Tag: Apple

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Guide

Is Your iPhone Running Slow?

Do you ever notice your iPhone becoming slow or sluggish while launching an app, browsing the internet, or switching between apps? This is annoying to say the least, because it messes with your workflow, making it take far longer than usual to finish everyday tasks.

Why is my iPhone running so slow?

Ever wonder why your iPhone isn’t running as fast as it used to? Here are a few speed bumps that might be slowing you down.

Storage is full

Photos, apps, downloads—all of these files take up space. When your storage is at max capacity, your phone can start running slowly.  Need help freeing up your slow phone’s storage? Check out our guide.

Poor battery health

Your iPhone’s battery can start to wear out. A tired battery might not just mean more frequent charging; it can also lead to sluggishness, overheating, and crashes. 

Want to learn more? Read our guide to learn how to check your iPhone’s battery health.

Frozen applications

Apps are great—until they’re not. They can freeze, move between pages slowly, and everything in between. 

Poor network conditions

Poor network connections can make even simple tasks like browsing or sending messages feel like a marathon. 

How to speed up an iPhone that’s running slowly

Although iPhones are known for their reliable performance, data accumulation and resource-intensive apps eventually cause them to become sluggish and make them lag. Maintaining your iPhone’s performance is crucial for both speed and longevity. Thus, to help you get things back on track, here are some simple steps to quickly boost your iPhone’s performance and help it run smoothly and efficiently once more.

Simple tips to give your iPhone a quick performance boost
Here are some of the common ways you can get your iPhone’s performance back to the way it was:

Increase storage

It might be time for a digital declutter. Offload unused apps and give your photos a new home in the cloud or on a computer. You’ll notice a little breathing room can go a long way.

Close frozen applications

When an app freezes, double-tap your home button or swipe up from the bottom. Swipe the apps away then try opening them again to see if your iPhone continues moving slowly. 

Improve network signal

Sometimes your phone’s network signal—or lack of one—can be the problem. If that’s the case, sometimes a simple reset can help. 

  1. Open Settings. 
  2. Turn Airplane Mode on and off or disconnect the Wi-Fi. 
  3. Make sure Airplane Mode is off and test your phone speed. If you have internet access, try reconnecting again.   

Still stuck? You might just be in a low-coverage zone.

Replace the battery

The battery inside your iPhone could be to blame—or at least putting a strain on your phone. When your battery starts to fail, your phone starts to feel it in other places, like processing speed. Check your battery health and determine if a battery replacement is just the thing your iPhone needs. 

Poor network connections can make even simple tasks like browsing or sending messages feel like a marathon. 

With these simple tips and tricks, you can ensure you keep your iPhone running smoothly and efficiently as ever, allowing for fast, uninterrupted workflows at all times.

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News

iOS 18.2 Beta 2 Shows Siri ChatGPT Limit,Offers ChatGPT Plus Upgrade

With the second beta of iOS 18.2 that’s available for developers today, Apple has further fleshed out the ChatGPT integration that’s available with Siri. In the Settings app, there’s now a section that shows the ChatGPT daily limit, and offers an option to upgrade to the paid ChatGPT Plus plan.

The beta includes an Advanced Capabilities section with a “Daily Limit” reading that shows up as “Under Limit” without a paid ChatGPT plan. Users have access to a small number of requests that use the most advanced ChatGPT capabilities, and requests are downgraded to a basic version of ChatGPT after that.

OpenAI has long restricted access to ChatGPT’s most advanced feature set to a paid Plus plan, so accessing ChatGPT through ‌Siri‌ is subject to the same limitations.

There is an option to upgrade to ChatGPT Plus, which is priced at $19.99 per month. ChatGPT Plus provides 5x more messages on the newest version of ChatGPT, GPT-4o. It also allows for higher limits on photo and file uploads, image generation, and web browsing, as well as an option to converse with ChatGPT using advanced voice mode.

Customers who already have a ChatGPT Plus plan can sign into their account, and those that do not can sign up through the Settings app. The Settings app opens to an in-app browser where users can sign up directly with OpenAI.

