Adaptive transparency on AirPods Pro and Max appears to be a bug

The adaptive transparency mode on AirPods Pro and Max appears to be a software bug. The new noise cancellation feature will remain exclusive to AirPods Pro 2.

• What is happening? Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says adaptive transparency on the original AirPods Pro and AirPods Max is a bug.
• Why care? In short, we were hoping older AirPods would actually get adaptive transparency through a firmware update.
• What to do? Buy AirPods Pro 2 if you want to enjoy adaptive transparency.

Is adaptive transparency on AirPods Pro and Max a bug?

Second-generation AirPods Pro have an adaptive transparency mode that reduces loud sounds around you and minimizes other environmental noise. Owners of the original AirPods Pro and AirPos Max noticed that they got the feature after installing the third iOS 16 beta.

But don’t get your hopes up just yet, as Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said on Twitter that “this is a bug,”adding that the feature is “not designed to work”on these models.

The Adaptive Transparency setting for the original AirPods Pro and Max is just a toggle and nothing else. Turning it on or off doesn’t change anything on devices other than AirPods Pro 2.

Owners of other AirPods, including AirPods of all generations, original AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max, should not expect to use this feature when iOS 16.1 launches. On the contrary, the next iOS 16 beta will likely remove the adaptive transparency option for AirPods Pro and Max users.

I was told it was a bug https://t.co/4BPBmpLbgI

— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) October 3, 2022

Adaptive transparency is only available for the H2 chip.

Apple has said from the start that the magic of adaptive transparency requires the power of its latest headphone chip, dubbed the H2, currently used in the second-generation AirPods Pro. All other AirPods models are based on the H2’s predecessor, the H1. Read: How to Fix AirPods Not Connecting to Apple Watch

How to enable adaptive transparency on AirPods Pro

To turn on adaptive transparency, turn on your AirPods Pro 2nd generation headphones, put them on, and connect your headphones to an iPhone running iOS 16.0 or later. Now go to Settings → [your AirPods], then turn on adaptive transparency.

When this feature is enabled, the H2 chip processes the sound picked up by outward-facing microphones to detect external sounds. Using computational audio techniques, the algorithm suppresses loud ambient noises such as the siren of a passing car or construction tools to better protect your hearing.