Apple event 2024: AirPods Pro are now your new hearing aid device

Apple 2024 event showcased a groundbreaking breakthrough with new health features that were added to its AirPods Pro and Apple Watch. This event happened in California, USA, and was streamed live on YouTube. These new features show Apple’s commitment to better health using technology. Today, millions of people across the world suffer from hearing problems. These innovations from Apple can address such health conditions and support many more with hearing disabilities.

Apple claims that it is the world’s first all-in-one hearing device AirPods Pro has active hearing protection. This is clinically tested and validated to be as good as over-the-counter Hearing Aid devices. Its software-based Hearing Aid feature helps it to make it more affordable compared to many other Hearing Aid devices. Apple expects that its Hearing Test and Hearing Aid features will receive marketing authorization soon from global health authorities. This feature is expected to be released later this year in more than 100 countries including the U.S., India, Germany, and Japan.

AirPods Pro: All-in-One Hearing Device

According to WHO (World Health Organization), more than 1.5 billion people around the world are living with hearing loss. There is much research that shows that there is a direct link between hearing loss and the overall well-being of a person. There are also some studies that show that hearing loss can also lead to the state of dementia and social isolation.

Having such a huge problem at hand, Apple has introduced this new feature in their AirPods Pro to help the user better understand their hearing health using the hearing test feature and better diagnose their hearing problem. Apple claims that its innovation is providing end-to-end experience in prevention, awareness, and assistance.

Increasing Awareness using technology

Many people across the world are unaware that they may be living with a hearing loss condition and this may get worse with time. According to the ALHA (American Speech Language Hearing Association), there are about 80% of adults in the U.S. that have not had their hearing checked in the last 5 years. To increase awareness about their hearing condition, Apple has introduced a clinical-grade hearing test that is based on the clinical standard approach named pure-tone audiometry. This test is a self-serving test that users can take themselves with their AirPods Pro and pair with any iPhone or iPad for results.

This hearing test can be taken easily in just about 5 minutes in the comfort of your home. This feature uses advanced acoustic sciences and provides back a very interactive experience to the users. Once the test is completed, the users will be presented with a summary result which is very easy to understand. This result contains the number for each ear’s hearing loss. This also includes an audiogram, which can accessed directly from the health app and this can be shared with your doctor for diagnosis and planning treatments.

Above is a sample test result for both ears. Once you get the results, the application can recommend you to set up a Hearing aid for your ears. This will help you to start with treatment at home. Additionally, you can take the result to an ENT doctor and get a treatment like Cochlear Implantation, Hearing Loss (Deafness) Treatment, etc. You can also request for treatment plan online using our digital services at Yapita Halth.