Free ChatGPT users won’t have access to OpenAI’s latest models (such as o1-preview) or premium features such as Advanced Voice Mode. They also can only make two images with Dall-E per day, and can’t send as many messages to the AI chatbot as premium users.Free access to ChatGPT-4o requests resets every 24 hours, and when the limited number of requests are used up, ‌Siri‌ will switch to a more cost effective version of ChatGPT. 

It’s also unclear whether Apple is taking a cut of the revenue OpenAI generates from ChatGPT Plus signups through the Settings app. It’s possible the iPhone maker is simply betting that having cutting-edge AI features is worth the free exposure it’s giving OpenAI, because it will push enough customers to upgrade to new phones.

iOS 18.2 adds other new AI features, too, including Visual Intelligence and Genmoji. TThe update is set to arrive the week of December 2nd, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports.

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Guide

How to fix an iPhone that won’t charge

One of the scariest — and most troubling — iPhone problems is when your phone will not charge. But don’t panic. There are some fairly mundane reasons why this might happen, and they’re generally easy to solve.

On the other hand, keep in mind that to do something even as simple as charge your phone, there are a lot of parts that need to work together — so to figure out what is to blame and to get things working properly, you should methodically test everything to eliminate potential problems one at a time.

Quick tip: Should you notice that your iPhone stops charging at 80%, you shouldn’t stress. This is a feature in iOS 13 or later called Optimized Battery Charging.

If your iPhone charges with one cable, but not another, you know it’s the cable. If your cable charges other phones but not your own, you know it’s your phone. When your phone starts to charge again, whatever the last thing you changed was the problem — so you know what fixed your phone.

Turn it off and back on again

Anytime you are troubleshooting a problem, it helps to restart the system and see if that fixes the issue. If your phone still has enough battery life, restart the phone and then try to charge it again. 


Note: If your phone battery is very, very low — under 5% — or already completely dead, this step will not work for you.

Verify that your phone is not charging

Start by making sure your phone is not charging. Connect your phone however you usually do to charge it — wirelessly, plugged into an AC adapter, plugged into a computer’s USB port — and check the phone’s display. If the battery is already dead, leave it to charge for about two hours and then check on it.


You should see a lightning bolt in or beside the battery icon at the top right of the iPhone’s lock screen. If there is no lightning bolt in sight, it’s not charging.

 Don’t charge it wirelessly

If you have an iPhone X or later that supports wireless charging — or you have a wireless charging case for an older model iPhone — let’s simplify our troubleshooting by eliminating that as a possibility right away.


Remove the phone from its wireless charging case, if you’re using one, and plug the phone into a power source with a Lightning cable. Again, check to see if it’s charging. If it is, congratulations — you solved the problem. There’s some sort of problem with the phone’s wireless charging solution.


You might need to take your phone to an Apple store for service (or replace your wireless charging case) but in the meantime, you can keep the phone charged the old-fashioned way, with wires.

 Check your iPhone’s Lightning port

If your phone isn’t charging the way it usually does, your next stop should be to inspect the Lightning port. This is a lot more common than you might think. After all, we spend a lot of time jamming the phone — port-end first — into pockets, bags, and other places filled with dust, debris, and lint.


Your phone’s Lightning port is a veritable magnet for dirt, dust, lint, and other grime that can interfere with charging. 
Look carefully, and if you see anything, carefully remove it — gently — with a toothpick or any other non-metallic, pointed object that will fit in the port. If you have a can of compressed air, briefly blast the port with that as well.
Try to charge the phone again. If it still doesn’t work, move on to the next troubleshooting step.

Inspect your cable

If you’ve had an iPhone long enough, you’ve probably seen a broken or frayed cable — the rubberized outer sheath breaks from repeated bending, and the wires become exposed. If your cable looks like that and it isn’t properly charging your device, throw it away and get a new cable.

But Lightning cables get a lot of abuse, and problems aren’t always apparent to the naked eye. Sometimes wires can break while they’re still inside the sheath. And inexpensive third-party Lightning cables have been known to spontaneously stop working, often because the power regulator chip inside the cable has failed.

There’s no good way to see any of this visually, so the best way to test your Lightning cable is to simply try a different one.

Your Lightning cable should look like this — no fraying, sharp bends, or kinks that can damage the underlying wires. 

