13 September 2024

Apple launches AirPod hearing aids

The FDA has approved Apple to provide hearing aid features as part of its latest software update for AirPod users.

Owners of AirPod Pro 2s and iOS 18 can use the new software to take a hearing test, the results of which will be stored as an audiogram and used to transform the device into a "personalised hearing aid".

The five-minute clinically validated test requires users to tap the screen when they hear a series of tones at different volumes and frequencies.

Apple said the new technology would "help people better understand their hearing health" through three features:

• Prevention - through ear-tip design and noise cancelling
• Awareness - through its self-administered hearing test
• Assistance - by applying the hearing profile to music, videos and phone calls.

Apple has developed the software since the FDA's 2022 decision to license over-the-counter hearing aids opened the door to cheaper amplification options for people with mild-to-moderate hearing loss.

President Biden signed an executive order: "This action makes good on my commitment to lower costs for American families, delivering nearly $3,000 in savings to American families for a pair of hearing aids and giving people more choices to improve their health and wellbeing," he said.

The need to drive down cost is less of a barrier in the UK, where hearing aids are available on the NHS despite long waits and inequalities in access. Over-the-counter hearing aids are not widely available in the UK. Hearing aids are fitted by regulated healthcare professionals as part of a hearing assessment with fitting and follow-up care.

In a press release, the FDA described the Apple product as "the first over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid software device". A clinical study of 118 subjects with perceived mild-to-moderate hearing loss found that the benefit when the participant programmed the Apple software alone was equally beneficial as when programmed by a professional.

Comments below the line after Apple's announcement indicated a strong appetite for the new technology, with discussion around reducing stigma and costs. One commentator who tried the AirPod technology had a hearing aid fitted as a result. "I was able to have my aids set to 100% from day one as I was already used to the correction," he said. "I've now been wearing my aids for about 15 hours per day every day for a month and love them."