The spotlight is on iOS 18 due to the much talked about news related togenerative artificial intelligence. But the next update of the iPhone operating system will also bring with it something else, such as the “Hearing Aid Mode” for AirPods.
The indiscretion comes from one of the most reliable sources in the sector, Mark Gurman. The journalist of Bloombergvia its newsletter Power On (via MacRumors), informs its readers that the AirPods Pro will almost certainly support the aforementioned function with iOS 18, whose launch is scheduled for autumn.
However, this is not the first time we have heard of a feature of this type, capable of transforming Apple’s Bluetooth earphones into hearing aids. The first rumor was launched by Wall Street Journal in 2021. The US newspaper presented this novelty as an exclusive of the AirPods Pro first generation. However, the rumor has always remained the same.
The Cupertino company has in fact presented in the meantime the second generation of high-end Bluetooth earphonesand – in recent times – also a version with a case porta USB-C for charging.
AirPods as hearing aids: what the FDA says
But can a function introduced via software transform “simple” earphones into more sophisticated hearing aids? According to FDAa hearing aid is any wearable device designed to help people with hearing problems to compensate them.
Then, in August 2022, the FDA itself approved a new category of over-the-counter hearing aid products (Personal sound amplification products, PSAP). More precisely, we are talking about electronic devices intended for deaf consumers to amplify sounds in certain environments. The PSAPs “they are not intended to treat, cure, mitigate or prevent disease and do not affect the structure or function of the body“, explains the government body.
This is to say that Apple probably it will not necessarily need FDA approval to present and publicize the rumored new feature of the AirPods such as “Hearing Aid Mode”.
Gurman will provide some additional details on this in the coming weeks, no doubt. However, it will not be necessary to wait too long to “discover” the truth: iOS 18, together with the other major updates, will be presented by Apple at WWDC24 in June.