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The AirPods had the best ANC on any headphones I ever tried when I bought them. Now they don't filter anything, no voices, no engine noises, no traffic. I thought at first that the rubber tips wore out so I ordered new ones. Still the same. I can clearly make out the white noise that they used to cancel out before.
My ANC on my AirPods Pro 2 are better than any earbuds I own, and I own a lot of them. They are so good, they can filter out the sound of leaf blowers that go off right outside my window every other Thursday. I can barely hear them at all even when not playing any music on those AirPods. Yours are broken. When mine are so good that I can barely hear leaf blowers and yours don’t filter anything at all, there’s definitely a disconnect there.
 
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I recommend the YouTube channel, Aaron Loud and Wireless. He goes through all types of wireless headsets and posts changes for each firmware along with actual metrics he measures with professional tools. He does side-by-side comparisons to previous firmware updates concentrating on any changes to ANC, sound quality (complete with wave charts), and microphone quality. When I watch his videos, I find it amusing when people comment on huge changes to things that weren’t affected at all by the firmware updates.
Well it still doesn’t change the fact that a significant amount of people reported the issue where Apple INDEED did weaken the Active Noise Cancellation via firmware updates lol.
 
Well it still doesn’t change the fact that a significant amount of people reported the issue where Apple INDEED did weaken the Active Noise Cancellation via firmware updates lol.
Considering half the comments on these forums are people saying “Apple probably nerfed ANC” before anyone’s even loaded the firmware updates, it’s confirmation bias. If you expect something, you’ll make yourself “hear” that difference even if there isn’t any. I prefer the actual tests Aaron runs since he uses objective tests. i would be skeptical of people saying ANC has improved, too. I know my ANC is pretty good overall, but I couldn’t tell you if it’s changed between one firmware version and another. Yet with every firmware release, we see a lot of people writing how the ANC is now horrible while there are a few people who will write it got better. Sometimes it’s the same people who say for multiple firmware versions in a row that ANC got worse. When you want to believe it, you will. Then when I see objective testing, it will turn out Apple didn’t change anything with ANC.
 
Considering half the comments on these forums are people saying “Apple probably nerfed ANC” before anyone’s even loaded the firmware updates, it’s confirmation bias. If you expect something, you’ll make yourself “hear” that difference even if there isn’t any. I prefer the actual tests Aaron runs since he uses objective tests. i would be skeptical of people saying ANC has improved, too. I know my ANC is pretty good overall, but I couldn’t tell you if it’s changed between one firmware version and another. Yet with every firmware release, we see a lot of people writing how the ANC is now horrible while there are a few people who will write it got better. Sometimes it’s the same people who say for multiple firmware versions in a row that ANC got worse. When you want to believe it, you will. Then when I see objective testing, it will turn out Apple didn’t change anything with ANC.
It’s not about belief it’s the TRUTH Apple did indeed nerf it, i mean i can talk from my own experience since i first bout my AirPods Pro 2nd Gen on November 2022 the noise cancellation was just so good but… since that 5E133 update on April 2023 the noise cancellation just i could tell something is off like it’s way weak compared to how good it was on December and January 2022. I’m not here trying to say that you aren’t saying the truth or wherever you got the information saying that “Apple didn’t nerf the noise cancellation” I’m talking about my personal experience and a significant other people that reported this issue i wanna emphasize SIGNIFICANT, and i checked there is nothing wrong with my AirPods Pro 2 i never had a issue i cleaned them very often, i cleaned the grills, i bought brand new ear tips original from Apple but still noise cancellation just isn’t the same it used to be.
 
It’s not about belief it’s the TRUTH Apple did indeed nerf it, i mean i can talk from my own experience since i first bout my AirPods Pro 2nd Gen on November 2022 the noise cancellation was just so good but… since that 5E133 update on April 2023 the noise cancellation just i could tell something is off like it’s way weak compared to how good it was on December and January 2022. I’m not here trying to say that you aren’t saying the truth or wherever you got the information saying that “Apple didn’t nerf the noise cancellation” I’m talking about my personal experience and a significant other people that reported this issue i wanna emphasize SIGNIFICANT, and i checked there is nothing wrong with my AirPods Pro 2 i never had a issue i cleaned them very often, i cleaned the grills, i bought brand new ear tips original from Apple but still noise cancellation just isn’t the same it used to be.
So Apple does something one time in the old AirPods Pro first generation due to a patent lawsuit they lose and that one time becomes every time? I’m not saying Apple never changes ANC for the better or worse. I’m saying the bias is that some people think it happens every single time a new firmware update comes out. That’s why I trust objective testing more than people just saying it got nerfed. In almost every firmware update, ANC wasn’t even touched, yet tons of people on the forums all swear ANC is worse than ever.
 
