I don’t tend to follow Apple’s new product announcements very closely anymore, but yesterday’s announcement that Apple AirPods Pro 2 will be able to act as medical-grade hearing aids interested me.
I’ve been a hearing aid user for almost two years. My hearing aids are really basic, standard issue NHS over-the-ear models. They work, and are loaded with an audio profile that amplifies the frequencies where I need the most assistance, but they’re basic. There’s no Bluetooth, and I have to take them out to use a headset. They don’t even have rechargeable batteries – my local NHS hospital has to send me packs of little button batteries every few months.
Hearing aid costs
Whilst I get them free on the NHS, were I to lose one, I would need to pay £75 for a replacement (so £150 for a pair). And that’s pretty cheap as far as hearing aids go. For context, basic hearing aids from Specsavers start at £499 a pair if bought privately. Top-of-the-range hearing aids cost closer to £3000 a pair. I guess the high prices are partly to do with the cost of being certified as medical devices and limited number of customers.
With this in mind, the £230 cost of a pair of rechargeable AirPods Pro 2 is fantastic value for money for hearing aids. Especially as they will work well with an iPhone and support Bluetooth – which is something that would otherwise cost four times as much. And, it’s a lot more accessible – it took me several months following my hearing test to get a referral via my GP to audiology, whereas these will be available to buy on the high street without any gatekeepers.
Replacing regular hearing aids
Before we get too excited, Apple’s press release notes that the hearing aid functionality will be for mild to moderate hearing loss only. That includes me at the moderate end of the hearing loss spectrum, but for people with significant or profound hearing loss, regular hearing aids will still be necessary. There will be a ‘hearing test’ feature included in iOS 18 to tune the hearing aid functionality of the AirPods Pro. However, I doubt it’ll be as accurate as an audiogram that has been produced by a qualified audiologist in a sound-proof room using professional equipment.
I also think that others will find it confusing if you’re talking to them whilst wearing AirPods. Most hearing aids are designed to be relatively discreet – the visible bits of mine are clear plastic with the electronics hidden behind my ear. Whereas it’s pretty obvious that someone is wearing AirPods.
But on the whole, I think this is a massive game changer for people with hearing loss. Having hearing aids so easily and cheaply available could help so many people. I might have to consider getting myself a pair.
Even on the current software release, the AirPods Pro 2 have “conversation boost” and can be loaded with an audiogram to give a personalised EQ.
However, I have a horrible feeling that this feature will not be available in the UK. Unless Apple can find a way around the legal position, prescribing hearing aids in the UK is something only a legally qualified and authorised audiologist is legally permitted to do. Basically it seems to be a closed shop arrangement where the HA manufacturers can charge what they like through a restricted and tightly controlled distribution channel. If you look at the Apple UK page about the event last night, there is no mention of the hearing aid functionality enhancement.
I’m in the same boat as you, been wearing NHS bog-standard hearing aids for about the last 4 years and it’s a pain to have to swap between HAs and AirPods. And the standard ones as you say have no connectivity (Signia Contrast S+) – as far as I can tell it’s a market segmentation thing, NHS patients aren’t allowed nice things because if they were… the sales of multi-thousand-pounds-a-pair bluetooth enabled hearing aids would drop like a stone.
And that’s really a crime when, really, the main difference between them is likely in the software, and the marginal cost on the hardware is tiny if not zero.
So something tells me that, in the UK at least, that functionality won’t be available to buy on the high street.
It’s a similar situation that used to be with glasses but Maggie changed that back in the 1980s.
As a newcomer to learning about hearing aids I had no idea that the hearing aid market was a closed shop. Annoying. I was expecting the new Airpod hearing test would be released today along with the USA. Now I will be stuck on 17.7.1 until the Airpods are “allowed” to be used in the UK. They work well now but I would have loved to have seen the new features.
What Paul states appears to be true, the hearing test and hearing aid functionality which has been widely touted in the British and Trade Press is absolutely not available here in the UK at the moment as per the recent web page indicating the territories it is available in.https://www.apple.com/airpods-pro/feature-availability/