Technology
TechCrunch Minute: FDA Approval Clears Way for Apple’s AirPod Hearing Aids
During last week’s GlowTime event, Apple announced that iOS 18 will include a feature that may allow users with mild to moderate hearing loss to make use of AirPods as hearing aids.
But Apple was still waiting for FDA approval—approval that was announced just days later. The FDA described it as the primary “over-the-counter hearing aid software,” and certainly one of its leaders suggested it could possibly be “another step that increases the availability, affordability, and acceptability of hearing support for adults with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss.”
TechCrunch’s Brian Heater tried out a partial version of the feature last week. It won’t be available to those with standard AirPods, just like the ones I’m wearing now; you will need the corporate’s latest premium headphones, the AirPods Pro 2, since the feature leverages the Pro’s passive noise cancellation and H2 chip.
In today’s TechCrunch Minute, we discuss how Apple’s hearing test works and the way it’s changing the hearing aid market.