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Pheidl Author

Level 1

89 points

Airpods Pro 2 noise cancellation worse after firmware update 7A294

The active noise cancellation on (at least) the AirPods Pro 2 is much worse after firmware update 7A294, including 7A302. The noise cancellation effect seems noticeably weaker now, roughly 50-70% as effective. Qualitatively, the effect is now closer to a slightly quieter adaptive mode. Essentially, I can now practically hear everything at a reduced volume, and my Sony 1000XM5 headphones now perform much better than my AirPods Pro 2, and this wasn't the case until the firmware/iOS 18 update.

Troubleshooting steps I've tried:

Cleaning the AirPods and tips (gentle surfactant/alcohol wipes, Blu-Tack), although they were already clean
Replacing the tips (they were already pristine)
Changing tips and ensuring proper fit
Resetting the AirPods
Toggling all settings on and off (Off, Transparency, Adaptive, Noise Cancellation)
Ensuring I hadn't accidentally selected something other than the noise cancellation mode
Having the AirPods replaced at the Apple Store

None of the above remedied the issue.

Some examples and context:

I can now fully make out conversations on the train in Tokyo, which I wasn't able to do that up until a day or two ago. To wit, train announcers are now less distant and audible. I can now hear people conversing on the other side of the carriage, and at one point, I was able to make out the music leaking out of someone else’s headphones...
I can now make out talking heads playing at low volume on a TV in another room.
I can now make out external sounds when ANC and Background Sounds (Dark Noise) are active at the same time, and up until the most recent update this combination was closer to being fully isolated.
Background music in convenience stores is now fully present, where as prior to the update I couldn't hear a thing.
I now no longer bother swapping to Transparency when my girlfriend is trying to talk to me across the room, because I can hear everything she has to say while noise cancellation mode is active. In the past, having to toggle between settings was a source of annoyance for us.

The situation is particularly disappointing, as I once adored these headphones, and the degradation of the noise cancellation effect makes the AirPods Pro 2 essentially more annoying than anything else.

iPhone 15 Pro

Posted on Sep 25, 2024 4:53 AM

Top-ranking reply

corneliu_sava

Level 1

62 points

Posted on Sep 29, 2024 1:51 PM

Same for me. From best AirPods with which I bragged to everyone who didn't have a pair of AirPods to checking if ANC is even turned on. We need to get Apple's attention so maybe have everyone else affected, comment on this thread.

View in context

79 replies

AzSR

Level 1

14 points

Oct 13, 2024 8:29 PM in response to Pheidl

Same for me. I repeatedly mistaken ANC for transparency!

Oct 18, 2024 1:45 PM in response to Pheidl

. After all the testing at the Genius Bar the problem still persists. Static or robotic sound quality ONLY on phone conversations does distortion present itself . Not on streaming or listening to music only phone conversations. Problem started a couple of software upgrades ago. AirPods work on other device such as galaxy 23 Etc. so when two way data on Bluetooth is needed problem happenes. Works fine on speaker or handheld earpiece . Any assistance would be great appreciated

Oct 27, 2024 9:03 PM in response to Pheidl

I am also experiencing the same issue. I even tried purchasing a new set to see if maybe mine were faulty, but the new ones did the same exact thing. This is really frustrating considering my AirPods Pro 1st Gen were fantastic and I “upgraded” to the 2nd Gen for even worse performance.

Nov 5, 2024 4:46 AM in response to Pheidl

Same, when I bought these a few months ago, I couldn't hear my son talking to me sitting in front of me. I can now hear him from another room.

Factory reset, deleted and repaired with the same problem.

it started about a month ago.

Мike

Level 1

12 points

Nov 14, 2024 6:13 AM in response to Pheidl

no press release on this issue, no apologies, no fix for a long time. bravo, apple!

i will sell my airpods pro and never buy another pair, just because there’s a risk of the same situation happening again with airpods 3 etc.

Now, with airpods noise cancellation ON, I can clearly hear people talking, coughing, turning newspaper pages. So useless now!

Besides, I just liked reading in public transport with noise cancelling on and without listening to music. Now this option is gone too.

