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Apple introduces AirPods 4 and the world’s first all-in-one hearing health experience with AirPods Pro 2

Dan Uff September 9, 2024 0 2

September 9, 2024

PRESS RELEASE

Apple introduces AirPods 4 and the world’s first all-in-one hearing health experience with AirPods Pro 2

The new AirPods lineup includes a brand-new design for AirPods 4, a new array of colors for AirPods Max, and revolutionary Hearing Protection, Hearing Test, and Hearing Aid features for AirPods Pro 2

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today announced a groundbreaking new lineup of AirPods models and features. The new AirPods 4 are the most advanced and comfortable headphones Apple has ever created with an open-ear design, and today, customers can choose between two distinct models: AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). AirPods Max now come in midnight, starlight, blue, purple, and orange, and offer USB-C charging for more convenience. This fall, AirPods Pro 2 will introduce the world’s first end-to-end hearing health experience, delivering active Hearing Protection,¹ a scientifically validated Hearing Test, and a clinical-grade Hearing Aid feature.²

AirPods 4 and AirPods Max will be available to pre-order starting today, with availability in stores beginning Friday, September 20. New hearing health features will be available this fall for AirPods Pro 2 users in more than 100 countries and regions.

“With AirPods 4, customers can enjoy Active Noise Cancellation and the most advanced audio experience ever in an open-ear design,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering. “And with a revolutionary update to the world’s best-selling headphones, AirPods Pro will deliver groundbreaking new capabilities — including Hearing Test and Hearing Aid features — to help more than a billion people affected by hearing loss.”

AirPods 4 Unveil an Industry-Defining Design

With incredible sound quality, up to 24-hour battery life with the charging case, and an iconic design, the original AirPods offered wireless convenience and seamless pairing with the Apple ecosystem of products. That experience gets even better with AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC, offering a brand-new fit and an array of powerful features and capabilities.

AirPods 4 are the best headphones Apple has ever created with an open-ear design, setting an entirely new benchmark for fit and comfort. The new design is built with an unparalleled data set that uses advanced modeling tools, like 3D photogrammetry and laser topography, to precisely map and analyze thousands of ear shapes and over 50 million individual data points in total. This process helped refine the design to deliver the most comfortable AirPods ever with one shape that naturally fits even more users around the world.

Delivering a massive improvement in sound quality, AirPods 4 feature an entirely new acoustic architecture, low-distortion driver, and high dynamic range amplifier, and add Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking for the most immersive media experience. With the H2 chip, AirPods 4 unlock intelligent audio experiences only Apple silicon can deliver, such as Voice Isolation, enabling clearer call quality no matter the environmental conditions, and Siri Interactions, allowing users to simply nod their head yes or gently shake their head no to respond to Siri announcements. For even more control, AirPods 4 also feature a new force sensor on the stem to play or pause media and mute or end calls with a quick press. Thanks to the H2 chip, AirPods 4 are also great for gaming, delivering low wireless audio latency and excellent voice quality when chatting with teammates and other players, including support for 16-bit, 48kHz audio.

For additional convenience, the charging case now offers USB-C charging and is more than 10 percent smaller in volume than its predecessor — all while still delivering up to 30 hours of battery life.³ In addition to a USB-C charging cable, customers that choose AirPods 4 with ANC can charge using an Apple Watch charger or Qi-certified charger, and at just 50mm wide, the charging case is the smallest in the industry with wireless charging capabilities.

AirPods 4 Bring ANC to an Open-Ear Fit

For the first time, AirPods 4 bring ANC to an open-ear design with an additional model. With upgraded microphones, the power of the H2 chip, and advanced computational audio, AirPods 4 with ANC help to reduce environmental noise like airplane engines, city traffic, and more. Working across hardware and software to deliver the most natural listening experience, AirPods 4 with ANC also introduce intelligent features like Transparency mode to keep users aware of their environment; Adaptive Audio, which dynamically blends Transparency mode and ANC based on the conditions of a user’s environment; and Conversation Awareness, which lowers the user’s media volume when they start speaking to someone nearby.

