TechAudioHeadphonesEarbudsApple’s AirPods could become HearPodsApple’s earbuds could deliver better health tracking and help your hearing tooWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
TechAudioHeadphonesEarbudsApple’s AirPods could become HearPodsApple’s earbuds could deliver better health tracking and help your hearing tooWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Apple’s earbuds could deliver better health tracking and help your hearing too
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Apple)
(Image credit: Apple)
Apple’sAirPods Pro 2are among the verybest true wireless earbudsyou can buy. But Apple is thinking about using them for more than just music.
That’s bad news for existing hearing-health apps, of course. But having it there in every AirPod could mean more people checking their hearing and taking action before things get really bad, and that has to be a plus.
The second form is temperature sensing. TheApple Watch Series 8and Ultra include body temperature sensing to help with cycle tracking, but it’s not as accurate as, say, an ear thermometer. Apple is reportedly working on integrated temperature sensors that would deliver much more accurate information to your Health app.
How could AirPods become HearPods?
The bit I’m really interested in is in hearing help.
After many decades of standing next to huge guitar amplifiers on small stages, my hearing is absolutely shot but the cost of hearing aids is frightening – largely because in many territories they’re regulated as medical devices, which adds a lot of cost and keeps a lot of people out of the market.
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That’s changing, though. In the US, the FDA, which regulates medical devices, has eased the rules on hearing aids. AirPods already offer some hearing aid-style features: the AirPods Pro 2 include Conversation Boost and Live Listen, which are both very helpful but aren’t FDA-approved.
But the FDA has massively relaxed its rules. That’s opened a door that firms such asSonyhave already walked through, and Apple’s taking a peek too.
According to Gurman, Apple has hired engineers from traditional hearing aid firms to help it with this move, and I think that’s very exciting: traditional hearing aids don’t benefit from the economies of scale that Apple gets, and that – and the lack of competition – means that hearing assistance is ridiculously expensive. So expensive, in fact, that hearing aids make AirPods Pro 2 sound like budget buys.
According to Which? in the UK, private buyers pay on average £2,700 a pair, more than ten times the price of the AirPods Pro 2. As my own hearing deteriorates, HearPods can’t come quickly enough.
TOPICSappleAirPodsapple watch
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