The AirPods Pro 2 will give customers that suffer from mild to moderate hearing loss the ability to hear more of what is going on around them, potentially at a fraction of the cost of a general hearing aid. The AirPods Pro will have a built-in hearing test, as well as a function that the company is calling ‘Hearing Protection’.

The new firmware version rolling out to AirPods Pro 2 features the build number 7A294, up from the previous firmware version of 6F8. Apple hasn’t published any release notes for the update, but it likely lays the ground work for the new features coming to AirPods Pro next week.

There aren't any new AirPods Pro, but Apple did announce new health-focused features for the second generation model that includes a hearing aid mode.

Apple is bringing a ‘clinical grade’ hearing aid feature to its second-gen AirPods, allowing new and existing owners to get help for hearing loss.

With Active Noise Cancellation enabled, though, AirPods 4 quoted battery life drops to just 4 hours of listening on a single charge. That is a significant difference to AirPods Pro, which can last for up to 6 hours of listening time with noise cancellation active.

Apple is dropping five new features for AirPods Pro 2 with iOS 18. If you're running the update early, you can try them out right now.

When used with an iOS 18, iPadOS 18, macOS Sequoia, and watchOS 11-supported iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch, AirPods Pro 2 firmware update 7A294 makes the hands-free experience even more seamless by being able to nod your head “yes” or shake your head “no” to respond to Siri announcements like calls, messages, and notifications.

A week after Apple updated the AirPods Pro 2 firmware with new iOS 18 features, Apple issued another version for its users.