How the new AirPods Pro hearing features were developed

Apple has let cameras in to its usually secret audio testing facility, revealing a spherical 50-speaker array that was used in creating the hearing test in AirPods Pro 2.

Early reviewers of the hearing test in the AirPods Pro 2 have unanimously called it impressive, and it will be coming to users by the end of October 2024. Ahead of that launch, Apple let ABC show "Good Morning America" into its testing facility known as Fantasia Lab.

"We don't let cameras in this place normally," John Ternus, senior vice president of hardware engineering at Apple told ABC. "And so it's a little bit of an out-of-body experience for everybody."

Fantasia Lab is at an undisclosed location in Cupertino, away from Apple Park. It's in a nondescript office park, and contains an anechoic or long wave chamber, built on isolated springs and its own completely separate foundation.

In the chamber is a series of 50 speakers, arranged on scaffolding-like mounts in a spherical shape around a chair. "We create this complex sound field and then we add target talkers," Apple engineer Kuba Mazur said, "and we ask you to repeat and that way we can understand your ability to hear speech and noise."

"Everybody's hearing profile is slightly different. So, essentially, we've run hundreds of people through here, running dozens of tests," continued Mazur. Speaking of the quiet chamber, he added that after closing its door, "some folks even hear their heartbeat."

Once Apple releases the hearing test function in the forthcoming iOS 18.1 update, every user of the AirPods Pro 2 will immediately have access to it. That means potentially millions of people being able to test their hearing at a moment's notice.

Democratizing hearing tests

"It is democratizing access to a test that normally requires you to go into a clinical office," Dr. Sumbul Desai, vice president of health at Apple, said. "Seventy-five percent of people who have hearing loss do not get the help they need."

"And so," she continued, "if just by the simple fact we can do two things — provide access at home, and then two, simply, if you need a hearing aid, provide our AirPods — that's really powerful."

Apple announced the hearing features at the September 2024 "Glowtime" launch of the iPhone 16 range. The FDA then approved its use shortly afterwards.