Besides delivering music, phone calls and Siri, future AirPods could monitor your health
Checking the calendar, we see that today is Sunday which means two things. One, an early morning MLB game is being streamed by Peacock, and Bloomberg has released the latest Power On newsletter from Mark Gurman. Since we don't typical ly cover baseball, you can figure out the source of this article. And the Apple device that we will be focusing on is the most popular true wireless stereo earbuds in the world, the Apple AirPods.
Last week, Gurman said that the next-generation AirPods are currently in early development with an eye toward a release in 2025. What the AirPods do to keep users in the Apple ecosystem is probably underrated as the Apple Watch probably receives more attention. Both devices are part of Apple's Wearables, Home and Accessories segment which generated $8.76 billion during fiscal Q2. That figure is more than $2 billion above iPad revenue collected during the same quarter.
Besides changing the charging port on the AirPods charging case to USB-C, Gurman says that Apple is looking to add new features to monitor the health of users' hearing and a feature that will measure the body temperature of the person wearing the earbuds. The hearing test will emit different tones and will determine how well a person can hear. In the same vein, Apple is said to be exploring ways that the AirPods can enter the $10 billion-a-year hearing aids market.
A ruling by the FDA last year allows consumers to buy hearing aids from retail stores (like a pharmacy) without an exam or prescription. Gurman writes that Apple has hired engineers from "traditional" hearing aid firms to help move the AirPods into this sector. Not only could it help generate additional sales for the AirPods, it would place it squarely in the health industry which is a business segment that Apple is very high on. It's a good business to be in, especially with Apple's long-time customers moving on in years.
The next generation AirPods could be released in 2025
As for measuring the body temperature of an AirPods user, Apple is working on adding sensors to the device to help it measure a person's temperature via the ear canal. Besides being used for fertility reasons, this feature could help users determine if they are getting ill. This is a feature that is showing up on more devices lately including the Apple Watch, and Google plans on adding a feature to the upcoming Pixel 8 Pro that will measure the user's body temp.
Additionally, Apple is reportedly considering adding cheaper AirPods to the line. And with the Vision Pro spatial computer arriving in 2024, Apple will be looking for ways to connect the headset with the earbuds for a more immersive user experience.
The upcoming iOS 17 release will also add new features for the AirPods including a mute/unmute button on calls, and it will improve how a user can switch which device is paired to a pair of AirPods. This fall, Adaptive Audio will allow the second-gen AirPods Pro to automatically switch between noise cancellation mode and transparency mode. The former blocks ambient noise from being heard and the latter allows ambient noise through. The change will be based on the condition of the user's environment to select which of the two modes will be in use at a precise moment.
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