 Check where your phone is plugged in

On the long list of potential problems, you should also check your power source. If you’re charging your iPhone from a computer’s USB port, make sure the computer is fully awake (not in sleep or hibernation mode). Also try a different USB port, in case the USB port you were using has failed. Don’t try charging from a USB port built into a keyboard or USB hub — connect it directly to a USB port on the computer itself.

If it still doesn’t work, plug it directly into a wall outlet with an AC adapter like the one that came with your iPhone. If you have been using an AC adapter this entire time, then try a different one — borrow one from a friend who has an iPhone or use the one that comes with an iPad.

Check for software updates

If you’re not running the latest version of iOS, it could be the reason why your phone is not charging. Software updates might not seem important when your phone is functioning properly, but they help prevent a host of problems and even improve performance.

Here’s how to check for an update on your iPhone and install it:

  • Tap Settings and then General.
  • Tap on Software Update. Your iPhone will now start searching for the latest iOS update.
  • If an update is available, tap Install Now.

Try resetting and restoring your iPhone

When experiencing a problem with your iPhone, it sometimes helps to perform a factory reset. 

A reset will return it to its factory default settings and, hopefully, get rid of any problem you might be facing. This is a last-ditch attempt to fix the issue by yourself, and it’s worth a try.

Take your iPhone in for service

If none of these troubleshooting steps gets your phone back up and running, it’s pretty likely that there’s something wrong with the iPhone itself. You should contact Apple or go to an Apple store for service.

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Batteries Guide

5 Signs It’s Time to Replace Your iPhone Battery

Have you acclimated to the sub-par performance of your iPhone and accepted it as part of the drudgery of life? Has restarting your crashed iPhone become routine and ritual? Do you long for the days when your apps loaded swiftly, and you could watch Youtube videos ‘til your battery was at 5 percent?

Everyone knows that there’s nothing worse than a bad iPhone battery. 

There are some signs you can use to tell when your battery has reached the point of no return. Some of these signs are baked into iOS, whereas others could be more physical symptoms you’ll notice when you use the iPhone. Regardless, we’ve listed major pointers for when it’s time to get a new battery.

1. Your battery outgrew your iPhone

Why are you even reading this? If your battery has outgrown its case, it obviously needs to be replaced! Even if it’s not swelling this badly, immediate action should be taken to dispose of the battery safely. But, beware: You do not want to puncture the pack and release its toxic contents. Early signs of a swollen battery include: a hazy white screen, separation between screen and phone body, or “squishiness” of the screen (no visible separation, but your screen moves a bit when you pinch the edges of your phone). 

2. Your iPhone shuts down unexpectedly

If your iPhone suddenly shuts itself down when the battery is half-drained or so, the calibration may be off. To re-calibrate your iPhone, follow these steps:

Use your iPhone until it shuts itself down due to low battery.

Plug your iPhone into a reliable charger using a reliable cable and let it charge uninterrupted until it reaches 100 percent.


Once it’s fully charged, perform a soft reset by holding your sleep/wake button and your home button until the Apple logo shows up. If you have an iPhone with Face ID, quick-press the volume up button followed by the volume down button. Then, press and hold the sleep/wake button until the Apple logo shows up.

If that doesn’t solve your battery woes, then the battery may be the culprit and will require replacement.

3. Your iPhone Frequently Overheats

Although there could be other reasons why your iPhone overheats, once you rule out everything processor or software-related, it only leaves the battery as the culprit.

When batteries age, the chemical components become less fluid, and that causes what we call a high internal resistance. It makes it more difficult for your iPhone to draw energy from the battery, and this high resistance (similar to friction) causes more heat than normal.

It’s not just aged batteries that can cause abnormal heat but damaged batteries, too. If you have a faulty battery damaged by water or a puncture wound, the chemical balance can get disrupted, which can lead to overheating or even health risks.

So, if you notice your iPhone getting extremely hot while doing the most mundane things, it might be time to get its battery checked.

4. Reduced Battery Life

It’s common to hear people say that their phone used to last the whole day, but now it barely makes it to lunchtime at work. And a lot of people might blame it on software rather than hardware. You may have even tried all the iPhone battery-saving tips, only to still experience a woefully subpar battery life.