Keep up a terrible job, apple!

lirlrly

Level 1

14 points

Nov 19, 2024 4:02 PM in response to Pheidl

Same here. No ANC at all. Im not happy at all that apple dont care about their customers. Like ANC was main thing I was buying Airpods pro 2.. Without ANC, Ive just got very expensive regular headphones I could have from diferent brand for half a price. No more apple ever!

Nov 2, 2024 6:07 PM in response to steliangroza

i also did the reset and no success at all ( can hear all the outside noises, especially in the train/metro, they don’t block any noise now !!

Nov 12, 2024 9:08 PM in response to Pheidl

I am using AirPod pro 2 with firmware 7B21, (with iPhone 13pro, ios18.1),in my case it is blocking all background noises(even if ANC is off). Is there anyone facing same issue?

Pheidl Author

Level 1

89 points

Oct 16, 2024 7:33 PM in response to Stf11

Yep, this maps to my own experience. The noise cancellation is there, but it’s as if it has been toned down 20, 30, 40%, something like that.

Interesting to hear about the AirPods 4 performing better for you. I’d be interested to see someone comparing the two with the tone generator test, or something repeatable I don’t know about. I.e. load up a tone generator on your iPhone, set it an arms length away, lower the volume until you can’t hear the tone on AirPods 4 and then check if this holds with Pro 2.

Anyway, these things were such a god send. What a shame.

Pheidl Author

Level 1

89 points

Oct 24, 2024 4:14 AM in response to Scootertheshooter

It's unusual to experience varying noise cancellation performance across different devices with AirPods. The issue being discussed here is almost certainly to do with the AirPods' firmware rather than a particular iOS version or iPhone model conflict, since noise cancellation processing necessarily happens within the AirPods themselves.

Jaon114

Level 1

14 points

Nov 3, 2024 8:14 AM in response to Pheidl

I LOVED the ANC on my airpods pro. Used to actually muffle speech. Now I can tell any difference on speech between "off" and ANC "on". This ruined them for me. I can't concentrate on work in the same way any more.

Nov 3, 2024 11:14 AM in response to Pheidl

Same here, I was able to watch videos on my mobile while my daughters watched the television in the same room, and now I can hear the television. I was able to have my airpods put and not listen almost anything outside and now I can hear noises and people speaking. I was able to stay in the airplane with near zero noise and now I can hear people speaking and backgroung noise. I was able to work with my kids close and not hear them and now I can hear them in the backgound.

What a shame from apple to reduce the effectiveness of their luxury items... Hope they fix it in the near future.

It would be good if some social media content creators can give visibility on this.

Nov 10, 2024 3:30 PM in response to Pheidl

If I’m not mistaken, I may have found a workaround for this. I believe I’ve identified a bug in the “adaptive audio” feature with the Generation 2 Pros. Although your adaptive audio feature may be disabled, go into settings and tap on your AirPod Pro 2 set. Then scroll down to audio and then select adaptive audio. After that, set it to “less noise” so that you’ve basically got nothing coming in. I don’t know if this is the exact sequence involved (I went through soooooooooo many different settings last night), but after I did that it completely drowned everything out (finally!!!!!) Even as I’m sitting here typing this, it would have already started letting more noise in at this point. There would be certain sounds that it would try to drown out (heat, fans, humidifiers), and while doing so, it sounded like I was on the freeway with my car window rolled down. Not anymore!!! Works well now 🤩

Nov 10, 2024 3:43 PM in response to theonetheycallsamuel

I’d also like to add that I enabled noise cancellation with one AirPod, and I turned on the “Off Listening Mode” as well, just in case it were to matter. But I’ve done several tests, and everything is still working great after almost 24 hours, compared to 5 minutes!

Nov 12, 2024 9:58 PM in response to theonetheycallsamuel

So, unfortunately from what it seems, they’re still not working correctly. Basically, this method lasted me about two days from what I could tell, and it finally started letting sounds back in. At this point, it looks like it’s up to Apple to actually man up and fix these issues. What’s more unfortunate is the amount of time they’ve allowed to pass before even noticing what’s going on. Hopefully we can get their attention. As of right now, I will be returning these indefinitely since the selling point of said product doesn’t even function correctly. Really disappointed. I’m hoping they’ll also start taking an extended look at some of their other products they push out. Quality has taken a turn for the worst within the past couple of years…

Airpods Pro 2 noise cancellation worse after firmware update 7A294