The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has officially approved the upcoming Hearing Aid mode for the AirPods Pro 2. In the announcement, Michelle Tarver, acting director of the FDA’s Center for Device and Radiological Health, applauded the software for advancing the “availability, accessibility, and acceptability of hearing support for adults.”
Also: How Apple just changed hearing aids forever – and the lives of those who need them
To recap, Apple announced several health-centric features during its ‘Glowtime’ event on Monday, Sept. 9, one of which allows the earbuds to function as a ready-for-purchase hearing aid.
Once Hearing Aid mode becomes widely available, concerned users will have to take a short five-minute test on their iPhone to determine whether or not they have mild to moderate hearing loss. If the test results indicate you are, Apple says the feature will recommend activating the Hearing Aid mode to “boost voices, media, and phone calls so they’re easier to hear.”
All data will be stored in the Health app on your mobile device, and you can share it with your doctor at any time. A health professional, for example, could use this information to create a unique audiogram that can then be used to set up the feature.
Needless to say, this is a huge deal. The FDA states in the release that almost 30 million adults in the “US have hearing loss [and] more than half of adults” over the age of 60 suffer from “disabling hearing loss.” The cost of obtaining a medical hearing aid also makes this approval significant — the process of purchasing one can cost several thousand dollars without insurance.
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In comparison, the AirPods Pro 2 is a much cheaper option, as a pair typically retails for $250. Patients will no longer have to jump through so many hoops.
It’s unknown exactly when Hearing Aid mode will be available, though Apple has said the software patch will roll out later this fall. When it does, the AirPods 2 will be the “first over-the-counter hearing aid software device” in the US, according to the FDA.
