Here’s What’s Coming to Your AirPods in iOS 18
This week’s big reveal of iOS 18 packed in a lot of new features for the iPhone, but there’s some fun stuff coming for AirPods fans, too.
During the Audio & Home segment of its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) Keynote, Apple showed off the ability to respond to Siri requests with a shake or a nod while wearing AirPods Pro, plus a new Voice Isolation feature that will “ensure your voice will stay crystal clear” in any environment and Spatial Audio for gaming.
However, that’s not all your AirPods will gain from the update later this year. While the changes aren’t quite as groundbreaking as they were in iOS 17, there are still a few things that will take your AirPods Pro to another level.
Read on for everything we’re expecting for the AirPods in iOS 18.
Hands-free Siri Interactions
Coming to AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)
If you’ve ever been in a place or situation where you’d rather not speak up to respond to a Siri request, iOS 18 and your AirPods Pro will have you covered. When asked a yes or no question, such as whether to answer an incoming call, you can respond with a gentle nod of your head for yes or a shake of your head for no.
These gestures already work surprisingly well in the first iOS 18 developer beta as long as you have the accompanying AirPods Pro firmware update installed. Minimal back-and-forth movements are required, so you won’t have to worry about drawing attention to yourself, and it can distinguish between an actual nod or shake and other rapid movements like glancing quickly up or to one side. The gestures can also be switched off or even swapped, so you can shake for yes and nod for no if that’s more your style.
Sadly, this one will be limited to the latest AirPods Pro since it requires the H2 chip for some of its processing. However, more new AirPods are expected to launch later this year, so we’re hoping they’ll have the necessary hardware to support this as well.
Voice Isolation
Coming to AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)
Another AirPods Pro-exclusive feature (for now) will filter out even the loudest wind or background noise on calls so people on the other end can hear you clearly.
This harnesses the power of the H2 chip to run computational audio algorithms that remove the background noise around you to the point where you can be standing in the middle of Times Square, and the other person will think you’re in a quiet room.
Enhanced Dialogue in Movies and TV Shows
Coming to AirPods (3rd generation), AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max
Fans of Christopher Nolan movies will appreciate this one. With iOS 18, you can use a new Enhance Dialogue feature to help the actors’ voices punch through the din of the surrounding explosions and other sound effects.
The best part of this feature is that it’s not just trying to remix the Dolby soundstage. Apple is employing machine learning and computational audio to detect actual speech across all available channels, whether that’s simple stereo or a Dolby Atmos mix. This will let even whispers come out more clearly.
Enhance Dialogue will be available on all AirPods, but it’s not just for Apple’s earbuds. It will also work through the iPhone’s built-in speakers or when using wired headphones or other Bluetooth headphones and speakers. The only catch is you’ll need an iPhone 11 or later to handle the audio algorithms.
Personalized Spatial Audio for gaming
Coming to AirPods (3rd generation), AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max
Apple is taking Spatial Audio to a new level by letting your favorite game developers put you right into the action, using the same audio technology that creates an immersive sound for music and movies. This will also work on any AirPods that already support Spatial Audio.
Personalized Spatial Audio with Dynamic Head Tracking will enable an enhanced soundstage, plus voice quality improvements for in-game chat and streaming. While it’s up to the developers to make this happen, Apple is providing all the needed tools and already has a few hot titles on board, including Need for Speed: Mobile by Tencent Games and EA, which should arrive alongside iOS 18 this fall.
Low Latency Gaming
Coming to AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)
The iPhone is getting a new Game Mode that will make everything smoother and more responsive, especially when using Bluetooth game controllers. However, it also extends to the AirPods Pro.
Game Mode kicks in automatically when loading nearly any game in iOS 18. If you’re wearing AirPods Pro while gaming you’ll get incredibly low latency to hear everything as it happens with virtually no delay.
Adjustable Adaptive Audio
Coming to AirPods Pro (2nd Generation)
In iOS 17, Apple introduced Adaptive Audio for the AirPods Pro, a helpful feature that lets you dynamically blend Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and Transparency to your environment and whatever you’re listening to.
In its simplest form, Adaptive Audio leans towards more ANC when the music is on and less when it’s off, but it will also monitor the noise around you to determine how much to apply. However, it’s always been an all-or-nothing setting.
That’s set to change in iOS 18, with a new Customize Adaptive Audio option that lets you tweak the algorithm to allow less noise (i.e., more ANC) or more noise (i.e., more Transparency). It’s only a three-position slider in the first iOS 18 beta, but Apple may add more granularity before the final release.