AirPods Max Get Five New Colors

AirPods Max are available in five beautiful new colors, including midnight, starlight, blue, orange, and purple, and offer complementary finishes alongside other Apple products like Mac and iPad. Additionally, AirPods Max now feature USB-C charging capabilities, making them more convenient than ever to charge at home or on the go.

AirPods Pro 2 Introduce the World’s First All-in-One Hearing Health Experience

Approximately 1.5 billion people around the world are living with hearing loss, according to the World Health Organization. Building on years of work in hearing health — including the Noise app on Apple Watch, headphone audio levels with iPhone, hearing accessibility features, and the Apple Hearing Study — Apple is introducing an end-to-end experience focused on prevention, awareness, and assistance.

Prevention

According to the Apple Hearing Study, one in three people are regularly exposed to loud environmental noise levels that can impact their hearing. That can include common scenarios like taking the subway while commuting, mowing the lawn at home, attending a sporting event, and many more. In order to help users prevent exposure to loud environmental noise while preserving the sound signature of what they’re listening to, Hearing Protection comes to AirPods Pro. The ear tips help to provide passive noise reduction, while the H2 chip helps to actively reduce louder, more intermittent noise at 48,000 times per second. On by default across all listening modes, Hearing Protection is helpful in a variety of loud settings. Plus, with an all-new multiband high dynamic range algorithm, sounds at live events like concerts remain natural and vibrant so users don’t miss a beat.

Awareness

Apple is also introducing a scientifically validated Hearing Test feature with AirPods Pro and a compatible iPhone or iPad, expanding the ability for users to quickly check their hearing from the comfort of their home in minutes. The test is simple to take, utilizes a standard clinical approach called pure-tone audiometry, leverages advanced acoustic science, and provides users with an interactive experience. When a user completes the test, they will see an easy-to-understand summary of their results in a personalized hearing profile for AirPods Pro, which is stored privately and securely in their Health app. Users can also share these results with their healthcare providers for more informed conversations.

Assistance

“Hearing health is an essential part of our overall wellbeing, yet it can often be overlooked — in fact, according to the Apple Hearing Study, a staggering 75 percent of people diagnosed with hearing loss go untreated,” said Sumbul Desai, M.D., Apple’s vice president of Health. “We’re thrilled to provide breakthrough software features with AirPods Pro that put users’ hearing health front and center, bringing new ways to help test for and receive assistance for hearing loss.”

AirPods Pro also add an innovative, over-the-counter Hearing Aid capability for users with mild to moderate hearing loss. Using the personalized hearing profile from the Hearing Test, this new feature seamlessly transforms AirPods Pro into a clinical-grade hearing aid. After setup, the feature enables personalized dynamic adjustments so users have the sounds around them boosted in real time. This helps users better engage in conversation and keeps them connected to the people and environment around them. With the incredible audio quality of AirPods Pro, the user’s personalized hearing profile is automatically applied to music, movies, games, and phone calls across their devices without needing to adjust any settings. This first-of-its-kind software-based Hearing Aid feature brings users the ability to fine-tune their experience at any time, making access to hearing assistance easier than ever at an approachable price point. Users can also set up the Hearing Aid feature with an audiogram created by a hearing health professional. Both the Hearing Test and Hearing Aid features are grounded in science and were validated through rigorous scientific studies. The Hearing Test and Hearing Aid features are expected to receive marketing authorization from global health authorities soon, and will be available this fall in more than 100 countries and regions, including the United States, Germany, and Japan.

After taking the Hearing Test, users can also use their hearing profile to personalize the AirPods Pro listening experience. This benefits even more people, including those with little to no hearing loss, who can take advantage of specific adjustments at individual frequencies. To help provide the best listening experience, Media Assist is an all-new feature that helps boost certain parts of speech on a phone call or instruments within a soundtrack to help an even broader population.

