Apple Releases New Beta Firmware for AirPods Pro 2

[srbNYC]

Ah, thanks to @tobybrut, @dubvulture and all of you reminding about the beta program. I had Developer Mode, and turned it off (I don't remember why), but good to know I should stop going crazy trying to update!

 

[nortonandreev]

For those of you having trouble with ANC, are you all sure you’re not in Adaptive mode where ANC is less than half of what it is in pure ANC.

Im not that stupid…

When it comes to the problem, I can easily hear everything around me if the volume is around 50-60%. Yesterday I unzipped a zipper on a bag, standing in front of me, and I could hear the zipper even if the audio was at around 70-80% with Noise Cancellation enabled.

This, to me, is not a good performance of the ANC feature.

I haven’t experimented with another size tips, to be honest, but the standard doesn’t fall from my years and the Apple’s tool to check the fit says “good seal” for both ears.

 

[dfwiddoc]

It is so interesting AirPods Pro 2 gets too many updates. Even a beta one. I am not saying it is bad but it is interesting Apple is trying to fix something in the buds every month.

Or maybe adding new features/functionality? I personally like manufacturers who maintain an active product life cycle—also with Apple’s interwoven product ecosystem it seems inevitable that they’d have to upgrade their peripherals to perform properly with their global firmware releases. The AirPods Pro 2 launched in September of 2022, right after the release of iOS 16. We’re well into the fourth revision of iOS 17–doesn’t it seem logical that Apple should still be releasing AirPods firmware to maintain compatibility?

 

[dfwiddoc]

I see no changes to ANC. As poor as it was before.

Oh c’mon, the AirPods Pro 2 ANC is not “poor”—I don’t understand why the folks who spend so much time grousing on this forum about how inept Apple’s products are continue to buy them. The AirPods Pro 2 are exceptional headphones—they may go through minor performance variations as Apple endeavors to update their firmware to maintain compatibility through every iOS firmware cycle, but on no occasion has their performance ever met any reasonable criteria for “poor”, in any capacity.

 

[- rob -]

That “just throw it on a charger” approach might be adding a charge cycle even when it is at 90% or 70% or 50%. Too many charge cycles and it’s time to rebuy the worn-out product.

There is a lot of nuance to extending lithium ion battery life. And a charge cycle is 0-100%.

APP and most other Apple products manage charging carefully.

The cost of a battery service in AirPods Pro 2 and the updated APP2 is currently $50 without Apple Care.

 

[ouruniverse06131986]

I guess it depends on where that processing is done and how buds and source communicate with each other. I will GUESS that the end result of that processing is stereo speakers in APP2s or these cheapies. I'm not sure there is some major difference at the point where they convert audio from digital to analog so our ears can hear something.

Conceptually, APP2s have some awareness of where they are and orientation to be communicated to source (like an iPhone or AppleTV) which then- I presume- will process the "my spatial" effects to perhaps put a bit more of sound that should now be more left in the left bud and cut that sound a bit in the right bud... UNTIL you rotate that head the other direction and then vice-versa adjustments.

The easy example of this was in the Vpro demos where 3 "influencers" were doing a group virtual chat. They noticed that for each of them, the relative position of the other people SOUNDED like they were "there." In other words, if they looked at the display and a guy was left of them and a gal was right, the guys voice came from the left and the gals from the right. On the other end, the other person may see the other 2 in a different "position" and thus for them the voices may be coming from other directions. That's a "my spatial" trick that tangibly demonstrates itself and MAY or may not need something in APP2s (or Vpro speaker tech) to also know relatively where each person is. If so, these cheapies almost certainly do NOT have that kind of tech, so that illusion would probably not work with these.

There will certainly be "little things" in these vs. APP2s. For example, APP2s seem superior at guessing with which device I want to use them. These "cheapies" seem to very solidly BOND with the last connected device and thus it is a manual bluetooth menu choice to switch them to a different device. I'm sitting in front a bluetooth enabled Mac right now maybe 60 feet from my iPad mini. When I open the case to use them, they will immediately connect to that Mini. I can switch them to the Mac with a menu selection but they seem very committed to their "last relationship" above all... unlike APP2s which will readily "jump mate to mate" at any given time. Since almost 100% of the time, I only use them with an iPad, this is also no big deal for me. But others who hop device to device may miss the "one less step" jumps with APP2s vs. these.

Again, my own needs are just about entirely music listening and phone/video conf. for which MONO buds would probably work pretty well. So I'm not too concerned myself with faux Spatial/faux ATMOS or it jumping mate to mate. Obviously, if that became more important to me, I might then rationalize $160+ vs. $20 on those kinds of fine details.

So best I can offer is that music, movies (in surround sound/ATMOS) and phone use all sounds very good. To my ears, it's as good as APP2s... which is shocking for the dramatic price difference. However, I completely believe it is just stereo... like HPs are only stereo at best, even if they too are spun as "Atmos" and "Spatial." I might even go as far to say since I know HPs are faux ATMOS/Spatial, I could argue that these are towards as Atmos/Spatial as HPs and thus probably APP2s too... all faux because the real thing requires real speakers spread all around the listener.

And again, I continue to assume a "gotcha" will be coming for these vs. APP2s based upon the gigantic price difference. Yes, I very well know the "Apple premium" but this would be well beyond that kind of upcharge if these turn out to have a reasonably long life like APP2s. Since my intent will be to hold out for the launch of APP4s which are rumored, I'll just be running a first-hand test during this period to see if I can crash into the "gotcha" or not. I assume it will soon show itself but will be happy to not spend another $160+ if it doesn't. Sometimes "good enough" actually is good enough.

You have nothing to do do you.

 

[notai]

You have nothing to do do you.

😂 as for the $20 A60pro they do sound decent, obviously don't switch between devices as smoothly as apple pods. guessing the audio hardware is becoming a commodity for general purpose listening. would like them even more if they fit into the mini-jean pocket better., thats the real test!

 

[srbNYC]

Anyone have a guess when this update will exit beta-only?

 

[Blarneystone]

Guys, possible solution. mine which were sounding muddy as F the past 4-6 weeks. ANC and Transparency sounded identical. My volume was hard to pinpoint because environmental sounds kept throwing off the ANC/Transparency algorithms. it went from blasting to whisper quiet at times. I tried cleaning them, re-pairing, factory resetting, and re-pairing again after reboots. Nothing worked. So, I contacted AppleCare+ (mine are still covered).

This will sound completely ridiculous, but I had been unpairing/repairing with my iPad. They guy said, "please try with your iphone." I went along, even though I knew it wouldn't work.

I was wrong - there was an immediate difference. By re-pairing with my iphone vs. ipad Pro my APP2's went back to sounding good again.

So, if you have multiple devices, might be worth trying unpairing and then re-pairing with a different device.

Edit: I asked a question originally. Came back and replaced the question with my findings.