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OK so is the 6F8 stable release newer than the beta 7A220e? Does anyone know? Mine is staying on 7A220e and I don’t know if I have to disable beta updates to get it to push to 6F8 or what…
 
So Apple does something one time in the old AirPods Pro first generation due to a patent lawsuit they lose and that one time becomes every time? I’m not saying Apple never changes ANC for the better or worse. I’m saying the bias is that some people think it happens every single time a new firmware update comes out. That’s why I trust objective testing more than people just saying it got nerfed. In almost every firmware update, ANC wasn’t even touched, yet tons of people on the forums all swear ANC is worse than ever.
I mean why would i lie or just try to fit in with other people when i burned €350 euros in the product itself it doesn’t make sense, it’s just I’m disappointed that one of the most important features (noise cancellation) to be weaken just months after, we can go on forever replying like this i mean i told u it doesn’t make sense that i would lie for such thing when i myself bought them it’s just the noise cancellation is not what it used to be now you may be right that you saying those reporting this problem which as you quoted “If you expect something, you’ll make yourself “hear” that difference even if there isn’t any” True Apple may be putting something in the firmware update that makes us think the noise cancellation is weaken or… They did actually nerf it.
 
I mean why would i lie or just try to fit in with other people when i burned €350 euros in the product itself it doesn’t make sense, it’s just I’m disappointed that one of the most important features (noise cancellation) to be weaken just months after, we can go on forever replying like this i mean i told u it doesn’t make sense that i would lie for such thing when i myself bought them it’s just the noise cancellation is not what it used to be now you may be right that you saying those reporting this problem which as you quoted “If you expect something, you’ll make yourself “hear” that difference even if there isn’t any” True Apple may be putting something in the firmware update that makes us think the noise cancellation is weaken or… They did actually nerf it.
I’m sure you believe whatever it is you say. I don’t believe at all that you’re lying. That’s what confirmation bias is. You hear what you expect to hear. Maybe ANC was nerfed this time around or maybe strengthened? Maybe it wasn’t even touched. My point is that too many people think ANC gets nerfed with every single firmware iteration and believe it because they want to believe it, and therefore hear it being worse. Keep in mind very few people have more than one set of AirPods Pro so there isn’t a side-by-side comparison. They hear what they hear and think it sounds worse than what they remember because that is their preconceived notion that Apple ALWAYS nerfs their ANC. Memory is a tricky thing.

There was the one time Apple did nerf it because they were forced to. They lost a major patent case on the algorithm they used for ANC. It could not be completely remedied in the original AirPods Pro and had to nerf it due to that legal case. The AirPods Pro 2 remedied that problem with better than ever (by consensus) ANC. Since then, every time Apple’s released a new firmware version, people on these forums swear ANC was nerfed. Sorry, but it’s impossible for them to nerf it every time. That one instance where Apple was forced to do so has stuck in people’s minds and therefore some always expect the worst. It’s almost as if that one time traumatized people into thinking Apple will always nerf it. That’s why I prefer to rely on professionals using objective tests.

This particular update was primarily security related, fixing an issue where attackers could gain access to the AirPods. What you’d with that access is a bit mystifying, but Apple fixed that security hole, which is why an update was issued for all AirPods, not just select ones. They did also mention bug fixes and improvements, so maybe something was done. Nobody really knows what. I’ll wait for professionals to test out the new firmware. Personally I don’t THINK anything’s changed on my ANC, but I can’t know for sure. I don’t have that preconceived notion that every firmware update makes things worse. I’m willing to admit I can’t tell if anything at all was changed, sound-wise, ANC-wise, or microphone-wise. Tests showed that in the previous update the changes were mostly microphone related when on phone calls. Yet in this forum there were a ton of people swearing their ANC had been nerfed.
 
I mean why would i lie or just try to fit in with other people when i burned €350 euros in the product itself it doesn’t make sense, it’s just I’m disappointed that one of the most important features (noise cancellation) to be weaken just months after, we can go on forever replying like this i mean i told u it doesn’t make sense that i would lie for such thing when i myself bought them it’s just the noise cancellation is not what it used to be now you may be right that you saying those reporting this problem which as you quoted “If you expect something, you’ll make yourself “hear” that difference even if there isn’t any” True Apple may be putting something in the firmware update that makes us think the noise cancellation is weaken or… They did actually nerf it.
Oh, I thought of something after that last post. I’ll give you an example from another consumer electronics product. I have a Samsung S95B QD-OLED TV that I bought a couple of years ago, the very first QD-OLED ever. Its claim to fame was incredibly bright OLED, better than WOLED, the LG version. Inexplicably Samsung nerfed the brightness in one of their infamous firmware revisions. It was so prominent that some people returned their TV’s and bought new ones with original firmware and would then cut off their Internet access to their TV to prevent any updates. Ever since, Samsung forums have people insisting brightness was nerfed again and again with each firmware update, yet when professionals put light meters on their TV’s, sometimes it improved in brightness and other times it didn’t, but never by any dramatic amount. Samsung never explained why they nerfed it, so there was that lack of trust from then on.

That one time traumatized people into expecting the worst, and that’s what I think is happening with AirPods. Apple had to do it once by court order and ever since, people are paranoid they’ll do it again. Once you lose trust, it’s gone. It doesn’t matter why they had to do it.
 

As a summary, it seems like nothing changed in terms of ANC, mic quality, and sound quality on APP2 both Lightning and USB-C. The only difference detected seems to be a slower response on the microphone when on a call for the Lightning version only. This pretty much was just a security update.
 
