AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 can function as FDA-authorized over-the-counter hearing aids for adults 18 and older with mild to moderate hearing loss. The feature is built into iOS 18 and later, and setup takes about five minutes using a built-in hearing test on your iPhone.
What You Need Before Starting
The Hearing Aid feature works with AirPods Pro 2 or AirPods Pro 3 running the latest firmware, paired with an iPhone or iPad on iOS 18 (or iPadOS 18) or later. It also works with a Mac running macOS Sequoia. Older AirPods models, including the standard AirPods and original AirPods Pro, do not support the feature.
The feature is available in a wide list of countries and regions, including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Japan, and most of Europe. If you’re unsure whether your region is supported, Apple’s feature availability page has the full list. In some countries, regulatory approval is still pending.
Step 1: Take the Built-In Hearing Test
Before the AirPods can act as hearing aids, they need a profile of your hearing. The system creates this through a clinically validated hearing test that runs directly on your iPhone.
To start, put your AirPods in your ears and go to Settings, then tap your AirPods name. You can also open the Health app and search for “Hearing.” Tap “Take a Hearing Test” and follow the on-screen prompts. The test takes about five minutes. You’ll hear a series of tones at different pitches and volumes, and you tap the screen each time you hear one. The test checks both ears independently and produces an audiogram, a chart showing which frequencies you hear well and which ones you struggle with.
A few things matter for accurate results:
- Find a quiet room. Turn off fans, air conditioning, and anything that creates background noise. The test monitors ambient sound and will tell you if it’s too loud.
- Check your ear tip seal. A poor seal throws off the results. If your AirPods feel loose, try a different ear tip size before testing.
- Avoid testing after loud exposure or illness. If you’ve been at a concert in the last 24 hours, have a cold, sinus infection, ear infection, or active allergies, wait until those clear up. All of these temporarily affect your hearing and will skew the test.
Make sure your AirPods have enough charge before you begin. If the system detects an issue, it may ask you to place them back in the case briefly for a diagnostic check before proceeding.
Step 2: Turn On the Hearing Aid Feature
Once your hearing test is complete, your results appear in the Health app as an audiogram. If the test indicates mild to moderate hearing loss, your iPhone will prompt you to enable the Hearing Aid feature. You can also find it in Settings under your AirPods name.
The feature uses your audiogram to create a personalized sound profile. It boosts the specific frequencies where your hearing has declined, using machine learning to make real-time adjustments as your listening environment changes. Quieter sounds get amplified more aggressively, while sounds that are already loud enough stay roughly the same. The result is that speech becomes clearer and environmental sounds fill back in without everything getting painfully loud.
Step 3: Adjust and Fine-Tune
After enabling the feature, you can adjust the overall amplification level to your comfort. Some people find the default profile slightly too strong or too subtle. You can tweak this in your AirPods settings or through the Control Center on your iPhone by pressing and holding the volume slider when your AirPods are connected.
It’s worth wearing the hearing aid mode in a few different environments, like a quiet room, a busy restaurant, and outdoors, before deciding on your preferred settings. Your brain also needs time to readjust to hearing sounds it may have been missing for years. Many audiologists recommend wearing any new hearing amplification consistently for at least a couple of weeks before making a final judgment.
Hearing Aid Feature vs. Conversation Boost
Apple has offered a separate accessibility feature called Conversation Boost since before the Hearing Aid feature existed. They solve different problems. Conversation Boost amplifies voices during one-on-one conversations, using the AirPods’ beamforming microphones to focus on the person in front of you. It’s a general accessibility tool, not personalized to your hearing profile, and it’s not FDA-regulated.
The Hearing Aid feature is a full over-the-counter hearing aid. It applies your audiogram data across all listening situations, not just conversations, and continuously adjusts amplification in real time based on your surroundings. If you have documented mild to moderate hearing loss, the Hearing Aid feature is the one designed for you. Conversation Boost can still be useful as a situational tool on top of it, but it’s not a substitute.
What AirPods Can and Can’t Replace
For mild to moderate hearing loss, AirPods Pro perform the same basic function as traditional OTC hearing aids: they amplify sound in a way that’s customized to your audiogram. The FDA authorized the software through its De Novo pathway, the regulatory route for novel low-to-moderate-risk devices. The practical advantage is cost. AirPods Pro 2 retail for around $249, while traditional hearing aids often run $1,000 to $6,000 per pair.
There are real limitations, though. AirPods aren’t designed for severe or profound hearing loss. They also have a shorter battery life than dedicated hearing aids, which typically last 12 to 24 hours on a charge compared to the AirPods’ roughly 6 hours with active noise features. And unlike hearing aids that sit discreetly in or behind the ear, AirPods are visible and can read as casual headphones, which may or may not matter to you depending on the setting.
You also can’t import an audiogram from a previous hearing test at an audiologist’s office. The system only uses its own built-in test to generate your hearing profile. If you already have a professional audiogram and want to compare, you can take Apple’s test and see how closely the two match, but there’s no way to upload external data.
For people who suspect mild hearing loss but haven’t wanted to spend thousands on traditional hearing aids or visit an audiologist, AirPods Pro offer a genuinely useful entry point. They won’t replace prescription hearing aids for more serious loss, but they make hearing assistance far more accessible than it’s ever been.