Typically, this means that your battery has degraded to the point where it can no longer keep an optimum charge. iPhone batteries are lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, and they generate energy through chemical reactions. With time and use, these chemical reactions lose their potency, and your phone will no longer be able to support peak performance.

While all iPhone batteries degrade with age, there are steps you can take to maintain your iPhone’s battery health so it lasts as long as possible.

5. Battery Health Is Less Than 80%

One of the many advantages of iOS over other mobile operating systems is the synergy between hardware and software. Because Apple makes its own hardware and software, it can tie the two together in a way Android or other operating systems can’t. This synergy extends to managing your iPhone’s battery health.

You can monitor your iPhone’s battery health through the Settings app to judge when it’s time for a new battery. Go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health & Charging and note its Maximum Capacity. If the number there reads below 80%, it might be time to change your battery.

In fact, you will see a notification at the top of the page warning you to take your phone to an Apple Authorized Service Provider. Also, if you have an AppleCare+ warranty, Apple will replace your iPhone battery only if its health is below 80%.

However, sometimes, you should take the figure there with a grain of salt. If the number is suspiciously low (or even high), it might be time to calibrate your iPhone’s battery. Calibrating the battery is essentially resetting it so the percentages are more accurate.

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News

iPhone 17 may to use Apple’s own Wi-Fi 7 chip

At least one iPhone 17 model launching next year will be equipped with an Apple-designed Wi-Fi 7 chip, according to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

All current iPhone models are equipped with a combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip supplied by Broadcom, but Kuo expects Apple to equip “nearly all” of its products with its own in-house Wi-Fi chip “within about three years.”

The chip will replace the Broadcom chip that Apple currently uses for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Apple’s Wi-Fi 7 chip will be built using TSMC’s 7nm process. Apple apparently wants to move “nearly all” of its products to its own Wi-Fi chip within about three years, in order to cut supply costs and rake in more profits.

All four iPhone 16 models already support Wi-Fi 7 with Broadcom’s chip, but with some limited specifications. Kuo said Apple’s in-house Wi-Fi chip will support “the latest Wi-Fi 7 spec,” but he did not provide any further details. The chip will be manufactured with TSMC’s 7nm manufacturing process known as N7, he added.

Kuo has aligned with information shared last year by Jeff Pu, another analyst who covers companies within Apple’s supply chain. Pu said the iPhone 17 Pro models would be equipped with an Apple-designed Wi-Fi 7 chip, and he said the in-house chip would expand to the entire iPhone 18 lineup the following year.

Apple is also working on its own 5G chip, which will be separate from the Wi-Fi one and built using a different TSMC process technology. This will also start to be used gradually from next year onwards. The first product to come with Apple’s own 5G modem will be the next iPhone SE. This will however still use a Broadcom Wi-Fi chip. There have been conflicting rumors about whether the Apple-designed 5G and Wi-Fi chips will be separate chips, or one combined chip with 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS capabilities.

Wi-Fi 7 allows for data transmission over the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands simultaneously with a supported router, resulting in faster Wi-Fi speeds, lower latency, and more reliable connectivity. Wi-Fi 7 can provide peak speeds of over 40 Gbps, a 4× increase over Wi-Fi 6E, if a device supports the maximum specifications.

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News

Apple’s M4 Macs Lack Wi-Fi 7 Support

Apple introduced new Mac mini, iMac, and MacBook Pro models this week, adding faster and more efficient M4 chips, along with some other updates like Thunderbolt 5 and nano-texture display options for some models. One upgrade we thought we might see was support for the latest Wi-Fi specification, but the new machines did not get a Wi-Fi 7 upgrade.

All of the new M4 Macs continue to offer Wi-Fi 6E, and while it does allow for access to the 6GHz band on supported Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 routers, it’s not the latest and greatest technology.

Apple’s Wi-Fi specifications page confirms that the Wi-Fi 7 chips in the ‌iPhone 16‌ models have a maximum physical layer data rate of 2400Mb/s and a maximum channel bandwidth of 160MHz, which is the same performance as the Wi-Fi 6E chips in the iPhone 15 Pro models and the M3 Mac models with Wi-Fi 6E on 6GHz networks (Apple’s chart hasn’t been updated for M4, but presumably the Wi-Fi 6E chips have not changed).

