When can I use the airpods pro hearing test?

Thanks. Do the AirPods 4 have the ability to conduct the hearing test upon their initial release? In other words, if I buy them, should I be able to perform the procedure as soon as they are paired with my iOS 18 iPhone 12?

Thanks. This is a development in hearing technology that is potentially life changing for me. I own expensive hearing aids with which I am satisfied in a general way. However, I have two issues with them.

My first and foremost complaint is that performing on my primary musical wind instrument, the instrument on which I have performed in the past to earn a living, overdrives the microphone section of every hearing aid I've ever tried. They must be turned off or removed before I play. My hearing impairment affects my ability to adjust pitch while playing. This single handicap devastated my performing ability, and was the overwhelming influence in my decision to retire from performing. In other words, because of my hearing impairment, I chose to stop performing before facing the humiliation of being asked to stop. I can still play, but only if I stare at a tuner continuously, a requirement that isn't practical when performing with others, AFAIK. I don't expect AirPods Pro 2 to remedy this problem even with the proposed advances.

However, I'm hoping that my second complaint may be substantially remedied by the hearing aid options announced for the AirPods Pro 2, and that is my ability to directly manage the settings of the device. The schema of treatment options for my current hearing aids does not provide for the recipient of the hearing aids to directly access and adjust the most sensitive settings. Because of that, it's only practical for me to accept a "ballpark" configuration for the hearing aids. Appointments are provided and available, but tweaking of hearing aid settings through verbal communication with even the most proficient hearing specialists can't be performed at a level of frequency and accuracy that is acceptable to me. I can, and have, worked with specialists to the extent of making requests such as, for example, "please decrease the loudness of frequencies focused at 2k by about 3 db", or "please increase the output level of frequencies in the range of 3.5k to 5.5k by about 5 db."

Another consideration is that my hearing response varies from day to day, if not hour to hour. Making an adjustment at an appointment a week away can't help me make dinner plans.

I've tried several DIY hearing aid systems. So far I haven't found one with the level of complexity I'm hoping for. I have decided, however, that the self-configuration feature will take higher priority the next time, if and when I make another hearing aid purchase.

I don't know whether the ability to make such specific adjustments will be available for AirPods Pro 2, but I'm pretty sure there will be more direct involvement with the configuration process than I'm able to achieve right now.

I eagerly await the opportunity to try. Thanks again.

Thanks. That doesn’t surprise me. It’s likely, then, that I’ll drift back to the Bose Sound Control (now handled by Lexie Hearing). Their configuration has a parametric EQ element that offers a lot of flexibility, but when I was shopping before, I had too much of a time constraint for the trial period to really give them the tweaking I wanted. If the ones I have now can hold out, I’ll be in a better position to judge.

There's one more point I would like to make, and it concerns control over my own hearing aid settings. I've already said that my current hearing aids are good. But they are also expensive. I really hope that the hearing aid professionals I have worked with to configure my current hearing aids will be able to offer me an option that includes my own access to the software that will allow me to fully configure my own hearing aids. I have already decided to make that one of my criteria for whatever hearing aids I shop for. If I have to rely completely on self service for my next pair of hearing aids without significant assistance from those professionals, I sincerely hope that the hearing test I will eventually be able to perform on my AirPods Pro 2 will provide results that I can use to help me manage whatever hearing aids I choose.