Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2

[CBlakeston]

They're not updating in their own time unless that time is glacial time.

I put them in the case, plugged in the case (case charges), opened the case lid, paired them to iPhone and they showed model #A2698, firmware 6A301. They stayed that way next to the phone in the case with the lid open for hours yesterday - no change. Re-did the same steps this morning and here it is lunch with zero change. Tried closing the case as well.

Whatever the secret sequence is to forcing an update, it's not working for me.

*UPDATE*
Suspecting that my iPhone11 OS 16.6.1 was the problem, I unpaired from the iPhone, did the same process with my MacBook Pro M2max OS Sonoma 14.1 and it nearly instantly changed to 6A303. I unpaired, paired with the iPhone and now they're also showing 6A303.
In my case with the iPhone described above they were either not updating or not registering/displaying the update until I paired them with the M2max running Sonoma.

Thanks for the update. So for clarity what’s the update with Mac procedure?

I plug them into my Sonoma Mac with a cable and leave them open? Or do I need to unpair from my phone and then pair with my Mac plugged in and leave them open? The unpairing is an important step?

 

[soloact]

Thanks for the update. So for clarity what’s the update with Mac procedure?

I plug them into my Sonoma Mac with a cable and leave them open? Or do I need to unpair from my phone and then pair with my Mac plugged in and leave them open? The unpairing is an important step?

Did the steps detailed in articles and in this thread:

1. Put AirPods into case
2. Connect the case to power
3. Open the case WITH the AirPod pro 2 in it
4. Pair with the Sonoma Mac

Some people have had luck closing the case after it's paired, but others recommend leaving the case lid open. I left the case lid open.

 

[CBlakeston]

Did the steps detailed in articles and in this thread:

1. Put AirPods into case
2. Connect the case to power
3. Open the case WITH the AirPod pro 2 in it
4. Pair with the Sonoma Mac

Some people have had luck closing the case after it's paired, but others recommend leaving the case lid open. I left the case lid open.

Thanks. I’m travelling right now and just plugged my phone into a power bank to charge. The pod’s into another powerbank. Left them open. Checked the firmware 20 seconds later and they’re now updated.

Side note, I seem to have some crap in the USBC port of the AirPods already it does charge with a cable but doesn’t sit in firmly enough. Must try and clean it out with a pin when I’m home.

 

[rkenyon]

Well, if it's like the first Airpods Pro, the feature could be to make the noise cancellation suck. I swear on my Airpods Pro the noise cancelling was great out of the box, then after a few firrmware updates it was nowhere near as good. They should outline what the changes are or give us a way to turn off firmware updates for our Airpods.

Mine have upgraded today, and the ANC has definitely degraded. To the point that I actually wasn’t sure it was on.

Like you, the ANC was great when I first bought them.

The ANC is now terrible compared to my Bose QC700s. I think I’ll need to try out other models.

 

[CBlakeston]

Initial impressions of the new firmware and the ANC seems better than ever here. In the 30 minutes I’ve tried

 

[bradl]

They're not updating in their own time unless that time is glacial time.

I put them in the case, plugged in the case (case charges), opened the case lid, paired them to iPhone and they showed model #A2698, firmware 6A301. They stayed that way next to the phone in the case with the lid open for hours yesterday - no change. Re-did the same steps this morning and here it is lunch with zero change. Tried closing the case as well.

Whatever the secret sequence is to forcing an update, it's not working for me.

*UPDATE*
Suspecting that my iPhone11 OS 16.6.1 was the problem, I unpaired from the iPhone, did the same process with my MacBook Pro M2max OS Sonoma 14.1 and it nearly instantly changed to 6A303. I unpaired, paired with the iPhone and now they're also showing 6A303.
In my case with the iPhone described above they were either not updating or not registering/displaying the update until I paired them with the M2max running Sonoma.

Keep in mind, it took roughly 2-3 hours when mine were paired to either my MBP or my iPhone 11 Pro. The case updated within 35 minutes, but the Airpods took the remaining time. That was with the case open. My point here is that the time varies from one person to another because there is no way to control how or when to update.

