AirPods Pro firmware 2B588 reduce the noise cancelling capability

It is black and white.

The 2B588 firmware changed the ANC settings for all AirPods Pro. There is not a single person on this forum or on Reddit or any other portal site that had the former 2B584 firmware (or prior) that did not notice this change when upgrading.

The only people who did not notice the change were people whose AirPods Pro came with 2B588 so they have no baseline comparison.

Further, 2C54 created more issues, was pulled, and many of us had our 2C54 bugged Pros swapped with new 2B588 models -- they sound and function better than then bugged 2C54 versions but still have the same settings for ANC as before.

Apple has been prepping their new Over the Ear Headphones since at least December. Latest iOS leaks have already shown the new product (mods: I am just reiterating news).

I imagine when these products are announced and release, there will be an iOS update and a firmware update.

But I am convinced that this was an intentional change and either it will stay the same or we will get customizability in a future update. It is clearly not going back to 2B584's levels.

Shanesnh wrote:

Yeah sadly this company doesn't acknowledge any problems anymore and thinks they are infallible. Even for bigger issues that are happening with the iPhone/iPad and APPs as well. I'm sick of it. Might be time to get an S20 Ultra.

The new firmware 2D27 completely restored mine back to normal. Reading this thread and I can't believe how negative you are. This is why I got rid of my horrible Samsungs and went this direction - Actual company support. Patience is a virtue.

Do you hear a lack of bass when you're running the Ear tip fit test? In the right earbud which gives you yellow? What about bass with music when turning ANC OFF?

I've had 2 set of replacements because of this. Bass weakened noticably, especially with ANC OFF, and fit test yellow. When I got my first originals, I got "good seal" (green) for some time. That also happened with my 1st replacements. Green all the time for a while (1-2 months), then just yellow... Now I'm on my 2nd replacements, and it's still green with the amount of bass that they are supposed to give. Hopefully it will last this time. No difference when updating to 2D27 for me.

Hello yu217,

I see that you're having an issue with your AirPods and the noise canceling feature. I'd be happy to get you pointed in the right direction.

You've already done some great troubleshooting steps. Have you tried to pair them with another device to see if the issue remains? If the issue remains after resetting and pairing them back together, you'd want to reach out to Apple Support.

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Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

So I don't know if this will help someone, but I tried the large tips yesterday just for the sake of it, and I've noticed that Noise Cancellation is SIGNIFICANTLY better now. Just thought I'd mention it.

On Thursday I was over 40 minutes on call with apple support. they are not aware about the problem. the third manager I was talking with decided to open an issue for the development. they should give me response within next two weeks.

unfortunately firmware downgrade is not possible, at least the phone support does not know how to do this.

people, please call apple support and ask them to open an dev issue with this problem. I think this is the only way to have the noise cancellation problem fixed asap.

Thanks for trying but now over 1,000+ people have marked this as them having the same issue. It's every Airpods Pro running 2B588. Apple has no changelogs for AP firmwares nor do they have bug lists.

It needs to be sent upwards.

Hey guy, Apple Support US(I am from Hong Kong) just contacted me via phone this morning.

I guess it is because I submitted a feedback here https://www.apple.com/feedback/airpods.html

And he ask me about the ANC.

I methion that it is casued firmware issue instead of hardware and it was fine before the auto update.

and he said his colleague have the same firmware version as me but don't found any issue.

Therefore, they would like to make a replacement for me and get the one on my hand for test.

I am now waiting for an email update.

Anyway, he is very nice.

Please keep posting your experiences and reporting to AppleCare directly so we can find solutions.

Please post your specific circumstances when the ANC is bad. I’m sure it will help the dev team as they are apparently monitoring this. I spoke with Apple Support on Twitter also. They said my rep did forward my info (including this thread) upwards so it’s good to report on our new findings.

Apple really dropped the ball here but they need to know what to fix.

I’m seeing everyday just how bad the ANC is now. It’s maybe 20-50% of what it was before.

I can hear traffic now. Quiet bathroom fans. People speaking, coughing, sneezing, walking. Footsteps. Even wind is stronger now. My own voice (before it was well drowned out). Just the ANC overall almost all frequencies has seemed to take a hit.

Subway and bus sounds are very clear now. Need loud volume to attempt to cover them up.

It doesn’t have that feeling like you’re in space “vacuum” anymore when ANC is turned on. Before it felt like you went into another “world” where it was near dead-silent. But now it’s just very similar to when it’s turned off.

If anyone knows exactly which frequencies are the worst, it might be helpful to post here and also to tell AppleCare as well so they can forward it up. I just notice ANC overall is horrible now compared to stock firmware. I just want to downgrade!

It would be great if there were firmware change notes like in iOS updates too... but there aren’t and no way to prevent an update or to facilitate a downgrade. I really hope this is fixed.

