Apple announced AirPods Pro 2 during its “Far Out” event. While everyone keeps talking about the new Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro series, there’s one product the Cupertino company outdid itself with – and it’s AirPods Pro 2. AirPods Pro 2 have everything you need – and more – but Apple has yet to announce one more feature this product could offer.
AirPods Pro 2 might look the same at first glance, but Apple rebuilt these wireless earbuds. While we yet have to see how it improved in real life, the company’s promises are impressive.
Personally, the original AirPods Pro fit just fine in my ears. Active Noise Cancellation is amazing, and these are my favorite wireless earbuds when I’m riding on the subway, taking the bus, or needing to disconnect from the world. Apple has claimed the new H2 chip can cancel noise up to two times better; this feature is something I’m looking forward to testing.
If ANC has improved, then Transparency Mode also has. Apple is now calling it Adaptive Transparency, which the company said can “reduce loud environmental noise – like a passing vehicle siren, construction tools, or even loud speakers at a concert.”
In addition, AirPods Pro 2 has another long-awaited feature: touch control. Users can finally lower or increase the volume by sliding their fingers on the stems of their AirPods.
While Apple had tweaked the first AirPods Pro case to work with the Find My app, the company has finally added the U1 chip in its MagSafe Charging Case, making it easier than ever to locate the wireless earbuds – and also make it play a sound, thanks to its built-in speakers.
Last but not least, the company is adding extra small ear tips so AirPods Pro 2 can fit more ears. With all that in mind, there’s one last thing that Apple didn’t mention during the keynote but could mean that this product could be even better than we expected.
AirPods Pro 2 offers Bluetooth 5.3 support, could bring new codec support, and “lossless” playback
A couple of months ago, Bluetooth SIG announced that it had finalized the LE Audio Spec, meaning companies could make use of this technology.
The Low Complexity Communication Codec – LC3 for short – can transmit at much lower bitrates without dropping the audio quality we currently see with Bluetooth’s standard – and the good part is that Apple is already testing it with AirPods Max.
A developer was able to activate this codec with the latest AirPods beta firmware, saying it’s improved the audio quality on calls. But something was missing on AirPods’ hardware: Bluetooth 5.2 support.
Thankfully, AirPods Pro 2 and iPhone 14 offer it, meaning Apple can not only support a higher bitrate with these products but also offer some kind of lossless streaming with Apple Music.
Top comment by Tim
It's just sad that Apple hasn't updated the BT version when they could have. Instead they stayed at 5.0 since the iPhone X just to jump directly to 5.3 with the iPhone 14 now.
This new codec could let you listen to songs, watch movies, and more, with several wireless earbuds connected at the same time. Currently, you can only connect up to two AirPods from the same source.
While Apple seems to yet test this feature, the company could announce a revolution in audio streaming thanks to this new codec and this new hardware.
Wrap up
While I’m looking forward to Apple expanding AirPods Pro 2 capabilities, I’d also say you should not expect the company to officially announce support for this new codec. For example, the new Apple TV 4K could offer 120Hz refresh rate thanks to HDMI 2.1 support, but after a year, the company hasn’t updated the set-top box to offer this technology to users.
How do you like the new AirPods Pro 2? Do you think Apple will eventually support this new codec and improve the music experience with these earbuds? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
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