The new Siri functions in iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia affect the AirPods and will be provided with software updates this fall. This will change the way you respond to Siri, take calls and immerse yourself in your favorite games. The addition of Siri interactions allows you to respond to Siri hands-free and without words on your AirPods Pro by just nodding yes or shaking your head no.
Voice isolation will also be available on AirPods Pro, so that you can be clearly heard while calling when it’s windy or when you’re in a noisy environment. While gaming, updates to AirPods deliver faster audio transfer, while personalized spatial audio lets you immerse yourself in a game. Below is an overview of the new features being added to the AirPods firmware this fall.
AirPods and Siri interactions
AirPods are one of the best ways to use Siri when you’re on the go. With Siri Interactions this is now even more personal, easier and completely silent. If you own AirPods Pro 2nd Gen, you can just nod yes or gently shake no to respond to Siri announcements. This is useful in a busy or quiet environment where you prefer not to talk out loud. Thanks to machine learning on the H2 chip, Siri interactions let you take or reject calls, respond to messages, manage notifications and more. All this without saying a word.
Voice isolation on Airpods Pro
For the best call quality in any environment, the AirPods Pro 2nd generation have Voice Isolation. A feature you may already know from your Mac, iPhone and iPad. Machine learning on the H2 chip in AirPods Pro and the paired iPhone, iPad or Mac isolates speech and improves its quality. At the same time, disturbing background noise such as wind or traffic is filtered out for the person on the other end of the line.
Spatial audio with dynamic head tracking
The AirPods (3rd generation), AirPods Pro or AirPods Max will have personal access spatial audio with dynamic head tracking while gaming. This allows you to enjoy the same immersive audio that you are used to when playing music or watching films and series.
The AirPods Pro 2nd Generation feature the fastest wireless audio transmission Apple has ever offered for mobile gaming. For consultation with teammates and other players, the voice quality of AirPods Pro has also been improved, including 16-bit audio at 48 kHz.
Adjust adaptive audio
Adaptive audio combines the existing transparency mode and noise cancellation and automatically adapts them to the situation. Based on your environment, the AirPods Pro 2nd generation automatically choose the best degree of transparency or noise reduction at that moment. So you no longer have to manually switch between these two different modes. The function can already be used, but from iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 you can decide for yourself whether the audio should let in more sound or filter it out. To do this, go to the settings of your AirPods Pro in the Settings app.
Availability of new AirPods firmware
The beta version of the AirPods firmware is now available on the developer website for developers within the Apple Developer Program. The new AirPods features will be available this fall as a free firmware update in combination with iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia.