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Pheidl Author

Level 1

125 points

Airpods Pro 2 noise cancellation worse after firmware update 7A294

The active noise cancellation on (at least) the AirPods Pro 2 is much worse after firmware update 7A294, including 7A302. The noise cancellation effect seems noticeably weaker now, roughly 50-70% as effective. Qualitatively, the effect is now closer to a slightly quieter adaptive mode. Essentially, I can now practically hear everything at a reduced volume, and my Sony 1000XM5 headphones now perform much better than my AirPods Pro 2, and this wasn't the case until the firmware/iOS 18 update.

Troubleshooting steps I've tried:

Cleaning the AirPods and tips (gentle surfactant/alcohol wipes, Blu-Tack), although they were already clean
Replacing the tips (they were already pristine)
Changing tips and ensuring proper fit
Resetting the AirPods
Toggling all settings on and off (Off, Transparency, Adaptive, Noise Cancellation)
Ensuring I hadn't accidentally selected something other than the noise cancellation mode
Having the AirPods replaced at the Apple Store

None of the above remedied the issue.

Some examples and context:

I can now fully make out conversations on the train in Tokyo, which I wasn't able to do that up until a day or two ago. To wit, train announcers are now less distant and audible. I can now hear people conversing on the other side of the carriage, and at one point, I was able to make out the music leaking out of someone else’s headphones...
I can now make out talking heads playing at low volume on a TV in another room.
I can now make out external sounds when ANC and Background Sounds (Dark Noise) are active at the same time, and up until the most recent update this combination was closer to being fully isolated.
Background music in convenience stores is now fully present, where as prior to the update I couldn't hear a thing.
I now no longer bother swapping to Transparency when my girlfriend is trying to talk to me across the room, because I can hear everything she has to say while noise cancellation mode is active. In the past, having to toggle between settings was a source of annoyance for us.

The situation is particularly disappointing, as I once adored these headphones, and the degradation of the noise cancellation effect makes the AirPods Pro 2 essentially more annoying than anything else.

iPhone 15 Pro

Posted on Sep 25, 2024 4:53 AM

Top-ranking reply

corneliu_sava

Level 1

74 points

Posted on Sep 29, 2024 1:51 PM

Same for me. From best AirPods with which I bragged to everyone who didn't have a pair of AirPods to checking if ANC is even turned on. We need to get Apple's attention so maybe have everyone else affected, comment on this thread.

View in context

134 replies

lirlrly

Level 1

26 points

Nov 19, 2024 4:02 PM in response to Pheidl

Same here. No ANC at all. Im not happy at all that apple dont care about their customers. Like ANC was main thing I was buying Airpods pro 2.. Without ANC, Ive just got very expensive regular headphones I could have from diferent brand for half a price. No more apple ever!

Nae430

Level 1

20 points

Dec 10, 2024 5:24 AM in response to Pheidl

I raved about my AirPods. Just bought another pair too. Now I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone and debating returning the ones I just got. They are horrible now with noise cancelling. I would often just wear 1 AirPod so I could hear my podcast/book clearly while still being alert of surroundings. Now I have to wear both and still can’t hear audio well. Apple needs to update and figure this out. My cheap ones from amazon are better than my AirPods.

Pheidl Author

Level 1

125 points

Dec 7, 2024 2:56 PM in response to TakanashiOuken

So, the story goes on. 7B21 didn’t fix the problem for me either. The issue is still the same:

The noise cancellation isn’t working as well as it used to.
Some frequencies, like speech, seem to leak through more than others, making them stand out more than they would without noise cancellation.

Nov 12, 2024 7:01 PM in response to Pheidl

Upgraded to 7B21 Same issue remains. Background noise seems to reduced but still can hear people talking clearly

Oct 16, 2024 1:56 AM in response to Pheidl

Same here as of 7A305. Huge step back for me. I live in a city with relatively high levels of noise pollution (Hong Kong) and my AirPods Pro 2 used to be life saviors while outside. Now even indoors I am able to hear (and be distracted by) AC and fan noise, street construction noise, etc. Huge +1 for the capability to be brought back at previous levels, hopefully sometime soon🤞

rloschy

Level 1

20 points

Oct 18, 2024 7:15 AM in response to Pheidl

i have been very impressed with my original AirPod pros noise cancelling. Purchased pro 2 as Apple advertised 2x noise cancelation performance. They currently cancel 50% as well as my old ones did. Generic over ear headphones currently cancel noise better than the pro 2. This has to be a bug. Cleaning does not help. Apple please fix this!

