The new iPhone 16 smartphones and Apple Watch Series 10 smartwatches are chock full of new and enhanced health, fitness and safety features. At the same time Apple is updating the AirPods Pro 2 so they can be used as over-the-counter hearing aids. A new feature, called Hearing Protection, will also be unlocked.

From the outside, you won’t spot any drastic changes from the AirPods 3. Apple has continued to tweak the shape and contours of the earbuds for the best possible fit, and the charging case is now smaller than ever. (And yes, it’s got a USB-C connector this time.) But these still look the part of AirPods — and they still only come in white.

The AirPods 4 are yet to be released, but you can preorder a pair from the Apple Store where you'll find two price points. There's the base model, equipped with Spatial Audio, for $129. Then, there's the $179 version, which include ANC and a wireless charging case.

They say that big things come in small packages. Apple has proven that thousands of times over, as listeners switch from bulky headphones to the pocket-sized package of a pair of Apple AirPods, and are treated to hours of listening time,

The AirPods 4 excellent sound quality and optional ANC make them some of Apple’s best earbuds yet, but they’re not the ideal option for everyone.

A week after Apple updated the AirPods Pro 2 firmware with new iOS 18 features, Apple issued another version for its users.

Macworld Apple has released new iOS 18 firmware for the AirPods Pro 2 (both Lightning and USB-C)and AirPods 4 (with and without ANC). It is not clear yet what this firmware does; it could be simply bug fixes,