Gurman: AirPods to Gain Hearing Health Features Over the Next Two YearsApple's AirPods could gain more prominent hearing health features in the next year or two, according to
Bloomberg's
Mark Gurman.
<div class="center-wrap">
Apple's Conversation Boost feature on the AirPods Pro.</div>
In the latest edition of his
"Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that he believes Apple will "upgrade the AirPods to become a health tool in the next year or two," adding "the ability to get hearing data of some sort."
Apple has already added several hearing-focused features to the AirPods in recent years such as Live Listen and Conversation Boost, but Gurman noted that such features are not yet FDA approved or designed to serve as a hearing aid replacement. Given Apple's health objectives, he expects AirPods to take on these sorts of functions "more officially" in the near future.
Apple analyst
Ming-Chi Kuo has previously highlighted the company's intention to
add biometric health monitoring capabilities to future AirPods models. Apple
patent filings have described an earbud-based fitness monitoring system that integrates an advanced biometric sensor to detect physiological metrics including temperature, heart rate, perspiration levels and more, through skin contact and via built-in motion sensors. Apple's vice president of technology, Kevin Lynch, has also
hinted that AirPods could be a source of additional health data in the future.
New hearing health capabilities would not necessarily be contingent on new AirPods being released, since current models already contain speakers and microphones to support such features, and they could be pushed to existing devices via a firmware update.<div class="linkback">Related Roundups:
AirPods 3,
AirPods Pro</div><div class="linkback">Tags:
Bloomberg,
Mark Gurman</div><div class="linkback">Buyer's Guide:
AirPods (Neutral),
AirPods Pro (Buy Now)</div><div class="linkback">Related Forum:
AirPods</div>
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Gurman: AirPods to Gain Hearing Health Features Over the Next Two Years
