Apple has rolled out a new firmware update for the AirPods Pro that enables a new hearing accessibility feature called Conversation Boost. It is designed to help people with hearing impairments listen better when having a conversation with another person.
Conversation Boost makes use of the beam-forming microphones on the AirPods Pro and computational audio to essentially focus the voice of the person you’re having a conversation with. The feature will also reduce the ambient noise in crowded or noisy environments.
To enable the feature on your AirPods Pro, your iPad or iPad needs to be running iOS 15 or iPadOS 15 respectively, and then follow these steps – Settings ⇾ Accessibility ⇾ Audio/Visual → Headphone Accommodations → Transparency Mode → Conversation Boost.
The firmware update 4A400 has rolled out for the AirPods, AirPods Pro and AirPods Max, however Conversation Boost is only available on the AirPods Pro. The firmware update also adds Find My Network integration for the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max.