Apple wants to introduce several health innovations in the next earphones AirPods Prowho will be able to evaluate ours hearing and ours too body temperature, according to the latest rumors. Also, it seems that all new Apple headphones will have the input USB-C.
Apple will measure hearing and temperature with the upcoming AirPods Pro
Second Mark Gurman at Bloomberg in its Power On newsletter (taken up by The Verge), Apple plans to add a new feature dedicated to hearing health, supported by iOS 17, in the upcoming AirPods Pro. This feature will allow users to check their hearing health to detect any problems – and may also measure body temperature through the ear canal.
Gurman also mentioned that all new Apple headphone models will include the USB-C connection. The company plans to release new models of AirPods Pro and AirPods Maxbut there is no imminent launch date for this new generation of hardware.
Currently, AirPods already support audiogramwhich are sound profiles that allow earphones to adapt to the user’s individual hearing abilities. To generate an audiogram, you can use the app Mimi. However, Gurman suspects that Apple is developing a feature hearing test built into your operating system. Something that could lead to the elimination of the Mimi app, following Apple’s trend of incorporating third-party features into its ecosystem.
A function already seen, but with great potential
Some competing wireless earbuds already offer similar functionality. For example, in 2020, Jabra Elite 75t introduced the function “MySound“, which creates customized audio profiles for the user by playing a series of tones in each ear and asking the user to tap the screen when they hear a sound. Nothing Ear 2, launched this year, also has its own hearing test and a very similar audio profiling function.
According to Gurman, however, Apple would like to relaunch and go beyond this feature. In fact, he’s even considering the possibility of place your AirPods as hearing aidsas the FDA recently approved the sale of over-the-counter hearing aids without a prescription.
The body temperature
According to Gurman, AirPods could also introduce another interesting health feature in the future. Indeed, they may turn out to be able to measure body temperature through the ear canal.
These rumors have been circulating as early as 2021 e the Apple Watch Series 8 introduced a similar feature last year, although it was mainly used for tracking the menstrual cycle and relative temperature. Gurman believes expanding temperature tracking to AirPods could offer one greater accuracy. This could allow Apple to warn users if they are starting to feel sick.
Apple will launch AirPods Pro that measure hearing – but when?
The less positive news reported by Gurman is that AirPods Pro updates may take some time. Indeed, it may takeseveral months or even years“. In particular, the fact that the latest model of AirPods Pro arrived last year could mean that we will have to wait at least another year to see the new edition.
However, it seems that Apple may launch new basic AirPods soon. And although they shouldn’t have sensors to measure hearing health and body temperature, according to rumors, they should have big news: charging via USB-C. A port that we will soon see also on iPhone and iPad, also due to the new European regulations. According to other analysts, such as Ming-Chi Kuo, the next headphones to arrive should be AirPods base e AirPods Max – perhaps together with the next iPhone and Apple Watch.