Apple Is About to Drastically Change the Way You Can Use Old AirPods

Apple didn’t announce new AirPods Pro at its big iPhone 16 event — the only “new” AirPod additions were the AirPods 4 (with and without active noise-cancellation) and AirPods Max with USB-C charging (and new colors) — but it did reveal that the AirPods Pro you already own are getting some new features.

If you have second-generation AirPods Pro (Lightning or USB-C models), the headline news was that Apple would be rolling out a ‘clinical grade’ hearing aid feature — which was just approved by the FDA — later this fall. Awesome. But Apple is updating the AirPods Pro with other new features, too, such as Voice Isolation and Siri Interactions (more on those below).

To try these new features, your AirPods Pro must be updated with the 7A294 firmware — which Apple has rolled out ahead of Monday’s officially iOS 18 release. Additionally, your iPhone also has to be running the public beta of iOS 18.

If your iPhone is not running the public beta — which probably isn’t worth downloading since the official release is so close — you’ll have to wait until the mass rollout of iOS 18 on Monday (September 16th) to try out these new AirPods Pro features.

Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

Improved voice quality for calls

Voice Isolation is a feature that’s been on the iPhone, Mac and iPad for nearly two years. It prioritizes your voice and blocks out ambient sounds on FaceTime phone calls — basically, it makes your voice sound clearer and better for the person/people on the other end of the line. And with the latest firmware update, it’s coming to AirPods Pro too.

To turn on Voice Isolation, make your AirPods Pro are connected and then access your iPhone’s Control Center (swipe down from the top-right corner) while you’re on a call, select Mic Mode and turn on Voice Isolation.

Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

Respond to calls with head gestures

Arguably the cooler new feature rolling out to AirPods Pro is called Siri Interactions. This allows users who are wearing AirPods Pro to interact with calls, messages and notifications with head gestures: nodding means “yes,” shaking your head means “no.” For example, you can nod to answer a call or shake your head to reject it.

According to Apple, these head gestures are “particularly helpful in crowded or quiet areas where they may not want to speak out loud.”

Once your AirPods Pro are updated, you can turn on Siri Interactions (named Head Gestures) via the Settings app.

Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

A better mobile gaming experience

If you use AirPods Pro for mobile gaming on your iPhone, this firmware delivers a new feature — called Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking — that makes games sound more immersive. According to Apple, it delivers the “best wireless audio latency Apple has ever delivered for mobile gaming.”

Additionally, this also improves the quality of your voice when playing online and chatting with other players. According to Apple, it ups your voice quality to 16-bit/48kHz.

In addition to the AirPods Pro (2nd-gen), the AirPods 3 and AirPods Max (as well as the upcoming AirPods 4) will support this feature.

Photo by Tucker Bowe for Gear Patrol

How to Update Your AirPods Pro

It’s quite simple to update your AirPods Pro. All you have to do is put both earbuds inside their charging case and make sure they’re within Bluetooth range of your iPhone. Then, flip open the case’s lid and plug the case into power. After a few minutes, the AirPods should update automatically if there’s a firmware update available.

The frustrating thing is that there’s no sure-fire way of updating your AirPods Pro. So even though an update is available, Apple might not roll it out to your device as quickly as others. If you try to update your AirPods Pro manually and they don’t get the new firmware update, all you can do is try again a little later.

To check what firmware your AirPods Pro currently have, pair them with your iPhone > open the Settings app > select your AirPods Pro > scroll down to the bottom > the firmware is shown in the “Version” tab.

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