Oct 18, 2024 1:45 PM in response to Pheidl

. After all the testing at the Genius Bar the problem still persists. Static or robotic sound quality ONLY on phone conversations does distortion present itself . Not on streaming or listening to music only phone conversations. Problem started a couple of software upgrades ago. AirPods work on other device such as galaxy 23 Etc. so when two way data on Bluetooth is needed problem happenes. Works fine on speaker or handheld earpiece . Any assistance would be great appreciated

Kels_3

Level 1

32 points

Oct 23, 2024 4:12 AM in response to Pheidl

Same here. I used to use the ANC when sanding and using a drill and it provided enough noise cancelling, on par with other certified ear protection plugs.

Now after the firmware upgrade the ANC is not strong enough to use them safely on those activities.

Extremely frustrating.

Мike

Level 1

48 points

Nov 14, 2024 6:13 AM in response to Pheidl

no press release on this issue, no apologies, no fix for a long time. bravo, apple!

i will sell my airpods pro and never buy another pair, just because there’s a risk of the same situation happening again with airpods 3 etc.

Now, with airpods noise cancellation ON, I can clearly hear people talking, coughing, turning newspaper pages. So useless now!

Besides, I just liked reading in public transport with noise cancelling on and without listening to music. Now this option is gone too.

Keep up a terrible job, apple!

Мike

Level 1

48 points

Nov 23, 2024 11:54 PM in response to theonetheycallsamuel

you were mistaken. adaptive cancels out less noise than anc, even when set to “less noise”

what makes me angry is that when anc is on, it doesn’t fully cancel out the noise in that way, that it cancels out 70% of the noise and the most distracting 30% remains. And that remaining 30% uncanceled noise is more distracting than if the noise was 70% uncanceled.

so anc is kinda useless now, in most cases. the remaining uncanceled sounds are more distracting than if they weren’t canceled out.

[Edited by Moderator]

Kels_3

Level 1

32 points

Dec 5, 2024 8:30 AM in response to Pheidl

I've just searched to see if there was anything outside this thread that could be useful, and I found several threads from a year ago of people complaining about the exact same thing after the IOS17 upgrade!!! replies stop around January but nobody goes back to those threads to say if it was finally fixed or not.

In one of the threads someone pointed to this feedback form to direct our complaints:

Feedback - AirPods - Apple

Pheidl Author

Level 1

125 points

Dec 23, 2024 6:55 PM in response to Johnathan Burger

This is true. If anyone would like to provide feedback to Apple directly, they can do so here: Feedback - AirPods - Apple Or e.g. share this community post elsewhere, as some have already done.

As for this being a community post on a user-to-user forum, the goal is to find out if the issue is unique or if others have also experienced it, and ideally to discover a solution. The specific issue here is the difference in ANC performance before and after firmware update 7A294—it’s not about whether people enjoy their AirPods, but about a noticeable change in how ANC functions. To wit, if there were only a small number of people reporting the same issue, that doesn’t invalidate it. It didn’t seem necessary that a large proportion of Apple users experience the same problem for it to be considered worth discussing here.

Oct 9, 2024 10:57 PM in response to Pheidl

exactly the same for me. 3 months old AirPods Pro 2 cleaned regularly suddenly went from good ANC to not enough.

AzSR

Level 1

14 points

Oct 13, 2024 8:29 PM in response to Pheidl

Same for me. I repeatedly mistaken ANC for transparency!

Nov 12, 2024 9:08 PM in response to Pheidl

I am using AirPod pro 2 with firmware 7B21, (with iPhone 13pro, ios18.1),in my case it is blocking all background noises(even if ANC is off). Is there anyone facing same issue?

Airpods Pro 2 noise cancellation worse after firmware update 7A294