I’ve been using Apple headphones for over six years and I love my AirPods Pro more than ever. The reason? The adaptive audio that iOS 17 brought, a function that, although it was presented at WWDC 2023, ended up arriving at the end of the year in a somewhat silent way. So much so that I even know people with AirPods Pro 2 who don’t even know it.
This is a feature that, generally speaking, comes down to adapt the headphone sound to the ambient noise. This is something that was already present in headphones from other manufacturers, but which only arrived at Apple just a few months ago. And better late than never.
What is AirPods Adaptive Audio and which models are compatible
“Adaptive Audio” is what Apple literally called the technology that allows, through a complex algorithmic system, to use AirPods’ microphones to detect environmental noise and adapt noise cancellation to the circumstance.
The idea is to isolate yourself as little as possible from the outside world without harming the content you listen to.. For example, if we are walking on a noisy street, it is advisable to activate noise cancellation so that voices from the environment do not disturb us. However, if someone stops to talk to us, it is important that we can listen.
Two other functions come into play here, such as Conversation detection and custom volume. The first of these is the one that acts in situations like the ones I illustrated previously, reducing noise cancellation and expanding the sound that the other person (or we) emits when speaking. Personalized volume has connotations of artificial intelligence to adapt to our preferences and adapt the volume to each situation and type of content we listen to.
However, we start with only 2nd generation AirPods Pro are compatible with these features. At least for now, although none of the headphones already launched on the market should integrate it, perhaps because they are not prepared at the hardware level for it.
That even the fabulous (and expensive) AirPods Max aren’t compatible is something that bothers me. I don’t know to what extent the incompatible hardware theory is true, but in any case I have more or less resigned myself, the truth is that it will only be able to be used on the AirPods Pro 2. Fortunately, I have them .
How to enable AirPods adaptive audio
In addition to having AirPods Pro 2, you need have an iPhone or iPad updated to iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 or later version, as well as a Mac with macOS 14 Sonoma or later. The headphones must be connected to the devices and, possibly, you will already see a guide to configure and adjust the adaptive audio functions.
Otherwise, it is in the control center where you can find the options by holding down the icon with the volume bar. At the bottom, you need to make sure “Conversation Detection” is active, then click on sound mode (the first icon on the left) and select “Adaptive”.
Furthermore, There are more options by going to Settings > AirPods Pro. For example, the custom volume option, the aforementioned conversation detection, and loud noise reduction. We haven’t talked about the latter before, but it does precisely what it promises: to make you hear harsh sounds that may sound annoying in your headphones much quieter.
The daily experience is (almost) unbeatable
I talked at the time about my experience using this feature when I had only had it for a few weeks and in fact it was a beta feature. It has already worked well, but now, after almost six months, I can assure you that I am delighted with it.
At the beginning, I warn that can look a lot like ambient mode. On this occasion which I cite, I gave an example which I will now give again; And the first time I took the AirPods with this feature out on the street, I found that the sound was ambient from the moment I left the house, while I took the elevator, and until I go out into the street… It was just when I went out into the hustle and bustle of the city, into the street when the show started to take effect.
Without me touching anything, when AirPods detect ambient noise, they activate noise cancellation. Depending on the amount of noise, this increases it more or less. Although if there’s anything I liked, it’s how volume learned from me to adapt to every circumstance. I usually listen to podcasts on my morning walks and I’m pleasantly surprised at how I’ve discovered which parts interest me more than others.
For example, in a podcast I frequent, they intersperse different sections over the course of two hours. When it’s just speech, I want to have the volume high enough that I don’t lose details of what’s being said. However, in songs that transition between sections, I prefer to lower the volume because the music sounds very loud compared to the vocals. Well, the AirPods Pro already adapt to this and when the melody is played, they turn down the volume. Apple calls it “machine learning”, the industry calls it “artificial intelligence” and I call it “magic”.
As for noise reduction, I have a neighbor who loves playing the recorder, although (with all my love) it’s not exactly his greatest virtue. His mastery of the instrument is reminiscent of the famous “Titanic Fail”. Then yes, It’s a shrill sound and my AirPods know it. So when I’m at home listening to music and the artist is doing their job, my songs don’t lose their prominence and their noise is reduced.
Everything is not perfect, since there are also points to improve
The “almost” in the previous section makes sense in the sense that, in fact, this functionality there is still room for improvement. In fact, the same issues detected when I first tried the feature are still present after four months out of beta.
It is essentially the poor distinction of car noises. In general, I understand that it is something delicate, since the horn of a car can disturb us if we walk on the sidewalk, but it is decisive if we are going to cross and we do not notice that the cars are coming. You still have to look, yes, but the adaptive audio function doesn’t help much to combine it either.
And that’s it Sometimes it cancels out car noise and sometimes it doesn’t.. The idea is that when we are close it expands this sound to avoid inconvenience if we cross paths, while if it sounds from afar there is no need to expand it and priority is given to the content that we hear. Well unfortunately, neither.
The other big flaw, which I have felt since the release of the first AirPods Pro, is the absence of a greater number of settings dedicated to customizing noise cancellation. I already mentioned before that there are settings, but they are nowhere near the number of options that headphones like Sony’s offer with their respective apps. Whatever it is, and it usually works just as well, that’s the whole problem.
Cover image | Zana Latif on Unsplash
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