Apple today announced the launch of the AirPods Pro, which features an all-new lightweight, in-ear design.
Said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing: “The new in-ear AirPods Pro sound amazing with Adaptive EQ, fit comfortably with flexible ear tips and have innovative Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency mode.”
“We think customers are going to love this new addition to the AirPods family.”
Tune Out, Tune In
While the original Airpods came with a ‘one size fits (literally) all’ mentality, the Airpods Pro gives ears of all shapes and sizes a better fit.
Beyond the new in-ear design, each earbud also comes with three different sizes of soft, flexible silicone ear tips to provide a comfortable fit and a superior seal, which promises to deliver more immersive sound.
The AirPods Pro also use an innovative vent system to equalise pressure, which minimises discomfort common in other in-ear designs.
Not sure if the fit is right?
The AirPods Pro also comes with a Ear Tip Fit Test that tests the quality of the seal and identifies the best ear tip size for users – all users need to do is to place the AirPods Pro in each ear.
Afterwards, “advanced algorithms [will] work together with the microphones in each AirPod to measure the sound level in the ear and compare it to what is coming from the speaker driver”.
On the note of immersive sound, AirPods Pro also promises to deliver superior sound quality with Adaptive EQ, which will automatically tune the low- and mid-frequencies of the music to the shape of an individual’s ear.
Perhaps one of the features that everyone’s most excited about is Active Noise Cancellation, which is available on the AirPods Pro.
How this works is that the first microphone is outward-facing to detect external sound to analyse environmental noise. The AirPods Pro then “creates an equivalent anti-noise that cancels out background noise before it reaches the listener’s ear”.
The second microphone is inward-facing and listens toward the ear, and AirPods Pro cancels the remaining noise detected by the microphone.
Apple shared that the AirPods Pro’s noise cancellation continuously adapts the sound signal 200 times per second.
On the flipside, the Apple AirPods Pro also comes with a Transparency mode that gives users an option to listen to their music while hearing the environment around them.
How this is done is via the AirPods Pro’s pressure-equalising vent system and advanced software that leaves “just the right amount” of noise cancellation active.
To switch between Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency mode, users will just need to press and hold on the force sensor on the stem of the AirPods.
The force sensor also lets users play, pause or skip tracks, and even answer and hang up phone calls.
5-Hour Listening Time, Audio Sharing
Just like its predecessors, the AirPods Pro gives users up to five hours of listening time.
In Active Noise Cancellation mode, however, the AirPods Pro will deliver up to four and a half hours of listening time and up to three and a half hours of talk time on a single charge.
The Wireless Charging Case that the AirPods Pro comes with will deliver over 24 hours of listening time or over 18 hours of talk time, so there’s no need to worry about needing to endure a music-less journey home.
AirPods Pro are also sweat- and water-resistant, and come with voice-activated Siri to enable hands-free “Hey Siri” commands.
Something nifty is also the Audio Sharing feature, which enables users to watch a movie or listen to the same song with a friend.
All users need to do is to bring a second pair of AirPods close to an iPhone or iPad.
- The AirPods Pro will be available for S$379 and are available to order on Apple.com/sg and the Apple Store app starting today (29 Oct) and in stores beginning Wednesday, October 30.