AirPods have become an essential device for many people in the Apple ecosystem. Year after year, it has been enriched with new features both at the hardware and software levels. But we would have the next change precisely in iOS 18 with a function very focused on the health field and accessibility.
It was Mark Gurman himself, in his Bloomberg newsletter, who said that one of the big additions for AirPods “in the near term” will be the inclusion of a “hearing aid” mode. And this would be expected in iOS 18, which will be released in the fall and will be presented in a few months at WWDC 2024.
AirPods as a device to help people with hearing problems
There are undoubtedly many rumors surrounding the future of AirPods, such as the possible inclusion of biometric sensors to take pulse or body temperature. And everything indicates that AirPods will finally be a health-focused devicesomething that was already seen in a 2021 report that talked about this same accessibility feature.
Currently, for people who may have lost some hearing, AirPods have a talk mode that amplifies the volume of what’s around us. But now they want to take it to the next level with a mode specially adapted for this functionality.
Obviously, Apple wants to “hide” the fact that it is a medical device that helps this part of the population suffering from hearing problems. The reason is very clear: FDA authorization would be required to market it as such. But we have seen that there can be an exception to this rule thanks to the fact that the FDA has a category of over-the-counter hearing aids that do not require major medical requirements.
Concretely, the organization explains that these hearing aids “They are not intended to treat, cure, alleviate, or prevent any disease, and are not intended to affect the structure or function of the body.” This is where Apple could include its hearing aid mode to make it easier to market, and sell it as a health product for those people who don’t hear well.
To find out if this mode will be a reality and if it will require FDA authorization we will have to wait for the presentation of iOS 18 at the developers conference. But at the moment we do not have a date to know how long we will have this long-awaited meeting.
Pictures | Jonas Vandermeiren Omid Armin
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