Wi-Fi 7 in the ‌iPhone 16‌ models does up the maximum data rate when connected to 5GHz bands compared to the Wi-Fi 6E chips used in Macs and iPads, but Apple does not support the full 320MHz bandwidth with its Wi-Fi 7 implementation. Wi-Fi 7 offers up to 320MHz bandwidth to accommodate more devices, but Apple has limited bandwidth to 160MHz, so ‌iPhone 16‌ models don’t take full advantage of Wi-Fi 7 despite having a Wi-Fi 7 chip. That limitation has been a disappointment, but the ‌iPhone 16‌ models do support Multi-Link Operation (MLO) for connecting to multiple bands at the same time for faster data transmission and lower latency on supported networks.

Apple certainly could have opted for a Wi-Fi 7 chip without limitations in the M4 Mac models, especially for the more expensive M4 Pro and M4 Max machines, but that didn’t happen. Given that people often keep Macs for several years, it is curious that Apple opted not to offer this bit of future proofing in the Mac line.

Customers who plan on purchasing one of the new M4 Macs should know that these machines continue to offer Wi-Fi 6E features and lack the faster speeds and the latency benefits that come with Wi-Fi 7.

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News

IOS 18.2: First Beta Bring ChatGPT for Siri

Apple is now letting developers try more Apple Intelligence features. The company has released the first developer beta of iOS 18.2, and it adds tools like the ability to generate emoji with Genmoji and images with Image Playground, more AI-powered writing features, integration with ChatGPT, Visual Intelligence to search with your camera on iPhone 16 phones, and more.

ChatGPT is an opt-in

Anxious users need to be reassured: ChatGPT doesn’t just “turn on” by default and no data is sent to OpenAI just by turning on your iPhone with Apple Intelligence (at least that’s what Apple promises). Instead, it is a separate switch in the system settings that must be explicitly activated – along with the extensive information dialog. “If the iPhone works with ChatGPT, it can do more for you,” it says.

Setting up ChatGPT in iOS 18.2

To begin using ChatGPT in iOS 18.2, you will need to become a member of the Apple developer beta program. Once you have done that, you will need to download and install the update. From there, enabling ChatGPT is simple, just go back to your Settings. Open Settings and go to Siri & Search.

Turn on Apple Intelligence and navigate to the ChatGPT toggle to activate the feature. Once ChatGPT is enabled, it’s accessible through Siri, allowing users to engage in intelligent conversations, get visual insights, generate images, and more without additional apps.

I was curious I should cancel my ChatGPT Plus subscription. Like, was ChatGPT + Siri somehow a better or more powerful version than ChatGPT Plus? The short answer is no; if you’re a ChatGPT Plus subscriber, simply link your OpenAI account in the settings section so you can still access the premium features.

OpenAI generates images via Siri

As mentioned, ChatGPT is addressed via Siri – this can be done by voice or “Text to Siri”. If you want, you can switch off Siri’s requests that something should go in the direction of ChatGPT. If you want to use ChatGPT a lot, you can do this, but you are putting yourself more in the hands of OpenAI. It is even possible to send all requests to ChatGPT by default by simply saying “Ask ChatGPT”. The image generator DALL-E 2 is also integrated. This means you can now use Siri to create AI images – Interestingly, even before Apple itself has released its Image Playground including Genmoji and image wall function, as many beta users are currently still on hold. ChatGPT and DALL-E 2 also generate photorealistic images, which Apple does not provide.

In the Writing Tools, ChatGPT now allows you to create completely new texts. Previously, Apple’s own tools could only rewrite existing content, “translate” it into other formats and check for errors. Now there is a “Compose” button that uses ChatGPT. In practice, it still takes a little longer for ChatGPT to respond. Apple has apparently not created a “fast lane” to the OpenAI servers as part of the developer beta. Incidentally, Apple is not planning to integrate ChatGPT (even) more deeply into the operating system – New Siri functions such as the use of the user context (e.g. emails, address book, appointments) will be reserved for Apple technology and will also largely run locally on the user’s own device when they are released in the coming months.

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News

Apple prepares to unveil new M4-powered Mac Mini with compact design

When the Mac Mini was first introduced in early 2005, it was pitched as a compact “stripped-down” desktop — and the most affordable Mac in Apple’s lineup. Steve Jobs referred to it as a “BYODKM” system: you’d bring your own display, keyboard, and mouse, and the Mini would provide a dependable computing experience with all the benefits of macOS.

