AirPods Pro firmware 2B588 reduce the noise cancelling capability

ANC doesn't produce real pressure that would push anything out of your ears though - that sensation is your brain misinterpreting the cancelation of a segment of the low and low-mid spectrum when the ANC engages as a pressure change. Studies have been done where pressure sensors were actually installed inside ANC headphones while being worn and they confirmed there's no real pressure differential being created.

Good article about it here:

https://www.soundstagesolo.com/index.php/features/178-eardrum-suck-the-mystery-solved

I can only attest to my experience. There is a definite difference in them staying in my ears after the update.

The study you linked isn't for the inside the ear types. They use full size over the ear headphones, so it isn't really the best example.

If you just use logic, if their tech was limiting the airflow out, it would push more inside the ear canal and push them out. This could also be from the bass response. More bass pushes more air and there's not that much space in there.

I think the bass would be more likely. The AirPods create their noise cancellation from their series of outer and inner microphones and "anti-noise". 2C54 destroyed bass (and Apple seems to have in turn destroyed it) but ANC is still not the same in any AirPods model running 2B588 (compared to prior firmware 2B584 or earlier)

I mean ANC always inadvertently affects some of the playback's bass spectrum, it's unavoidable due to the nature of the cancelation, there's always going to be some interference. They've gotten super good at minimizing it but it's still there to some degree. I'm sure that aspect of the tuning is what got messed up in 2C54.

Same experience. ANC is not working well on 2B588. Turning on ANC just "slightly" reduces the ambient noise. I've tried ANC with over the ears and with other TWS buds and Apple's current implementation of ANC took a turn for the worse.

2B588 is overall better than 2C54 in terms of sound quality. I noticed that when I got my newest swap out.

I don't think ANC-gate is over. No new update has been released and 2C54 was pulled. Something is happening. We can't just let this thread die.

BigZ12,

Open a new case about the ANC problem. Cite this forum. They will likely swap your set out for a new pair w/ 2B588. Yes, the ANC problem will likely remain but the other issues (bass, whatever) will be gone. But cite the ANC issue as the main issue and let them "troubleshoot" it and they can swap it out and "collect" your device like they did to me. Then you can follow up saying the ANC issue remains if it does (which it will I assume).

My last interaction with support was she asked me to make sure I updated to 13.3.1 and to test again. I told her it was not the IOS version causing the issue, it's the firmware. She said engineering has it marked as awaiting new software or KB. I'm concerned they don't really know what the issue is and how to fix. I swapped a few weeks ago and using a pair with 2B588....Same ANC issue but slightly better than 2C54.

I am on my xx set of Pro‘s....too embarrassed to say how many but they have all failed with hardware and ANC issues. 

My latest pair of Pro's are now a week old and are performing perfectly. Obviously the ANC isn't as good as it was when we had 2B584 but it functions adequately and there is a very noticeable difference between ANC, Transparency and Off modes. 

Although the model number is still the same at 1.0.0, it may seem strange but they do seem to be better built than my previous sets.....somewhat studier but that may just be my imagination.

As for the seal test, well it hasn’t hasn’t let me down once so far which is a first.

Also both AirPods seem to drain at an even rate with good battery substantially - 1.5 hours of play time and both reading at 79%. Again this is a first.

So all good with this set and meeting expectations. 

Long may it continue

since the update to version 2B588, the right earpiece has a strange sound that sounds like diaphragm clicks when noise reduction is active or in transparency mode. This can be heard both when listening to music and when talking (which is very annoying!!!), and when moving the head

I returned them with exactly same issue, but u can try to reset them.

Other big problem is very muffled mic, I can't talk using AirPods Pro like other AirPods Pro owners please fix this I don't want to disconnect every time to force phone mic when I need to talk with someone...

I have an update for everyone.

Many on here keep talking a lot about 2B588 vs 2C54 and how the latter is pulled.

Yes, I concur that 2B588 is better than 2C54 and that's why the latter was pulled.

The reason why the hardware version will always be 1.0.0 is because this is the first version of the AirPods Pro. If an AirPods Pro 2 comes out (which it will eventually), then it would have the hardware number of 2.0.0 or if Apple does something strange, then maybe 1.2.0 or something like that.

However, I also noticed QA changes in the hardware throughout the three swapped out pairs I had. Honestly, I preferred my original ones the most though because they had the working ANC on 2B584 which it looks like we aren't getting back unless Apple implements an ANC control-slider in iOS and iPadOS/MacOS, etc...

But my newest AirPods which came with 2B588 and were manufactured January of 2020 just seem to work better and don't have as many weird flukes. The previous sets had a battery issue where the Right AirPod would always be 10-11% LOWER than the Left and I would end up charging just the Right AirPod for a few minutes which was annoying. This pair gives the low battery warning sound at the SAME time in both ears and tells me to charge them. Battery life also seems improved but it may be due to 2B588 vs the pulled 2C54 firmware.

Bottom line: No new firmware exists and Apple has not publicly discussed nor acknowledged our issue. Internally, it's been discussed globally and I can attest to this. However, they have now dropped the ball on me and since my pair was swapped out, my rep was changed to a new person and this person has ignored all emails I have sent to him. I am going to call one (final?) time now just to see why they haven't replied and again refer Apple to this thread which now has risen to 32 pages, 27,844 views, 467 replies, and at least 2,014 people with the same problem.

If anyone has any updates as well, please let us know. Thanks.

I agree. January production models do seem to work better. This is my 14th day with my replacement set and everything has been faultless. I honestly think that Apple has tweaked the internals or addressed a quality control issue.

I can’t believe it’s February 14th and there’s no firmware update. There are works in the apartment above with a constant rumbling and this should be ideal for ANC. Anc on, anc off, almost no difference, sometimes I hear a weird wind noise like it’s trying to counter that noise but it’s completely off time and with the wrong frequency..

There is no doubt Apple is aware of the issue. Personally I believe the ANC reduction to be intentional but the media coverage in January in addition to this forum and the Reddit complaints make it a no brainer. Whether they care or will issue a fix is very much in doubt.

Also I believe Apple low level phone and chat support know nothing about a possible fix or any firmware updates for that matter.