The new AirPods Pro are solid, but the charging case is awesome

Apple at the Far Out event on September 7th announced the second-generation AirPods Pro noise-canceling headphones, which cost the same $249 as the original model.

The new AirPods Pro are powered by the latest Apple H2 chip.

While the design hasn’t changed much from the previous generation, the new AirPods Pro introduce some cool new features made possible by the Apple H2.

The new chip is faster and more energy efficient than the H1 chip in previous AirPods Pro and uses Bluetooth 5.3 wireless technology.

The new chip provides some of the powerful sound processing features that could previously run on the H1. For example, active noise cancellation is now better than ever, capable of canceling out 2x more noise than the original model.

Introducing an even better transparency mode

The original AirPods Pro introduced what’s known as Transparency Mode, which blends environmental sounds with AirPods audio so you can hear what’s going on around you while listening to music. Well, the new AirPods Pro take that to the next level with the Adaptive Transparency Mode. What’s this?

Well, the H2 chip basically processes environmental sounds 48,000 times per second to detect harsh environmental sounds such as an air drill. It then dynamically applies some noise reduction to reduce the volume of harsh environmental noises. Read: Tips to make your AirPods Pro louder

While the H2 provides broadband wireless connectivity, it still doesn’t support lossless audio, so you won’t be able to enjoy clear sound with these headphones.

Touch volume control

You get a few other upgrades to boot, such as a custom wide dynamic range amplifier and Apple’s low distortion driver for richer, clearer sound. And with the Personalized Spatial Sound feature in iOS 16, you can use your iPhone’s TrueDepth camera to create a personalized sound profile customized just for you.

The new AirPods Pro come with four different sizes of eartips (L, M, S, and the new XS size for small ears). If you didn’t use the original AirPods Pro because of poor fit, you may have better luck with the new model. The first model had force sensors on the stem, so you could press them to skip to the next track, use Siri, and so on.

But you couldn’t change the volume with forced control. Luckily, the new AirPods Pro have touch controls, so you can swipe up and down the rod to turn the volume up or down. Read: How to use Forced Control on AirPods Pro

6 hours battery life, 30 with case

Apple has managed to fit longer-lasting batteries into these new AirPods Pro, so you now get six hours of listening time on a single charge, or 30 hours with a charging case. In terms of talk time, you get up to 4.5 hours on a single charge. In comparison, the first model was rated for a five-hour battery life and provided 24 hours of use if you used the charging case.

Charging case now works with Find My

Original AirPods may beep in Lost Mode, but good luck if you hear it. To help with this, Apple has equipped the charging case of the new AirPods Pro with a Bluetooth module that allows them to participate in the Find My network.

This means that if you lose your charging case, you can use the Find My app’s precise search feature to make finding it easier. In addition, the charging case now has a speaker so that it too can play audio in Lost Mode.

You’ll also hear a confirmation tone from the speaker when you connect or disconnect your AirPods Pro. The charging case still uses Apple’s proprietary Lightning port for charging (a USB-C version is due in 2023) and supports wireless charging.

You can charge your AirPods Pro Charging Case on any Qi-compatible wireless charger, in addition to your Apple Watch charger and any MagSafe charger. Oh, and this time the AirPods Pro Charging Case comes with a handy strap loop!

Both the new AirPods Pro and their MagSafe charging case are IPX4 sweat and water resistant.

Prices and Availability

The new AirPods Pro are $249 and come with a free Memoji engraving when ordered through the Apple Store app [App Store link]. This option is not available when purchasing headphones from apple.com/store.

You can order the new AirPods Pro starting Friday, September 9th, with retail sales starting Friday, September 23rd.

For more information, visit apple.com/airpods-pro and read the Apple press release.