Apple has finally announced the much rumored AirPods
Pro. They are priced at US$ 249 in the US and will be available starting
Wednesday, October 30. The AirPods Pro are not a replacement for the standard AirPods but as
the name suggests, a more premium version of them. The main features here are
active noise cancellation, a new water resistant design and a few other unique
and interesting features.
The active noise cancellation has been a long time
coming. The AirPods Pro feature an in-ear design, making them only the second
pair of Apple earphones apart from the now defunct and aptly named Apple In-Ear
Headphones to feature an in-ear design. The AirPods Pro comes with three sets
of silicone ear tips that click into place and provide passive noise isolation
even before the electronics kick into place. A vent system is used to equalize
the pressure so the wearer doesn't feel any discomfort, especially if they
aren't used to in-ear earphones.
The active noise cancellation system uses two microphones,
one on the outside and one on the inside of the earphones. The external
microphone monitors the ambient noise and then creates an inverse audio signal
that cancels it out. The internal microphone monitors the sound within the
earphones and automatically adjusts the noise cancellation for each ear based
on the amount of noise seeping in.
The AirPods Pro also have a feature called
Transparency, which basically mixes in some of the ambient sound in with the
audio so you can hear things like the traffic around you when you're out for a
run or announcements at the airport.
The AirPods Pro also have a new design that is IPX4
water and sweat resistant, which means you can use them in the gym or on a run
and don't have to worry about ruining them with sweat and the new in-ear design
also keeps them in place. However, you can't exactly use these in the pool and
also, only the earphones are water-resistant, not the case.
The stalks of the earphones are now also pressure
sensitive so you can squeeze them to invoke various functions. You can press
and hold to toggle between active noise cancellation and Transparency mode,
press once to play/pause, twice to skip tracks, and thrice to skip back.
On the audio front, the AirPods Pro use a new custom
high-excursion audio driver with a new custom high dynamic range amplifier. The
audio is constantly monitored using the internal microphone and adjusted on the
fly so you get the best audio quality regardless of the shape of your ear and
the noise around you.
All the processing is done onboard by the H1 audio
processor, also found on the second generation AirPods. The custom chip enables
the AirPods Pro to have low latency that AirPods are known for while also
processing the audio, noise cancellation and hands-free Hey Siri requests.
The AirPods Pro are just as clever as the standard
AirPods. You can just open the lid near an iOS device and have them show up for
easy pairing. You can pull them out of your ears to pause the music and put
them back to continue playing. A cool new feature with the AirPods Pro is the
Ear Tip Fit Test, which uses the internal microphone to measure the sound level
and tell you if the ear tip you have selected is the right size for your ear
and if you need to adjust it for better seal.
Like the AirPods, the AirPods Pro also support Audio
Sharing feature with select iOS and iPadOS devices. You can have two set of
AirPods Pro or AirPods connected to the same device and listening to the same
content.
Despite all the new features and slightly smaller design,
the battery life of the AirPods Pro is similar to that of the AirPods. You get
4.5 hours of music listening time with noise cancelling turned on and 5 hours
with it turned off. You also get 3.5 hours of talk time with noise cancelling
on. The case provides additional charges and take the battery life to a total
of 24 hours of listening time and 18 hours of talk time. The case does fast
charging and provides one hour of music or calls after just 5 minutes of
charging.
The case has been redesigned for the new AirPods
Pro. The main feature here is now that wireless charging is built-in and you
don't need to buy an optional case for it. It works with any Qi-enabled
wireless charger, just like the iPhone. Or you can just charge it with a
Lightning cable.
The AirPods Pro will be available in over 25
countries, including the US at the aforementioned price. The standard AirPods
can still be purchased for US$ 159 or US$ 199 with the Wireless Charging Case, which
is also sold separately for US$ 99.
