In a new edition of the Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman shared details on the upcoming features of Apple’s AirPods.

What to expect

In the next year or two, Apple will update AirPods with more hearing-enhancing features to make them an affordable hearing aid replacement, according to reporters.

Apple has been actively working on this direction lately. So, the company has already added several ear-focused features to AirPods, such as Live Listen and Conversation Boost, which amplify the voices of the interlocutors. But these features are not yet approved by the FDA and are not intended to replace hearing aids. Given Apple’s health goals, Mark expects AirPods to “more formally” take over such functions in the near future.

This does not necessarily mean releasing new AirPods with hearing enhancement capabilities. These can be added to current models via a firmware update, as the headphones are already equipped with speakers and microphones.

By the way, earlier analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (Ming-Chi Kuo) said that Apple wants to add biometric health monitoring capabilities to future AirPods models. Apple’s patent applications describe a headphone-based fitness monitoring system that incorporates an advanced biometric sensor to detect physiological measurements. This is a measurement of temperature, heart rate, perspiration level and much more through skin contact and using built-in motion sensors. Apple VP of Technology Kevin Lynch also hinted that AirPods could be a source of more health data in the future.

Source: MacRumors