BL.

 

[highdefjunkie]

I feel/noticed after update ANC is a lot better.

 

[Omeyocan]

My AirPods Pro 2 case is stuck at 51.11.1.

 

[Stevep75]

Just got the update and it seems like the noise cancellation is noticeably better at reducing conversation volume.

 

[highdefjunkie]

Just got the update and it seems like the noise cancellation is noticeably better at reducing conversation volume.

I completely agree.

 

[tobybrut]

Mine have upgraded today, and the ANC has definitely degraded. To the point that I actually wasn’t sure it was on.

Like you, the ANC was great when I first bought them.

The ANC is now terrible compared to my Bose QC700s. I think I’ll need to try out other models.

ANC on mine is very, very good. Just this morning, someone was running a leaf blower right outside my window while i was trying to sleep and those things can practically wake the dead. After privately cursing them out, I put the AirPods Pro 2’s in (Lightning) and the sound was practically gone. Many YouTubers have reported that their ANC has gotten better with this new update. From my experience, they are correct. Did you put your AirPods in Adaptive Transparency mode? That would explain it sounding like it wasn’t even on since that mode only reduces noises by about 50%. It’s not intended to fully block sound, just reduce it.

 

[tobybrut]

BTW, you do NOT need to open the case to update them. Keeping them closed works just as well. I updated my two sets of AirPods Pro 2’s (one Lightning, one USB-C) just by putting them on Qi chargers after finding out about the update and confirming they were on their old firmware. After about 15 minutes on the chargers, I checked again and both were fully updated. I had an iPhone 15 and iPad Pro near them, but did not directly connect to either of them before charging.

 

[highdefjunkie]

I'd bet 99.9% that yes this was the reason. Many people experience nausea from the traditional older methods that cause that pressure feeling.

Conspiracy theorists would tell you Apple hindered their own product to upsell you on a future one, but I would bet a lot of money that they received enough returns / customer sat. numbers back quickly that put them over a threshold of "we need to adjust this" and so they did so quickly before a lot of people had them to notice.

AirPods Pro 2 have a different design and don't cause this phenomenon much if at all.

Agreed. My son had really bad nausea issues with the 1st Gen Airpod Pro's. He hasn't had any issues with the 2nd gen.

 

[jdb8167]

My Lightning set updated, but the USB-C ones haven't. I don't really notice anything new.

EDIT: The USB-C set updated now. I still don't notice anything new. Probably because I don't use any of the newer features like Personalized Volume or Conversation Awareness.

For me, my new APP2 USB-C is no longer reporting that I left them behind when they were actually in my pocket.

 

[earlsab]

Apple today introduced new firmware for both the AirPods Pro 2 with Lightning port and the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C port. The new firmware is 6A303, up from the 6A301 update that was released in September.

Apple does not provide details on what features might be included in the refreshed firmware, so it is unclear what's new. Apple added multiple new AirPods Pro 2 features in iOS 17 such as Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, and Personalized Volume, so there could be refinements to those updates.

Apple does not offer instructions on how to upgrade AirPods software, but firmware is generally installed over-the-air while the ‌‌AirPods‌‌ are connected to an iOS device. Putting the ‌‌‌‌‌AirPods‌‌‌‌‌ in the case, connecting the ‌‌‌‌‌AirPods‌‌‌‌‌ to a power source, and then pairing the ‌‌‌‌‌AirPods‌‌‌‌‌ to an iOS device or Mac should force the update.

You can check your ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌AirPods Pro‌‌‌‌‌‌‌ firmware by following these steps:

• Connect your ‌‌‌‌‌‌AirPods Pro‌‌‌‌‌‌ to your iOS device.
  
• Open the Settings app.
  
• Tap General.
  
• Tap About.
  
• Tap ‌‌‌‌‌AirPods‌‌‌‌‌.
  
• Look at the number next to "Firmware Version."

If we learn more about what's new in these firmware releases, we'll update this article.

Article Link: Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2

The update fixed the frequent disconnects when on calls/using the microphone. It’s pretty reliable now.