The Mac Mini has carried on ever since. There have been periods where the Mini has been sidelined and ignored by Apple for long stretches of time. But the debut of Apple Silicon gave it a new lease on life. Even if the overall design didn’t change much in the transition from Intel to Apple’s in-house chips, the Mini’s potential soared.

But now, that design is about to change. And if the rumors prove accurate, it’s going to be a radical makeover. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has reported that the M4-powered Mac Mini will shrink in size so significantly that its footprint will resemble that of an Apple TV. The new Mac Mini will be anything but a stripped-down Mac.

Instead, it’ll likely be the most visually impressive example yet of what Apple is capable of in this new era, where the incredible efficiency of its chips allows for all sorts of hardware designs that were technically unfeasible a handful of years ago. 

Gurman has said that the 2024 Mac Mini — at least the M4 Pro variant — will include a total of five USB-C ports, with two on the front of the machine.It’ll still have an HDMI port for those of you who’ve integrated Apple’s smallest Mac into your home theater setups. USB-A is said to be a goner, but… it’s time.

Within the Mac family, the Mini still holds an important spot. The iMac is the visual stunner; the MacBook Pro delivers tremendous power on the go; and the Mac Pro and Mac Studio are both geared at professionals and creatives. But the Mini remains the line’s unassuming overperformer at a compelling price for anyone who wants a Mac that “just works.”

No matter its size, the Mini’s BYODKM remains one of its best attributes. Apple might not be planning a 27-inch iMac, but we’re about to have an astonishingly compact desktop that can be paired with any screen you want. And the software outlook is also excellent: the revamped Mini arrives shortly after macOS Sequoia, which added useful features like iPhone mirroring and (long overdue) window tiling.

As of now, the Studio easily wins out in CPU and GPU performance, and it has other bonuses, like an SD card slot and faster ethernet. I’d expect those advantages to remain true whenever the M4 model arrives.

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News

This Apple Watch Series 10 advanced display tec might make your iPhone better

A new supply-chain report notes that the Apple Watch Series 10 advanced display technology is expected to be adopted in future iPhones.

Apple’s trickle-down approach means that the Apple Watch always gets the most advanced display tech first before it later rolls out to other devices, and the S10 tech is likely to be later used for iPhones – but not next year …

Apple Watch S10 advanced display tech

On the flagship Apple Watch Series 10, LTPO3 enables Apple to optimize each pixel to emit more light at wider angles and improve battery efficiency.  As a result, the display is 40% brighter than on the previous model, theApple WatchSeries 9, which employed LTPO2. The newer technology also allows for a faster refresh rate when the watch is in always-on mode.

From a technical standpoint, LTPO2 uses two switching TFTs (thin-film transistors), while LTPO3 uses a more efficient oxide-based version. It can directly control the current to emit light from the display’s OLED element.

The LTPO3 feature on the Apple Watch Series 10 is reported to enhance battery efficiency; however, it does not appear to extend battery life. The Apple Watch Series 10 offers a battery life of up to 18 hours between charges, similar to other models in the series. Whether LTPO3 will yield similar or improved results on future iPhones remains to be seen.

Likely to be used in future iPhones

The Elec reports that supply-chain observers expect LTPO3 to be used in future iPhones, to further boost battery life.

The core of LTPO3, which was first applied to Apple Watch 10 this year, is that the drive TFT was changed from the existing LTPS to oxide. The drive TFT directly controls the current to emit light on the OLED device.

The industry is paying attention to the possibility that LTPO3 will also be applied to Apple iPhone in the future. Apple first applied LTPO OLED to Apple Watch 4 in 2018 and then applied LTPO OLED to the iPhone 13 Pro lineup in 2021.

The iPhone 16 Pro series uses LTPO2, which isn’t expected to change in the 2025 iPhone 17 Pro series. Therefore, the earliest we may see LTPO3 on iPhones could be with the iPhone 18 in 2026.

