AirPods Pro 2 Hearing Aids Not in Canada

I arrived in California from Alberta 2 days ago. Yesterday Apple released 18.1.1 - I updated my iPhone (16 promax) and now I have the hearing aid option available - initial thoughts - excellent - did. 18.1.1 update in Canada in a similar fashion?

Good work big Gordo, I have written a letter to health Canada, ignored, also contacted my conservative MP, who seems to be very concerned about this and assured me she will bring it up at Parliament, it is absolutely ridiculous that these are being deprived to Canadians

However Canadians can order OTC hearing aids from Amazon. I have a set arriving today. I would have much preferred to use AirPods but returned them to Apple.

Already forwarded to CBC new c/o Mike Crawley who wrote a piece on this 2 years ago when the USA allowed over the counter hearing aids

The CRE-C20’s are fairly pricey. Are they worth the price and trouble you went thru to get them? Seems like you could get a pair of prescription hearing aids from Costco for a couple of hundred $ more.

I bought some el cheapos from Amazon but have returned them as they were really bad quality (despite the reviews).

I also sent emails to my MLA and MP asking if there are any updates to OTC hearing aids in Canada.

The Sony CRE-C20 OTC ITE hearing aids are a valid upgrade over the CRE-C10. The most significant change is the rechargeable battery and the water-resisting factor now that the enclosure is sealed. I would not dive in a swimming pool or a lake with them, but they will resist rain or sweat, and it will not be the end of them if you forget to take them off before taking a shower.

On the functionality side, they are better at focusing on your spouse's or friend's speech while in a busy and noisy place like a restaurant. The hearing test has been modernized and appears more accurate. The rest of the app is pretty much the same.

The issue that needs to be clarified is whether Apple looks at GPS data to determine where you are located when you attempt to configure the AirPods Pro. I could log in to my US Apple ID using a VPN and then download the Sony app and configure my hearing aids—all that from my location north of Montreal. But I don’t know if the Apple process is the same. Remember that when you log in to a different Apple ID on one iPhone, you must first log out of your Canadian Apple ID. If you have the lockdown feature set, you have to wait an hour before being able to log in to your US Apple ID. It’s better to turn off lockdown mode before you begin this process. You can reactivate lockdown mode after you’re done.

lakedogs_2000 wrote:

That is why the 18.1 update is “not available” in Canada, using GPS locating to prevent access to that update to the firmware for users of AirPods in Canada!

Are you saying that iOS 18.1 is not available in Canada at all? That's not what I've read anywhere or heard from my Canadian friends.

If it’s good enough for the US regulatory authorities - it’s good enough for Canadian regulatory authorities.

I thought it was only U.S. citizens who thought that Canada and the U.S. were just alike and practically the same country. ;-)

I only bought the pods, because i knew the feature was coming out. If i had known it wasn't going to be supported in Canada, i would never have purchased them. It sounds like it may be months / years or never. I wonder if there is a way to return the pods due to them not meeting my needs?

Noeffix wrote:

« I hope this addresses your concerns » no it dosent. You explained why jut youre my mp so I want you to push for it to change.

The person you're responding to is not the MP. They were quoting the response they received from their MP.

Remember that iPhone models before the Model X are incompatible with IOS 18.

Yes they are but an old iPhone 12 running an older IOS than 18.1 will allow you to set them up in hearing accommodations. My wife's 2018 iPad on 17.7.1 set them up with no problems.

Some people here mistakenly label the AirPods Pro's transparency and noise cancellation functionalities as the hearing aid functionality. It’s like Live Listen, which has existed for a very long time, whereby you could use your iPhone to pick up sounds and relay them to your AirPods. These functionalities are fine but not the same as the hearing aid functionality.

The only way to get the hearing test and the hearing aid functionality is with IOS 18.1 and up and AirPods Pro firmware 7B19 and up, in a country that allows OTC sale of hearing aids.

I tried to set up my AirPods Pro 2 with firmware 7B21 with an older iPhone 1ù2 with IOS 17.7.1 yesterday, and YOU DO NOT GET the hearing test and the hearing aid functionality.

There is a lot of misinformation being spread here about this.

Some people here mistakenly label the AirPods Pro's transparency and noise cancellation functionalities as the hearing aid functionality. It’s like Live Listen, which has existed for a very long time, whereby you could use your iPhone to pick up sounds and relay them to your AirPods. These functionalities are fine but not the same as the hearing aid functionality.

The only way to get the hearing test and the hearing aid functionality is with IOS 18.1 and up and AirPods Pro firmware 7B19 and up, in a country that allows OTC sale of hearing aids.

There is a lot of misinformation being spread here about this.

You are incorrect on so many levels here and you are splitting hairs. You have been able to apply your audiogram to your AirPods since September 2022 and I notice you conveniently missed that bit off.

When you go to, say, a Costco audiologist, they will check your ears and give you a hearing test and then apply the Audiogram to the hearing aids they have decided will be good for you. It's exactly the same principle and as long as you have mild to moderate hearing loss Airpods should work well for you if you get on with them.

I do agree with you that you cannot use the Apple Hearing test but that is easily sorted by downloading the Mimi hearing test app from the App store to do your test.

OR you can use your AirPods so they are even MORE like REAL hearing aids by applying your professionally created Audiogram to the Airpods.

The AirPod Pro 2s are sounding more and more like real hearing aids to me! The only difference is that back in 2022 were not selling them as REAL hearing aids and they didn't have FDA approval.

By the way. My AirPods are running the firmware 7B21 and over the six weeks I have been using them with IOS 17.7.1 the firmware has changed three times with NO change in the function of them.

I tried to set up my AirPods Pro 2 with firmware 7B21 with an older iPhone 1ù2 with IOS 17.7.1 yesterday, and YOU DO NOT GET the hearing test and the hearing aid functionality.

That is incorrect. You do. I have them set up on my 15 Pro Max and they work extremely well for me.

Last week to prove that they still work I set them up on an iPad 2018 running on IOS 17.7.1.

Just sitting here typing away with my hearing aids (Airpods) in my ears listening to a podcast and they sound great.

You won't lose any hearing assistance but only from what I have read, you won’t be able to change any of the Airpod settings, which of course, is the whole point.

I now have mine setup on a 2018 iPad and my iPhone and both are running 17.7.1.

I arrived in California from Alberta 4 days ago. When Apple released 18.1.1 - I updated my iPhone (16 promax) and now I have the hearing aid option available - initial thoughts - excellent - did. 18.1.1 update in Canada in a similar fashion?