 

[NEPOBABY]

I think the noise cancelling might have improved with the update. It's hard to tell because memories of sound and vision are not tangible and you can be easily fooled. You would have to do a side by side comparison of updated and not updated AirPods.

 

[NEPOBABY]

Thanks for the update. So for clarity what’s the update with Mac procedure?

I plug them into my Sonoma Mac with a cable and leave them open? Or do I need to unpair from my phone and then pair with my Mac plugged in and leave them open? The unpairing is an important step?

These kind of updates 'roll out' which means no amount of forcing will make the device update. When it comes it comes. Mine updated while I was asleep.

 

[elementalwingma]

Update feels pretty solid, it fixes the issues I had after updating to Sonoma with the last set volume not being saved when I connect them. If they just would fix that audio stutter I get whenever unlocking the phone, it would be perfect.

 

[michaelant]

I'd bet 99.9% that yes this was the reason. Many people experience nausea from the traditional older methods that cause that pressure feeling.

Conspiracy theorists would tell you Apple hindered their own product to upsell you on a future one, but I would bet a lot of money that they received enough returns / customer sat. numbers back quickly that put them over a threshold of "we need to adjust this" and so they did so quickly before a lot of people had them to notice.

AirPods Pro 2 have a different design and don't cause this phenomenon much if at all.

Makes a lot of sense, I bet you're right. I'm happy with the APP2 noise cancelling, though it also doesn't seem fantastic like the original APP with first firmware was.

I do get pressure with AirPods Max, by the way, and NC on them seems better than APP2, though I don't take them the same places to really know if it is. I'd guess that Apple is willing to leave this NC in place for AirPods Max since they're much more niche. Way too many people have APP for even a subset of them to get discomfort from the "pressure". Doesn't bother me, so I'm lucky 👍

 

[Xudong]

If anything I find the ANC on the 2 to be not quite as good as on the first generation. Agree adaptive is nice but it could be a little more aggressive. Conversation awareness on the other hand is a little too aggressive.

I admire what Apple is trying to do here. It’s a really hard problem to tackle and I think they are doing great, and I’m hoping we can get over our collective trauma about firmware updates. Hopefully this time around all the firmware updates will be good ones.

Thank goodness I am not the only one who notices this. Recently I have been studying in the library with 2nd gen in my ear. No music just noise cancelling on to focus on studying. One day the battery runs out on 2nd gen. So I put on my 1st gen AirPods pro and I noticed a significantly increase on the noise cancelling! I couldn't believe it so I checked the firmware. 1st gen is 6A300 and 2nd gen is 6A305. I remember when I got the 2nd gen APP on the day it was released. I compared it with my old first gen and the noise cancelling was so much better. Now the 2nd gen is not even as good as the 1st gen. It really pisses me off that apple secretly changes noise cancelling level during firmwares to achieve whatever dirty goals they have. Now think about the release of 2nd gen AirPods pro, maybe apple decreased the noise cancelling on the first gen to achieve their "2X more" selling point. After all this, I won't buy any AirPods anymore. I think I'll go for Bose instead.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Thank goodness I am not the only one who notices this. Recently I have been studying in the library with 2nd gen in my ear. No music just noise cancelling on to focus on studying. One day the battery runs out on 2nd gen. So I put on my 1st gen AirPods pro and I noticed a significantly increase on the noise cancelling! I couldn't believe it so I checked the firmware. 1st gen is 6A300 and 2nd gen is 6A305. I remember when I got the 2nd gen APP on the day it was released. I compared it with my old first gen and the noise cancelling was so much better. Now the 2nd gen is not even as good as the 1st gen. It really pisses me off that apple secretly changes noise cancelling level during firmwares to achieve whatever dirty goals they have. Now think about the release of 2nd gen AirPods pro, maybe apple decreased the noise cancelling on the first gen to achieve their "2X more" selling point. After all this, I won't buy any AirPods anymore. I think I'll go for Bose instead.

It hasn’t been bad enough to make me regret them but I sure hope they keep tuning it. And after more time with them, I notice that adaptive is not very useful. It doesn’t actually reduce loud sounds very well.