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News

New iOS 18.1 Hearing Aid Functionality Are as Good as They Sound

Apple announced a trio of major new hearing health features for the AirPods Pro 2 in September, including clinical-grade hearing aid functionality, a hearing test, and more robust hearing protection. All three will roll out next week with the release of iOS 18.1, and they could mark a watershed moment for hearing health awareness. Apple is about to instantly turn the world’s most popular earbuds into an over-the-counter hearing aid.

To use the new hearing health features, you need to connect your ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2 to an iPhone running iOS 18.1, or an iPad with iPadOS 18.1. From there, if you tap into the ‌AirPods Pro‌ section, you’ll see an option to take a hearing test, which should be your first stop.
Apple’s hearing test mimics the hearing tests you might have had conducted at a doctor’s office or by an audiologist, and it’s meant to determine whether you have any hearing loss. If you do have hearing loss, the test determines which frequencies you’re struggling with.

With the AirPods in your ears, you can tap “Get Started” to take the hearing test. The test takes approximately five minutes, starting first with the left ear and then moving on to the right ear. You’ll hear a series of tones at different frequencies and sound levels, and the idea is to tap the ‌iPhone‌’s screen whenever you hear a sound. The tones that you hear test for four frequencies, including 500Hz, 1kHz, 2kHz, and 4kHz.

Apple puts your ‌iPhone‌ in Do Not Disturb mode for the test, and also uses your AirPods to make sure it’s quiet enough for the test to be conducted. The test is designed for adults that are 18 years or older, and it shouldn’t be done when you have allergies, a cold, an ear infection, or a sinus issue, which can affect the results. Apple also recommends waiting to take the test at least 24 hours after you’ve been exposed to loud noise like a concert or construction, as this can also impact the hearing test.

After going through the hearing test steps, you’ll get your Hearing Test results, with separate decibel levels detected for each ear. If you get a 5 dBHL reading for each ear, for example, you have little to no hearing loss and will not need adjustments to your AirPods.

Apple says that results up to 25 dBHL indicate little to no hearing loss. 26 to 40 dBHL is a sign of mild hearing loss, while results of 41 to 60 dBHL suggest moderate hearing loss. 61 to 80 dBHL is severe hearing loss, and a result above 80 dBHL is considered profound hearing loss.

If your test shows mild to moderate hearing loss, you’ll have the option to turn on the Hearing Aid feature of the ‌AirPods Pro‌. With this enabled, the ‌AirPods Pro‌ can use the data from your test to boost the frequencies that you have trouble hearing, making it easier to hear voices and other sounds around you.

Note that if your test showed no hearing loss, Apple will not recommend changes to your AirPods tuning, and there will not be an option to turn on the Hearing Aid feature.

To see even more information from your Hearing Test, you can go to the Hearing section of the Health app and tap into the test to see a graph of which frequencies you had the most trouble with.

Along with Hearing Assistance, the ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2 also offer Hearing Protection as part of Apple’s Hearing Health feature set. This includes a Loud Sound Reduction option that is enabled automatically. Loud Sound Reduction listens for loud noises around you in Transparency and Adaptive Modes, and reduces the level of the noise to prevent hearing loss.

In the Health app under the Environmental Sound Reduction section, you can see the amount of sound reduction you’ve gotten from your ‌AirPods Pro‌ from hour to hour.

If you have the iOS 18.1 developer or public beta and ‌AirPods Pro‌ 2, you can try out the new hearing test and hearing aid feature right now. Otherwise, this functionality is set to become available to the public when iOS 18.1 launches next week.

Being able to use Apple’s $250 earbuds as a hearing aid is a huge deal for those who can benefit from this capability. That’s substantially less expensive than over-the-counter hearing aids from Jabra, Sony, and other brands. But the AirPods won’t be right for everyone. People with more severe hearing loss will still need to seek out other solutions (including those pricier products). And the main tradeoff with the AirPods Pro 2 is battery life: they can last for around six hours with the hearing aid engaged, which doesn’t match what you’ll get from many OTC and prescription hearing aids.

But this is a big milestone — and it seems inevitable that Samsung, Google, and other tech heavyweights will follow Apple’s lead fairly quickly.We spent a long time bemoaning the loss of the headphone jack. With advancements like this, and earbuds helping to improve so many people’s quality of life, we’re finally starting to see a worthwhile payoff.