Better for the Environment

AirPods are designed to minimize their impact on the environment. The new AirPods 4 design includes the use of 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets and 100 percent recycled gold in the plating of multiple printed circuit boards. The case also uses 100 percent recycled tin in the solder of the main logic board and 100 percent recycled aluminum in the hinge. AirPods 4 are free of potentially harmful substances such as mercury, BFRs, and PVC. In a first for AirPods, 100 percent of the packaging is made using fiber-based materials, bringing Apple closer to its goal of completely removing plastic from all packaging by 2025. Additionally, Apple reduced the packaging volume by more than 30 percent compared to the previous generation, which helps decrease emissions from shipping and move closer to Apple’s commitment of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

Pricing and Availability

Customers can now pre-order AirPods 4 for $129 (U.S.) from apple.com/store and in the Apple Store app in the U.S. and more than 58 other countries and regions, with availability beginning Friday, September 20.

Customers can now pre-order AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation for $179 (U.S.) from apple.com/storeand in the Apple Store app in the U.S. and more than 58 other countries and regions, with availability beginning Friday, September 20.

New hearing health features will be available this fall for AirPods Pro 2 customers in a free software update when paired with iPhone or iPad running iOS 18 or iPadOS 18.

AirPods Pro 2 are available for $249 (U.S.) from apple.com/store and in the Apple Store app today.

Customers can now pre-order AirPods Max with USB-C charging for $549 (U.S.) from apple.com/store and in the Apple Store app in the U.S. and more than 60 other countries and regions, with availability beginning Friday, September 20.

New subscribers can get Apple Music free for three months with the purchase of any AirPods, AirPods Pro, or AirPods Max. See apple.com/promo for details.

For full feature functionality, use AirPods 4, AirPods Pro 2, and AirPods Max paired with an Apple device running the latest operating system software.

AppleCare+ for Headphones provides unparalleled service and support. This includes unlimited incidents of accidental damage, battery service coverage, and priority support from the people who know AirPods best.

About Apple Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro. Apple’s six software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV+. Apple’s more than 150,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth and to leaving the world better than we found it.

The Hearing Protection feature works with AirPods Pro 2 with the latest firmware when paired with a compatible iPhone, iPad, or Mac running the latest operating system software. The feature will be available in the U.S. and Canada. See support.apple.com/120850 for total attenuation and more information.
The Hearing Test and Hearing Aid features are expected to be available fall 2024. The Hearing Aid feature is pending marketing authorization from global health authorities. The Hearing Test and Hearing Aid features will be supported on AirPods Pro 2 with the latest firmware paired with a compatible iPhone or iPad with iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 and later, and are intended for people 18 years or older. The Hearing Aid feature is intended for people with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss.
Battery life varies by use. See apple.com/batteries for details.

Press Contacts

Emily Ewing

Apple

e_ewing@apple.com

Lance Lin

Apple

lance_lin@apple.com

Apple Media Helpline

media.help@apple.com

Apple introduces groundbreaking health features to support conditions impacting billions of people

Apple Inc September 9, 2024 0 2

September 9, 2024

PRESS RELEASE

Apple introduces groundbreaking health features to support conditions impacting billions of people

Apple Watch delivers new sleep apnea notifications, and AirPods Pro 2 provide the world’s first all-in-one hearing health experience including a clinical-grade, over-the-counter Hearing Aid feature

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today unveiled breakthrough sleep and hearing health features coming to Apple Watch and AirPods Pro 2 that further deliver on Apple’s commitment to health with experiences that enrich users’ lives. These new features expand across products, bringing informative and powerful ways to support users in their sleep and hearing health for conditions that impact billions globally.

