AirPods Pro with Temperature Sensor May Be Coming Soon from Apple
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in his latest Power On newsletter, Apple is developing additional health features for its audio products. One of these features would enable AirPods to perform a hearing test. The Verge points out that AirPods already have support for audiogram profiles, which iOS can utilize to customize the sound output of the earbuds for individuals with hearing loss. Currently, users can generate these profiles using third-party apps like Mimi. If Apple decides to implement its own hearing test, it would be another example of the company incorporating a feature from a third-party developer, a practice often referred to as “Sherlocking.”
Separately, Gurman writes that Apple is investigating positioning and marketing AirPods Pro as a hearing aid after the FDA made it easier for Americans to buy over-the-counter options last year. He says the company recently hired engineers with experience working with traditional hearing aids as part of this initiative.
Another new AirPods feature developed by Apple is the way the headphones can measure body temperature. A built-in temperature sensor was one of the features the company introduced with the Watch Series 8 and Watch Ultra. As for why Apple would repeat a feature on an already existing product, the sensor can get a more accurate temperature reading from the ear canal than from the wrist.
Gurman cautions that both features are “several months or even years away.” In the near future, he says that Apple plans to update AirPods Pro with a USB-C charging case and adds that all of the company’s audio products will also eventually move away from Lighting. All of this is part of a step Apple must take to comply with the EU’s new common charging standard. “Despite the USB-C switch, I wouldn’t expect an immediate release of all-new AirPods Pro hardware,” Gurman notes, implying that Apple only updated the headphones last year.
Before that, AirPods users can at least look forward to new software features that Apple announced to bring alongside iOS 17. They include a new button press to mute calls and improvements to device switching. Gurman speculates that Apple could also permanently drop the price of its second-generation AirPods to $99 from $129 to compete against low-cost options from Samsung, Sony and Amazon.
