphonesty is reporting that a new feature called “Customizable Adaptive Audio” has been discovered in the firmware beta for the headphones. AirPods Pro users can not only switch noise cancellation on or off, but also use adaptive audio, which dynamically changes the level of suppression or transparency depending on the environment.

So the AirPods Pro already increase or decrease the noise cancellation depending on whether the environment is quiet or loud. But they do this automatically – but that’s not really what you want as a user, you need an individual setting depending on the situation.

According to Headphonesty, that’s exactly what Apple is working on. However, “Customizable Adaptive Audio” allows users to adjust the level of noise cancellation to their needs. The code indicates that there will be options labeled “remove more noise” and “remove less noise.”

It’s not clear when this firmware update will be released, and there are no indications. However, it’s most likely the same update that adds the ability to shake or nod your head to reject or accept calls – unless Apple delays one of those feature releases.

Apple heavily promoted this call-answering update during the WWDC keynote, so it’s likely that it will be released alongside iOS 18 later in 2024.