AirPods Pro firmware 2B588 reduce the noise cancelling capability

This is great. I'm glad they will be re-testing the Airpods Pro w/ the new(er) firmwares to see how it compares. I'm sure it will clearly be different and then there will be actual statistics for Apple to look at -- although I'm sure they can simply do this in-house without the need of a third party.

WilliamFromEarth, thanks. Any updates are helpful for us all. I might email my Apple rep to see if anything has occurred. I'll also mention again for them to take a look at this discussion (again) since it has grown like double in size since they were looking at it.

Hi Eggroll,

I don't think it was pulled. But I also had extreme difficulty in getting my AirPods to update... It took a few days before they finally stubbornly decided to update. But either way 2B588 and 2C54 are both... worthless to me. I just want the old firmware back.

Yeah Apple needs to get on this NOW. I mean a little ANC is better than zero ANC but... I mean these things were near-PERFECT when I got them! I've never seen something like this before and I really hope it was not an intentional change. Or if it was, they see the backlash and revert to what it was before. They had a rocking product here... ready to bring even more market-share for the wireless headset market... and now we have this issue.

I asked my rep for an update and nothing yet he said.

Has anyone else heard from AppleCare on their end? Nothing happening yet... It's a shame there is no change logs in the firmware either.

Also they will lose so much $ if people are returning them... I mean it would be a wakeup call but I'd rather them just fix it before they lose money... It's been over a month now :( I still like the product but I loved them before.

Then we may have to reach all that people with a link to this thread trough reddit, technology news sites, apple/tech YouTube channels, etc to let them know that anc was stronger on the first day they were out.

Yeah that's true! I didn't even think about that! They probably just think this is how they are and wouldn't even know that it used to be like 10x stronger... I first used the ANC inside the Apple Store itself (I had to open them and set them up as soon as I got them lol). And the effect was really amazing. Now it doesn't even block out the quiet sound of a small bathroom fan I have the next room over... It's just... sad.

Well, at least 1,500 people have marked that they have this problem too on this forum alone. And on Reddit there's also a few active threads about it.

A lot of the YouTube channels that reviewed them did so before this glitch... And most of them rated the ANC compared to others (the Sonys with that long crazy name) and some other Beats headphones. One site said they would re-do the testings with the new firmware which would probably help out Apple but I really wish they'd just fix this. If there was a way to downgrade, I would have done that 3 weeks ago. Oh well...

Yeah you and your wife did the smart thing... Just I'm too late to return and I don't want to anyway as I really do like these... and am really hoping it just goes back. With so much backlash, I imagine they will fix this. And yeah a slider would be the simple ultimate way to fix this. But honestly the ANC was so good before (imo) that I'm not sure why it would even need to be touched like it was... Frustrating. It has to be a mistake because I've never really seen Apple do something like this intentionally.

And yeah, the firmwares need a changelog... The fact that there wasn't one shocked me a bit too...

Yep - I’m gonna try to return mine now I think. (Purchased on day 1) I flew for the first time since these firmware updates last week and they are now completely blown away for ANC by the Sonys, it’s not even close. Before I thought they compared very favorably.

I’m left wondering too if there’s an element here where Apple realized the ANC was “too good” compared to their own competing Beats products, both current and unreleased and did this in part out of a desire to not have the Pros cannibalize sales of those for people where ANC level is paramount. I hope that’s not the case, but I’m not sure I put it past them.

Oh I really hope they aren't doing that with what you said with the Beats. That would be... so dirty. But usually the Beats are marketed differently from the AirPods. When Apple bought Beats, I assumed they would integrate the two brands together but they've specifically kept them apart... Beats are marketed with a larger emphasis on workouts and stuff like that (not all but a good amount) and just a different marketing "style" overall...

If they did it on purpose, it will really become a huge issue. This forum alone has nearly 10,000 views now and almost 1,500 that said they have the same problem... and the support team is actively watching this from what the rep told me.

My Apple rep has told me it is being forwarded to a high department and Engineering. They might not know about it on a wide-scale mass basis yet but each individual case is being looked into. The rep emailed ME citing my comments on THIS thread and wanting information about it. So they have to be aware if I was sent an email asking for more information about my comments on this thread.

I’m still planning to go to the Genius Bar if only to spread information and see whether they’ve heard about it themselves. My AirPods Pro seem to make like a glitch noise at loud sounds or when I adjust them in my ear. And whenever it’s windy, I still hear wind noise, unlike when I first got them at release — they’d literally block any sign of external wind noise. Such a shame the ANC has been reduced.

does anyone know how long we have to wait for the bug to be fixed and the new firmware version of the headphones?

There is also a question whether apple will not leave us with a problem considering that this level of ANC mute is sufficient? I read somewhere that apple could deliberately weaken ANC because some users reported headaches.

I had a similar, but slightly different problem with Bose 700 headphones purchased about 2 months ago. There was a problem that turned off after 1 hour of inactivity. In the application it was not possible to turn it off. people were furious because some people because of the good ANC slept in them, and in the middle of the night they were awakened by the annoying sound of turning off their headphones. Fortunately, Bose quickly responded to a very extensive forum thread (https://community.bose.com/t5/Around-On-Ear-Headphones/Bose-700-Headphones-Auto-Shut-Off/td-p/222337/ page / 12) and immediately introduced the ability to turn off the detector in the application. I wish you and Apple would respond just as quickly to its problem.