AirPods Pro firmware 2B588 reduce the noise cancelling capability

Currently, this thread has 13,255 views. It has that many views because people are also experiencing this issue.

No? Well this thread has 1,542 people who have marked that they have the problem too.

This is not a "psychological issue" or "perception issue" as the Apple "Geniuses" are not implying but literally explicitly saying.

If 13,255 people viewing and 1,542 confirming by logging into their Apple ID and clicking the button doesn't prove that there is an issue, then the Geniuses at Apple seems to be the one with the "psychological issues".

Rtings has updated their testing notes!

My guess is we will see a new update here soon from Apple, hopefully they will put an ANC Slider in (Or) Beef it back up.

This is definitive now- (Personally, I also believe that everyone obviously hears better/worse.. different frequencies, sensitivities etc... So that would explain why some people experience 0 noticeable difference vs. people who do and up to 20-30% reduction in ANC)

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/apple/airpods-pro-truly-wireless

@Paulman! Actually, there is a way to get NC when using just one of them, but it's not immediately obvious. Rather than doing it from the Bluetooth settings, you need to do so from the Accessibility settings. Scroll down a bit, and you will find an option for turning NC on for just one of the buds.

Unfortunately, the NC will still be weak compared to how it was under the original firmware.

🤦‍♂️

This is the author of the French article that KayneGiordano posted (https://www.lesnumeriques.com/intra-ecouteur/apple-airpods-pro-p54603/labo-apple-airpods-pro-la-reduction-de-bruit-a-t-elle-vraiment-ete-degradee-par-une-mise-a-jour-n146257.html)

It's trying to say we are all crazy. So I told him no and that RTINGs even showed the drop in ANC in the bass-level between 2B584 and 2C54. Author is unable to state what the original firmware that was tested was on... He said it was before 2B588's release yet there are multiple test-firmwares that were available at that time especially for review purposes.

Mine’s doing the same again even after a replacement! Running on new firmware too. They said to replace again but I’m still waiting on a refund from the last replacement gah!

I love how my “Me Too” button keeps getting removed and I have to click it again every time I return here.

looks like this is not going to be addressed. Shame.

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.

Get Support

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

Yup same happening to me. I hope this gets fixed soon, this is literally THE biggest feature of the Airpods Pro.

I talked to Apple Support about it and they just suggested resetting, which I did - still no change.

Yup same happening to me. I hope this gets fixed soon, this is literally THE biggest feature of the Airpods Pro.

I talked to Apple Support about it and they just suggested resetting, which I did - still no change.

Happened to me as well. Also, at the same time, the ear tip test stopped returning a satisfactory fit. No matter what I did - size of tip, orientation in ear - I always got the yellow “readjust or try a different size tip” message. Also, and perhaps this is related to the noise cancelling issue, the bass response of the AirPods declined substantially.

I called Apple support and received a replacement pair today, which so far work fine. I asked the Apple representative if this was a known issue, and he said it wasn’t as far as he could tell.

The firmware version of the new AirPods is 2B576. I don’t like to think about what will happen when it auto-upgrades.

Glad the replacement ones work for you! But since it's not the latest firmware version, I'm betting that's why they are working fine. Ugh, I kinda wish this was "bigger news" or something. I constantly have my volume waay up now, even on Noise Cancellation, just to try to achieve the same level of noise-cancelling that I was getting prior to this version.

POOR sound quality experienced on my side too when paired Airpods Pro with Airfly and inflight entertainment system. Terrible experience! I have complained to the manufacturers and Apple informed the problem is with Airfly and Airfly informed the problem is with Apple firmware ???? Frustrated customer!

Glad that somebody noticed it as well as I already thought I am getting crazy. Noise cancelling is definitely weaker since last firmware update. Before while walking outside I could barely hear noise of the cars passing by or even the sound of engine while sitting in the bus. I can now hear even people talking in some distance from me. Now AirPods Pro are not as good as before in filtering those sounds out. There is almost no difference between ANC turned on and off and the experience is not that 'immersive' as it used to be before. Really disappointing they did it to such a good product.

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.

Bigger tips may offer better passive noise cancellation however they are not comfortable for many of us. Glad that this worked around for you. However, hoping that Apple will let us increase ANC strength with future updates. Thanks for sharing this with others!