Fun fact: Apple’s AirPods alone generated over $23 billion in revenue in 2020 – more than Twitter, Spotify and Square combined. So when Apple is involved, it’s big news. A few weeks ago, it was reported that Apple would be (officially?) entering the over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid market. This report stated that Apple’s new operating system, iOS 18 (likely to be released in September), will include a specific ‘Hearing Aid Mode’ for use with their AirPods Pro. It remains to be seen if this new mode will simply improve upon previously released features like ‘Live Listen’ (2018) and ‘Conversation Boost’ (2021), or deliver wholly new features. It also remains to be seen if the next generation of AirPods Pro (anticipated to launch in late 2024/early 2025) will include any design/hardware updates that are not available in the current models (significantly longer battery life, Bluetooth low energy audio support, different mics and/or placement for better directionality, etc.). This also begs the question, will ‘Hearing Aid Mode’ be backwards compatible with earlier versions of AirPods or is this a more focused and deliberate entrance into the hearing aid space?
Make no mistake, this is big news. And from what I’ve read, Apple is working to make it big news. Apple’s global advertising budget is predicted to be $8.31 billion in 2024, and $10.12 billion in 2025 (according to Statista). As I’ve consistently written regarding OTC hearing aids, I feel the most profound early positive aspect has been an increase in awareness about the critical importance of early identification and treatment of hearing loss. I’ve had more and more patients indicating they decided to do something about their hearing issues due to reading about the long term ramifications of untreated hearing loss (on auditory perception and cognition). Now that Apple is jumping into the game, that awareness is sure to grow.
Obviously, as highlighted above, we don’t know anything about what it will all ‘look like’, but certainly Apple will have to make some significant improvements if they are going to take this on in a serious manner. Longtime readers know that a critical aspect of hearing aid use is its long term prophylactic benefits. But the maximum benefit is predicated on consistent daily use. Professionally dispensed hearing aids last a full day, even with significant audio streaming from connected devices, with very good comfort and retention. Current versions of AirPods have a maximum battery life of no more than 4-5 hours of use time. They’ll need to make significant improvements in comfort and useability. I’m always hearing patients complain about how they don’t ‘fit their ears’. The benefit from hearing aids (appropriate amplification across frequencies and volume) is predicated on proper, consistent placement and retention. Based on the tens of thousands of ears I’ve seen, a ‘one size fits all’ approach isn’t likely to work well.
They’ll need to make strides in how AirPods amplify sounds in the environment. It’s relatively easy to make earbuds sound (quite) good for streaming audio, even for folks with hearing loss. Consistently comfortable appropriate amplification of speech and environmental sounds for the hearing impaired ear in a very noisy world is an entirely different beast.
So I’m delighted that one of the biggest technology companies in the world is putting its considerable resources to bear on a problem near and dear to my heart.
Once Apple makes it official, I look forward to ‘test driving’ it myself. I’ll let you know what I think/experience.
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