Using an innovative new Breathing Disturbances metric, sleep apnea notifications come to Apple Watch, adding to the many ways Apple Watch acts as an intelligent guardian for users’ health. The sleep apnea notifications are expected to receive marketing authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other global health authorities soon, with availability this month in more than 150 countries and regions, including the U.S., the EU, and Japan.¹

Apple is providing the world’s first all-in-one hearing health experience with AirPods Pro with active Hearing Protection,² a clinically validated Hearing Test feature, and an over-the-counter Hearing Aid feature. The first-of-its-kind software-based Hearing Aid feature helps make access to hearing assistance easier than ever at an approachable price point. The Hearing Test and Hearing Aid features are expected to receive marketing authorization from global health authorities soon, and will be available this fall in more than 100 countries and regions, including the U.S., Germany, and Japan.³

“At Apple, we believe that technology can help you live a healthier life, and we’re excited to enable incredible new health capabilities for serious conditions that affect billions of people around the world, while continuing to keep user data private,” said Sumbul Desai, M.D., Apple’s vice president of Health. “With Apple Watch, we continue to offer our users the ability to uncover important health conditions with new sleep apnea notifications. And on AirPods Pro, powerful features put users’ hearing health front and center, bringing new ways to help test for and receive assistance for hearing loss.”

A Powerful Way to Detect Signs of Sleep Apnea

Sleep is an important area of health as it impacts a person’s overall physical and mental wellbeing. Sleep apnea is a prevalent disorder in which breathing momentarily stops during sleep, preventing the body from getting enough oxygen. The condition is estimated to impact more than 1 billion people worldwide, and in most cases, goes undiagnosed. If left untreated, it can have important health consequences over time, including increased risk of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and cardiac issues.

Breathing Disturbances is an innovative new Apple Watch metric that uses the accelerometer to detect small movements at the wrist associated with interruptions to normal respiratory patterns during sleep. Every 30 days, Apple Watch will analyze breathing disturbance data and notify users if it shows consistent signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea so they can speak to their doctor about next steps, including potential diagnosis and treatment.

Because overall quality of sleep is important, Breathing Disturbances can also be used to assess restfulness of sleep. Breathing Disturbances can be influenced by alcohol, medications, sleep position, and more. Users can view their nightly Breathing Disturbances in the Health app, where they are classified as elevated or not elevated, and can be viewed over a one-month, six-month, or one-year period.

For more informed conversations with their healthcare providers, users can export a PDF that shows when sleep apnea may have occurred, three months of breathing disturbance data, and additional information. Educational articles are also available within the Health app to help users learn more about sleep apnea.

The sleep apnea notification algorithm was developed using advanced machine learning and an extensive data set of clinical-grade sleep apnea tests. The feature was then validated in a clinical study — unprecedented in size for sleep apnea technology. In the clinical validation study, every participant identified by the algorithm had at least mild sleep apnea.

“Empowering consumers everywhere to have the ability to reliably identify the presence of abnormal breathing patterns during sleep can help uncover a woefully underdiagnosed and serious medical condition such as sleep apnea,” said Sairam Parthasarathy, M.D., University of Arizona Health Sciences Center for Sleep, Circadian, and Neurosciences’s professor and director in Tucson, Arizona. “This is a major step forward in improving public health.”

Sleep apnea notifications and Breathing Disturbances add to a range of sleep health features for Apple Watch users. In addition to monitoring important overnight health metrics like heart rate and respiratory rate, Apple Watch also helps users meet their sleep goals and track their sleep over time.

The World’s First All-in-One Hearing Health Experience

Approximately 1.5 billion people around the world are living with hearing loss, according to the World Health Organization. Research has also identified links between hearing loss and impact on a person’s overall wellbeing, including dementia and social isolation.

To help users better understand their hearing health, Apple is introducing an end-to-end experience focused on prevention, awareness, and assistance.

Prevention

According to the Apple Hearing Study — a longitudinal, virtual public research study conducted in collaboration with the University of Michigan School of Public Health and the World Health Organization — one in three people are regularly exposed to loud environmental noise levels that can impact their hearing. That can include common scenarios like taking the subway while commuting, mowing the lawn at home, attending a sporting event, and many more.