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Not showing what was changed in changelog should be banned same as no possibility to downgrade.
 
Oh, I thought of something after that last post. I’ll give you an example from another consumer electronics product. I have a Samsung S95B QD-OLED TV that I bought a couple of years ago, the very first QD-OLED ever. Its claim to fame was incredibly bright OLED, better than WOLED, the LG version. Inexplicably Samsung nerfed the brightness in one of their infamous firmware revisions. It was so prominent that some people returned their TV’s and bought new ones with original firmware and would then cut off their Internet access to their TV to prevent any updates. Ever since, Samsung forums have people insisting brightness was nerfed again and again with each firmware update, yet when professionals put light meters on their TV’s, sometimes it improved in brightness and other times it didn’t, but never by any dramatic amount. Samsung never explained why they nerfed it, so there was that lack of trust from then on.

That one time traumatized people into expecting the worst, and that’s what I think is happening with AirPods. Apple had to do it once by court order and ever since, people are paranoid they’ll do it again. Once you lose trust, it’s gone. It doesn’t matter why they had to do it.
Yeah but two different things earbuds vs a display screen… Also Samsung with Apple can’t be compared Apple is just better lol
 
Yeah but two different things earbuds vs a display screen… Also Samsung with Apple can’t be compared Apple is just better lol
I don’t consider Apple or Samsung to be better, just different. The two companies emphasize completely different things. Personally, I love my S95B TV and find it plenty bright. In subsequent firmware revisions, Samsung did brighten things up a tiny bit plus some modifications to the blue and green help to compensate for the brightness nerf.

The devices themselves don’t matter to this discussion. I mentioned Samsung because of the mindset. People were traumatized by a single Samsung firmware update and since then they are utterly paranoid Samsung will do it again. I am still downloading every S95B firmware update and have no issues with them. Like the freak out over that single Samsung nerf, Apple users of the AirPods Pro are also freaked out because of that single nerf to ANC back during the original AirPods Pro days. Nothing like that has happened since, but people still insist every firmware revision nerfed their ANC.

This is reality versus perception. The reality is that both companies measurably nerfed their devices a single time, but people reacted in exactly the same way. The reality is nothing serious changed in ANC or brightness on those respective devices since those original nerfs but the instant reaction by users is that THIS TIME, they’ve been nerfed into the ground again.
 
My AirPods Pro 2 (Lightning) upgraded to 6F8, but the case is still at 65.3.0. Is that the latest case version? Saw some people talking about a newer case version...
 
here we go again guys... a more satisfying snapping sound of the case after the update!!!

Ever since this update it’s as if my AirPods shut off after being not in use for a period of time. When I open my case the indicator light does not light up and the phone does not recognize the AirPods. If I take the AirPods out and put them in my ears, it’s as if the battery is dead. I don’t hear anything. Nothing indicating that it connected to a device. When I plug the case into the lightning charger, after a second it will light up and then the phone will detect it and show that the case has a charge and the AirPods have some sort of a charge to them as well.

I had reset my AirPods too because I had an issue where only one AirPod was detected when I had both in ear.

This can’t be just me, is it?

Model Name AirPods Pro
Model A2084
Version 6A326
Case 1.4.0
 
Ever since this update it’s as if my AirPods shut off after being not in use for a period of time. When I open my case the indicator light does not light up and the phone does not recognize the AirPods. If I take the AirPods out and put them in my ears, it’s as if the battery is dead. I don’t hear anything. Nothing indicating that it connected to a device. When I plug the case into the lightning charger, after a second it will light up and then the phone will detect it and show that the case has a charge and the AirPods have some sort of a charge to them as well.

I had reset my AirPods too because I had an issue where only one AirPod was detected when I had both in ear.

This can’t be just me, is it?

Model Name AirPods Pro
Model A2084
Version 6A326
Case 1.4.0
how long have u had this AirPods? battery replacement might be needed? bring it to apple~
 
Ever since this update it’s as if my AirPods shut off after being not in use for a period of time. When I open my case the indicator light does not light up and the phone does not recognize the AirPods. If I take the AirPods out and put them in my ears, it’s as if the battery is dead. I don’t hear anything. Nothing indicating that it connected to a device. When I plug the case into the lightning charger, after a second it will light up and then the phone will detect it and show that the case has a charge and the AirPods have some sort of a charge to them as well.

I had reset my AirPods too because I had an issue where only one AirPod was detected when I had both in ear.

This can’t be just me, is it?

Model Name AirPods Pro
Model A2084
Version 6A326
Case 1.4.0
You may have just run into a bug. In the numerous years that I’ve owned AirPods, I’ve had my AirPods stop responding with one earbud refusing to connect no matter what I do, maybe 3 or 4 times. The solution was just to unpair and re-pair the AirPods to any of your devices. This problem is not unique to any particular firmware build as it has happened a small number of times over the years, and has happened to AirPods I had owned for only a short time. I don’t think it has anything to do with the battery, though AirPods batteries can degrade badly enough that a replacement has to be made in about 3 years, give or take.
 
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