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Pheidl Author

Level 1

125 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

74 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

156 replies

Jan 10, 2025 9:47 PM in response to Pheidl

I’m having the same issue I thought my AirPods were damaged, even got them replaced at Apple, don’t think downgrading to IOS 17 will help?

Jan 14, 2025 4:40 PM in response to Ankhees

I have not changed the size of the earplug since I got them so this cannot be it.

Pheidl Author

Level 1

125 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.

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 3:43 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…

tomec84

Level 1

14 points

Nov 17, 2024 4:14 AM in response to Pheidl

Same here with the latest update(7B21). I bought mine about 2 months ago, ANC was outstanding. I am so disappointed now. It's sad to see how long they've been doing nothing about it and how they don't care about the problems of many of their customers, which were obviously caused by them. I hope the next firmware update will fix it.

Nov 21, 2024 2:52 AM in response to Pheidl

Me too, i had to return the AirPods 4 due to the poor ANC after trying the pro but when I got the pro after the famous update I can hear everything and I feel ripped, the main reason why I bought these is the beautiful ANC they had now they are just a bunch of expansive normal AirPods limit worse than 4’s ANC

Pheidl Author

Level 1

125 points

Nov 25, 2024 9:39 PM in response to theonetheycallsamuel

Pleased this works for you. In my case, this simply resulted in a degradation of the noise cancellation performance below that of the already lacklustre ANC being reported here. It doesn’t help that Adaptive mode is designed to limit the noise cancellation effect when people around you are talking.

Nov 25, 2024 10:49 PM in response to Pheidl

I completely agree with you. Unfortunately, my suggested “fix” did not last long. It was not long after that I again experienced the same degradation that you and so many others are currently experiencing with ANC. I have since returned them and went back to my original pros. I may have to charge them more frequently, but at least they work…

Мike

Level 1

48 points

Nov 26, 2024 1:02 AM in response to tomasni

so you bring up and interesting idea that anc does harm to the ear because even though anc cancels out the noise, the ear is still exposed to loud sound thus the ear muscles mummify while anc is on? and so that’s why apple silently lowered anc effectiveness.

on the other hand we agree that anc frequencies are harmless to the ear.

and on the other side the risk comes from listening to content at high volumes for prolonged periods, not the noise cancellation itself.

but with these last updates, people now have to listen to their content with at least +50% volume, which damages their ears. so which is worse?

Мike

Level 1

48 points

Nov 26, 2024 2:31 AM in response to tomasni

there’s no confusion at all) you brought up the idea that ANC does harm people’s ears in a way that the ear muscles mummify while ANC is on. Is that correct?

and this is another point, addressed to @all:

but with these last updates, people now have to listen to their content with at least +50% volume, which damages their ears. so which is worse?

1dayumay

Level 1

20 points

Nov 29, 2024 2:13 PM in response to Pheidl

I think they're adding more and more stuff to Apple intelligence, all of these apps in the background trying to access the mic, and random other Apple devices you have sitting around trying to work together to improve performance. Sometimes, it takes me months to figure out what's causing a simple issue since everything is getting more and more complicated.

My issue right now is that, primarily as I'm speaking, I can sort of hear myself a little bit with slight feedback. This kind of impacts the flow of my speech, especially when I'm in meetings.

Dec 4, 2024 4:07 AM in response to Pheidl

Yep, I'm glad it's not just me that has found the ANC on my AirPods Pro 2 to be noticeably worse since the clusterf* of iOS18 began infecting our devices.

At this point I'm beginning to wonder if Apple is purposefully using iOS18 to ruin our devices so when the next gen is released with a new iOS they take the bugs back out so we all think it's amazing and rush out to buy new hardware...

Airpods Pro 2 noise cancellation worse after firmware update 7A294