Also, ear-tip test passed and always did. Fit is perfect. ANC was changed after the firmware update so it’s not a hardware or fit issue.

Post your symptoms and please contact Apple Support and they can make

a case for you and I hope the more helpful reports they get, the quicker we can get this solved.

There were no changes that were noticeable between 2B588 and 2C54. 2C54 just retained the same ANC configurations that 2B588 had (which causes this issue). So if someone went from an older firmware (2B584, etc.) straight to 2C54, they would have the same issue as 2C54 and 2B588 seem to have nearly exactly the same configurations for ANC -- I can't read the code myself but the issue has not changed between the two. It's just whatever code they wrote for 2B588 need to be fixed and patched for a new update. Why the code was written in the first place is beyond me but they have too many unhappy customers now.

@Cerlini,

I imagine you reset already but can you try this and if you do get them connected, let us know the firmware ver.

Try a full re-pair, reset, and try again.

Settings > Bluetooth > Airpods > Forget this device. Confirm it. (I guess you can skip this if they never connected to begin with but un-pair the old ones too maybe?)

Put both Airpods in their case, charge them via Lightning until the case is 100%. Unplug them. Open the case and hold the button on the back of the case for 15+ seconds or until the light flashes white. Hold them near your iPhone and see if the pairing screen comes up and pair them. If not, repeat until it does. But if you can't see the screen pop up, then manually pair within Bluetooth.

@kellyNYC, Maybe we can do a little test. For example, I have a pretty ordinary fan in my bathroom (in the ceiling like most bathrooms have). Before 2B588, with that fan on and the door OPEN, even about 2 feet away from the fan, the sound of the fan was entirely eliminated. It was a feeling like I was in space -- like in a vacuum. No sound. Nothing. Literally no background noises of any kind.

Now on 2B588 and 2C54, if that bathroom fan is on, even if I CLOSE the bathroom door, I can still hear the humming of the fan... and that's how I noticed this issue to begin with.

Also my typing now, I am wearing the AirPods with ANC on and I can hear my typing as if the ANC was OFF. Before this, the sound of typing sounded more like it was in the faint distance (or in another room) if that makes sense.

Sounds of people talking were like muffled like as if I were underwater before 2B588... Turned on Transparency Mode and then I could hear them perfectly. Now, voices are pretty normal.

Subways and busses -- sounds were almost 100% gone... No engine sounds. No tires. No brakes... Almost 0 sound. Now all of these are clearly audible.

The sound of my OWN voice talking or singing, before, I could literally sing along to a song and it would eliminate my voice (I was shocked by this). Now, there is no such thing. It just turns the volume of my voice down about 20%.

When I would turn on ANC, it would really feel like I was in a space vacuum. Total silence. It was almost eerie... I've never experienced silence like that. Now it's just... meh.

Maybe this might help you kind of imagine it. Also, the first time I turned on ANC was in the LOUD Apple Store itself with about 200 customers in there and a Keynote presentation going on. When it turned on... I was speechless... Of course it didn't eliminate EVERYTHING but it was ridiculously loud in there... But it eliminated it so well that when I put on music on a low-medium volume, even the loud Apple Store was entirely silenced to me. That's not so anymore :(

Maybe you can let me know how some of these sound to you (like a bathroom fan or car traffic)...

That reminds me.. Before the update, walking down the street... there was almost no sounds of cars... now it's barely different between ANC and Off... Again maybe a 20-25% difference in the sounds of traffic. Before it was really crazy good.

But the only people on this forum saying they have acceptable ANC are people who never experienced the ANC from the previous firmware. Their product shipped with 2B588... There is no way to compare it. Maybe it’s good enough for them but for everyone else it seems to be the same consensus. Take a look at this thread in the list of threads for iPhone Accessories. It is by far the largest thread by both number of views, number of replies, and number of people confirming they have the same issue. It’s only been a few weeks and within that time period many have purchased the device and will never know there was a better ANC. Only the early adopters will have noticed a difference. Apple is collecting units from all over the globe (I’m originally from US but I’m in Seoul now and they are trying to collect from me if possible as well)...

And if they collect from me, they’ll give me another pair that does the same thing.

But I’ll keep an open mind and I want to see what your findings are. But clearly these devices have more than their fair share of bugs. But this ANC bug alone did not manifest for ANY of us until 2B588 was installed and one other commenter said it manifested when he updated to 2C54.

I called with Apple Netherlands yesterday (call-back appointment) and explained the situation with the badly functioning NC. The employee asked me a lot of questions about the situation and whether I had already used the different ear tips and whether I had already reset etc. He finally came to the conclusion that it had to be the air pods themselves and he sent me a new pair. I will receive them tomorrow.