Use the Hearing Aid feature on your AirPods Pro 2 or AirPods Pro 3

AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 provide a clinical-grade Hearing Aid feature for perceived mild to moderate hearing loss, as well as a Media Assist feature that enhances the clarity of music, video, and calls.

Here's what you need

To set up Hearing Aid and Media Assist, you need:

• AirPods Pro 2 or AirPods Pro 3 with the latest firmware. Learn how to identify your AirPods model and update AirPods firmware.

• An iPhone or iPad running the latest software. Learn how to update iOS or iPadOS.

Countries or regions where the Hearing Aid feature is available

Find your version of the Hearing Aid feature

Set up and use the Hearing Aid feature

Hearing Aid is intended for people 18 years or older with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss. To customize the sound of your AirPods for your specific hearing needs, Hearing Aid can use either of these test results:

• Results from taking the Hearing Test with your AirPods Pro 2 or AirPods Pro 3 on iPhone or iPad

• Audiogram results from your hearing healthcare professional

Set up the Hearing Aid feature

1. Make sure that your AirPods are sufficiently charged.*

2. Pair and connect your AirPods to your iPhone or iPad.

3. With your AirPods in your ears and connected to your iPhone or iPad, go to the Settings app, then tap the name of your AirPods.

4. Tap Hearing Health, then tap Hearing Assistance.

5. Tap Set Up Hearing Assistance.

6. If you haven’t taken the Hearing Test, tap Take a Hearing Test. If you already took the Hearing Test or want to use audiogram results from your hearing health professional, tap Use a Prior Test Result.

7. Follow the onscreen instructions. When asked to choose a Hearing Test result:

   • To use a prior Hearing Test result, tap a result from the list, then tap Next.

   • To use an audiogram from your hearing health professional, tap Add Hearing Test Result, then follow the onscreen instructions to add your hearing test results. (After adding the test results, you can access them in the Health app.)

8. Tap Set Up Hearing Aid, tap Get Started, tap Next, then tap Turn On Hearing Aid. Depending on your test results, you might be prompted to turn on Media Assist instead of Hearing Aid. Learn more about Media Assist.

It can take time to get used to the Hearing Aid feature. For the best experience, make small changes to Hearing Aid settings over time while you adjust.

Hearing Aid settings are stored on your AirPods, so if your paired iPhone or iPad isn't nearby, Hearing Aid will keep working using the most recent settings.

Adjust amplification level, balance, and more in AirPods Pro settings

You can adjust settings like amplification level (how much your AirPods amplify the sound around you), left-right balance, tone, and Conversation Boost on iPhone, iPad or Mac (requires macOS Sequoia 15.1 or later). For quick access to settings, you can use Control Center to adjust settings.

1. With your AirPods in your ears and connected to your paired device:

   • On iPhone or iPad, go to the Settings app, then tap the name of your AirPods. Tap Hearing Health, then tap Hearing Assistance.

     

   • On Mac, choose Apple menu . Click System Settings, click your AirPods in the left sidebar, then click Hearing Health.

     

2. Tap or click Adjustments.

3. To adjust how much your AirPods amplify the sound around you, drag the Amplification slider to the right or left. You can also adjust amplification from Control Center. The volume buttons on your device don't adjust the Hearing Aid amplification level (but do adjust the volume of media playing on your device).

4. To increase or decrease amplification levels by swiping up or down on the force sensor of your AirPods, turn on Swipe to Control Amplification. This feature only works when in Transparency mode and no media is playing on your paired device.

5. To adjust the balance between left and right AirPods, drag the Balance slider left or right.

6. To make the sound amplified by your AirPods brighter, drag the Tone slider to the right. For a darker, less bright tone, drag the slider to the left.

7. To decrease the amount of noise in your environment picked up by your AirPods, like fan noise or road noise, drag the Ambient Noise Reduction slider to the right.

When you change the settings for your AirPods Pro 2 or AirPods Pro 3, the settings carry over to your other devices. If you have multiple sets of AirPods, you have to set up each set separately.

Adjust amplification level from Control Center

You can adjust the amplification level of your AirPods in Control Center on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch:

• To adjust on iPhone or iPad, open Control Center, touch and hold the volume control, then adjust the amplification control. You can adjust the volume of the two sources separately. For example, you can listen to music on your iPhone while still benefitting from Hearing Aid amplification, and blend the volume of the two sources to suit your needs.

  

• To adjust on Apple Watch, open Control Center, tap the Hearing Aid button, then drag the slider.

  

• To adjust on Mac, click the AirPods Pro icon in the menu bar, then adjust the amplification control . You can adjust the volume of media playing on your Mac separately with the regular volume control or the volume buttons on your device.

  

Adjust other settings in Control Center on iPhone or iPad

You can adjust other settings like tone, ambient noise reduction, Own Voice Amplification, and Conversation Boost with the Hearing Assistance controls in Control Center. Hearing Assistance controls are automatically added to Control Center when you set up the Hearing Aid feature.

1. Open Control Center on your device.

2. Tap the Hearing control, tap Hearing Assistance, then adjust Hearing Assistance settings.

   

Use Conversation Boost with Hearing Aid

To automatically detect if a conversation is happening in front of you and focus your AirPods Pro on the person speaking to you, turn on Conversation Boost. Conversation Boost is best for one-on-one conversations when the other person is right in front of you.

• On iPhone or iPad, go to the Settings app, then tap the name of your AirPods. Tap Hearing Health, then tap Hearing Assistance. Tap Adjustments, then turn on Conversation Boost.

• On Mac, choose Apple menu . Click System Settings, click your AirPods in the left sidebar, then click Hearing Health. Click Adjustments under Hearing Aid, then turn on Conversation Boost.

You can also turn Conversation Boost on or off in Control Center on your iPhone or iPad.

About Noise Control modes with Hearing Aid

The Hearing Aid feature amplifies sounds in your environment only when you're in Transparency mode. Media Assist makes adjustments to improve the clarity of music, video, and calls across all noise control modes.

Set up and use Media Assist

With Media Assist, the audio adjustments based on your hearing test results can be applied to the sound of music, videos, and calls.

1. With your AirPods in your ears and connected to your paired device:

   • On iPhone or iPad, go to the Settings app, then tap the name of your AirPods. Under Hearing Health, tap Hearing Assistance.

   • On Mac, choose Apple menu . Click System Settings, click your AirPods in the left sidebar, then click Hearing Health.

2. Tap or click Adjustments, then turn on Media Assist.

3. To apply the audio adjustments based on your test results to music and video playing on your device, turn on Adjust Music and Video.

4. To apply audio adjustments to phone calls and FaceTime calls, turn on Adjust Calls and FaceTime.

5. To adjust the volume of phone calls, music, and videos playing on your device when Hearing Aid is active:

   • Use the physical volume buttons on your device.

   • On iPhone or iPad, open Control Center, touch and hold the volume control, then adjust the volume control. If Hearing Aid is also turned on, you can adjust the amplification control of Hearing Aid separately.

   • On Mac, open Control Center, then drag the volume control under Sound to the left or right.

Most media apps, like Apple Music or Podcasts, also have their own volume controls, so make sure to check the apps if you're having an issue with the volume of music, video, or other media in your AirPods.