Apple AirPods Pro is now in its second generation model, with important new features and improvements. But one of them, surprisingly, could also arrive on the first generation headphones.
October 3 update below. This article was first published on October 1, 2022.
That’s according to first-generation AirPods Pro owners who have the iOS 16.1 beta installed on their iPhones. Adaptive Transparency is one of the highlights of the second generation AirPods Pro (although there are plenty of them) and strives to do something revolutionary: improve the sound of real life.
October 3 update. In addition to the first-gen AirPods Pro appearing to get Adaptive Transparency, new reports suggest that the feature that was supposed to be exclusive to the second-gen AirPods Pro will also be coming to AirPods Max.
First of all, this seems to confirm that it’s not a bug, as it certainly was a possibility. According MacRumorsusers have now reported that their AirPods Max, running the latest beta firmware 5A304a, can now see the adaptive transparency feature appear as a toggle in the settings of their iPhones or iPads running the respective latest beta versions of the software.
Again, the AirPod Max chip is H1, the same as the first generation AirPods Pro. So it looks like this chip might be enough to make Adaptive Transparency a reality, not the H2 chip that just debuted in the second-generation AirPods Pro.
Which leads to another question, to which there is no answer yet. However, stay tuned in case it becomes clear. That is, will the other headphones that have both active noise cancellation and the H1 chip inside, the Beats Fit Pro, also get adaptive transparency?
There are other headphones with H1 processor, such as the second generation AirPods and the third generation AirPods, but these do not have noise cancellation and therefore do not have the capacity to have adaptive transparency .
More as we have.
Sure, we’re used to brilliant noise cancellation on the first-gen AirPods Pro, though it’s certainly improved on the newer model, but what about when you need to hear the outside world? ?
For example, if you’re in a cafe and you need to hear them call your name when your drink is ready, but you don’t want to stop listening to music while you wait. To do this, you would switch to Transparency mode.
On the new AirPods Pro, it’s Adaptive Transparency, which works through processing that takes place 48,000 times per second to adjust for harsh environmental noise. It works well, making harsh noises a bit more bearable, although they don’t completely disappear.
All very well, but then came this surprise development.
People using the latest beta version of iOS, i.e. iOS 16.1 beta 3, find that they can also access Adaptive Transparency.
Which is interesting because Apple said this feature was due to the H2 processor, which the original AirPods Pro didn’t have.
For this feature to appear, the latest AirPods beta software is required, called build 5A304a.
Of course, it’s still possible that this is just a bug, and at this point it’s unclear if that’s all and access will go away again before iOS 16.1 does. reaches the general version. But if not, it could mean a real upgrade for original AirPods Pro users without them having to spend a dime.