Monday’s WWDC could prove an epochal event in Apple’s history, but aside from all the excitement about the future of Apple Intelligence, we’re also pretty stoked that our present day AirPods Pro 2 are getting a significant update this year!
Apple announced that, once iOS 18 launches this autumn, AirPods Pro 2 users will have the ability to answer calls hands and voice free, while there are also new voice isolation tools to ensure the recipient can hear you loud and crystal clear in noisy environments. Apple is also making gaming better thanks to improved Personalised Spacial Audio.
Here’s the lowdown on the new AirPods Pro tools coming in iOS 18.
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Siri Interactions
When you get an incoming announcement from Siri via AirPods Pro 2 – whether it’s a call, message or other notifications, you’ll be able to gently nod yes or shake your head no to inform the assistant whether you intend to entertain it.
Apple isn’t explaining how it will work right now, but says it’ll only work with the second generation AirPods Pro because the tech requires machine learning skills on the H2 chip. There’s surely some accelerometer involvement too, but it’ll be interesting to see how this works when you’re performing regular activities with your AirPods in, rather than being stationary.
Currently, you can press the stem on your AirPods Pro to answer the call, while double pressing will decline a call, but soon you’ll be able to go hands free.
Voice Isolation
This sounds like a definite quality of life update for AirPods Pro users. Again enabled by machine learning in the H2 chip, Apple has found a way to get rid of background noise on calls, so your voice transmits via AirPods Pro 2 to the recipient clearly in any environment.
In a Newsroom post Apple says: “To deliver the best call quality no matter the environmental conditions, AirPods Pro introduce Voice Isolation, expanding the game-changing feature available on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Machine learning, running on the H2 chip in AirPods Pro and the paired iPhone, iPad, or Mac, isolates and enhances voice quality while removing significant background noise — like wind around the caller — for the listener.”
Personalised Spatial Audio for gaming.
This one’s for AirPods (3rd generation), AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max users and it is designed to enhance the gaming experience, in the same way Spatial Audio has enhanced music and movies. Apple says it’ll bring the same immersive experience when gaming.
Improved latency for gaming
Finally, for AirPods Pro users Apple is rolling out its best ever wireless audio latency for gaming via the new Game Mode for iPhone that gives games priority over system resources and reduces background activity.
Apple also says AirPods Pro users will get better voice quality (16-bit, 48kHz) for teamspeak. Apple is making a developer API available to make this easy for devs to integrate the tech.