In order to help users prevent exposure to loud environmental noise while preserving the sound signature of what they’re listening to, Hearing Protection comes to AirPods Pro. The ear tips help to provide passive noise reduction, while the H2 chip helps to actively reduce louder, more intermittent noise at 48,000 times per second. On by default across all listening modes, Hearing Protection is helpful in a variety of loud settings. Plus, with an all-new multiband high dynamic range algorithm, sounds at live events like concerts remain natural and vibrant.

Awareness

Hearing loss often worsens gradually, leaving many people unaware that they may be living with the condition. Eighty percent of adults in the U.S. have not had their hearing checked in the last five years, according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. To give users even more insights into hearing health, Apple is introducing an intuitive, clinical-grade hearing test based on the standard clinical approach called pure-tone audiometry that users can take themselves with their AirPods Pro and a compatible iPhone or iPad.

Users can take the convenient test in about five minutes from the comfort of their own home. The Hearing Test feature leverages advanced acoustic science and provides users with an interactive experience. When a user completes the test, they will see an easy-to-understand summary of their results, including a number representing hearing loss in each ear, a classification, and recommendations. The results, which include an audiogram, are stored privately and securely in the Health app, and can be shared with a healthcare provider to have more informed conversations.

The Hearing Test builds on learnings from the Apple Hearing Study and was developed using large-scale, real-world data. The feature was then validated against the clinical gold standard of pure-tone audiometry.

“Hearing health is a cornerstone of overall wellbeing. Protecting and preserving our hearing enhances our quality of life both in the short-term and long-term,” said Rick Neitzel, University of Michigan School of Public Health’s professor of Environmental Health Sciences and principal investigator of the Apple Hearing Study. “I’m thrilled Apple is introducing important tools to support people’s hearing health. These tools will help people protect their ears from noise pollution, be aware of changes in their hearing over time, and have important conversations with their healthcare providers when they need additional support.”

Assistance

Learning about hearing loss is a critical step to getting necessary assistance, which can often be challenging due to cost and access. Global research shows hearing loss often goes untreated. In fact, the Apple Hearing Study revealed that 75 percent of people diagnosed with hearing loss haven’t received the assistive support that they need.

AirPods Pro add an innovative over-the-counter Hearing Aid capability for users with mild to moderate hearing loss. Using the personalized hearing profile from the Hearing Test, this new feature seamlessly transforms AirPods Pro into a clinical-grade hearing aid. After setup, the feature enables personalized dynamic adjustments so users have the sounds around them boosted in real time. This helps them better engage in conversation, and keeps them connected to the people and environment around them. With the incredible audio quality of AirPods Pro, the user’s personalized hearing profile is automatically applied to music, movies, games, and phone calls across their devices, without needing to adjust any settings. Users can also set up the Hearing Aid feature with an audiogram created by a hearing health professional.

The Hearing Aid feature was clinically validated in a controlled, randomized study that evaluated the perceived benefit of the feature and its custom settings compared to an audiologist-assisted setup.

After taking the Hearing Test, the user’s hearing profile can also help to personalize the AirPods Pro listening experience for even more people, including those with little to no hearing loss who can still benefit from specific adjustments at individual frequencies. To help provide the best listening experience, Media Assist is an all-new feature that helps boost certain parts of speech on a phone call or instruments within a soundtrack to help an even broader population.

These features build on the hearing health tools Apple currently offers its users. For example, with the Noise app, Apple Watch users can enable notifications for when environmental noise levels might affect their hearing health. On iPhone, users can set a headphone volume limit where they can turn on Reduce Loud Audio and drag a slider to a preferred decibel level. Apple also offers additional accessibility features for users to customize settings to meet their hearing needs.

“For decades, Apple has led the way in designing products for everyone and supporting users with a broad spectrum of hearing abilities,” said Sarah Herrlinger, Apple’s senior director of Global Accessibility Policy and Initiatives. “These features on AirPods Pro will make an impact on so many people by driving more awareness around hearing health and empowering individuals with new customizable tools to help them stay connected.”

