How to Check If Your AirPods Pro’s Noise Canceling Is Broken
The noise canceling headphones can help you enjoy your music in crowded places like buses, or stay focused on work in a coffee shop or noisy office. They’re great when they work, but some AirPods Pro users are finding that a recent firmware update has impacted the noise canceling performance of their headphones.
Some noise canceling headphones use passive noise canceling – physically isolating your ears from ambient noise using materials such as memory foam or other barriers. Others, like the AirPods Pro, use active noise canceling (ANC) to filter out outside noise by blasting your ears with sound waves back. A broken Apple firmware update improved the sound quality of the AirPods Pro, but also lowered the ANC.
According to MacWorld , Apple has since removed the firmware, but many users have likely installed it. Apple automatically downloads firmware updates while the earbuds are charging, and there is no way to pause or cancel them ahead of time.
If you’ve noticed a bit of an oddity with your AirPods Pro noise canceling capabilities, or want to double-check if you’re affected, connect your AirPods Pro to your iPhone or iPad and go to Settings> General> About Us> AirPods Pro. … Check version number. If it is a 2C54 then it is a bad firmware update
Unfortunately, there is no way to downgrade to previous AirPod firmware, so you’re stuck with insufficiently effective ANC until Apple releases a new update that fixes the issue. In the meantime, you can try adding memory foam eartips to your AirPods Pro for (potentially) better passive isolation. You can also temporarily switch to a different pair of noise canceling headphones if you want to regain peace of mind on the road.