Apple's AirPods Pro 2 to Offer Revolutionary Healthcare Features

Apple’s wireless earphones, AirPods, look set to gain new health-tracking abilities. The tech giant has been embedding more health features into its devices, from the Apple Watch to its AirPods Pro premium earbuds. Now software updates suggest the AirPods Pro 2, expected later this year, will monitor body temperature and screen for hearing problems.

The existing AirPods Pro already soften loud sounds through adaptive noise cancellation. The new model could turn the buds into de facto hearing aids. Regulators recently allowed over-the-counter hearing-aid sales in America, a market Apple may try to tap.

Last year the Apple Watch gained the ability to measure temperature, though mainly to help with fertility tracking. Adding the feature to AirPods could make readings more accurate and provide an early warning system for illness. Apple could update existing AirPods and AirPods Max models with these capabilities through software.

Bloomberg reports that new AirPods hardware is still a couple of years away, though the current AirPods Pro may soon get USB-C charging cases to match the next iPhones. But software upgrades to existing devices are well within Apple’s abilities. Last year it gave HomePod smart speakers lossless audio and AirPods Pro spatial audio months after launch. Earlier this year a software tweak let the HomePod mini sense room temperature.

Turning wearable tech into de facto medical devices presents risks.Regulators have approved over-the-counter hearing-aid sales in America, a market Apple may address.Apple sees health as important to its watch and AirPods. As devices merge tech and health wearables, integrating new capabilities could prove pivotal. Apple wants people to monitor themselves continually—and is making devices that can do so in increasingly sophisticated ways.

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