Additional features coming to Apple Watch, iPhone, and iPad include:

The new Vitals app on Apple Watch gives users a way to check in on their daily health status and view key overnight health metrics, like heart rate and respiratory rate, and gain better context when it comes to their health.

The Health app offers additional support for pregnant users to reflect changes in their physical and mental health during this important time. Users can view the current gestational age and log symptoms in Cycle Tracking. Apple Watch users can also receive recommendations to review features like high heart rate notifications.

Time spent journaling can be saved as mindful minutes in the Health app, and users can log their state of mind right in Journal.

Since launching the Health app in 2014, Apple has introduced meaningful features that focus on 18 areas of health and fitness across Apple Watch, AirPods, iPhone, and iPad. Apple is committed to empowering users on their health journey by building actionable features into the products they use every day that are grounded in science, and have privacy at the core.

Built with Privacy at the Core

Privacy is fundamental in the design and development across all of Apple’s health features. When a user’s device is locked with a passcode, Touch ID, or Face ID, all of their health and fitness data in the Health app — other than Medical ID — is encrypted. Any Health data backed up to iCloud is encrypted both in transit and on Apple servers. When using iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS with the default two-factor authentication and a passcode, Health app data synced to iCloud is encrypted end-to-end, meaning that Apple does not have the key to decrypt the data and therefore cannot read it.

Availability

Some features may not be available in all regions or all languages, or with all makes and models.

The sleep apnea notifications are expected to receive marketing authorization from the FDA and other global health authorities soon, with availability this month in more than 150 countries and regions, including the U.S., the EU, and Japan. The feature will be supported on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2.

The Hearing Test and Aid features are expected to receive marketing authorization from global health authorities soon and will be supported with AirPods Pro 2 with the latest firmware when paired with a compatible iPhone or iPad, and will be available this fall in more than 100 countries and regions, including the U.S., Germany, and Japan.

The Hearing Protection feature is expected to be available in fall 2024 and will work with AirPods Pro 2 with the latest firmware when paired with a compatible iPhone, iPad, or Mac running the latest operating system. The feature will be available in the U.S. and Canada.

The sleep apnea notification feature is pending FDA clearance and is expected to be available later this month. The feature will be supported on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2. It is intended to detect signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea for people 18 years or older without a diagnosis of sleep apnea.
The Hearing Protection feature works with AirPods Pro 2 with the latest firmware when paired with a compatible iPhone, iPad, or Mac running the latest operating system. The feature will be available in the U.S. and Canada. See support.apple.com/120850 for total attenuation and more information.
The Hearing Test and Hearing Aid features are expected to be available fall 2024. The Hearing Aid feature is pending marketing authorization from the FDA and other global health authorities. The Hearing Test and Hearing Aid features will be supported on AirPods Pro 2 with the latest firmware paired with a compatible iPhone or iPad with iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 and later, and is intended for people 18 years or older. The Hearing Aid feature is intended for people with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss.

Press Contacts

Zaina Khachadourian

Apple

zkhachadourian@apple.com

Lance Lin

Apple

lance_lin@apple.com

Apple Media Helpline

media.help@apple.com

AND HERE WE GO, Watch it right here!

Dan Uff September 9, 2024 0 6

It's that time! Come back here for a complete wrap up of all that was presented!

In the meantime, watch it right here!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uarNiSl_uh4?si=ZZ4Hm5Y9b7lBxdxe]

YouTube URL: https://www.youtube.com/live/uarNiSl_uh4?si=NFSt7t3JzDZ3JFnz

What IS Apple Intelligence?

Dan Uff September 9, 2024 0 5

While we wait for the events to begin, here's a video directly from Apple explaining what Apple Intelligence is, and how it will effect your and your iOS life.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_EYoV1kZWk?si=jM9Z7NMCPYd0i-yQ]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=546ufMY7488?si=Uyf-ex8Pt6vlfKXg]