AirPods Pro firmware 2B588 reduce the noise cancelling capability

_andyy wrote:

That's not their final word. After that, on December 20, they replied someone with "We took a quick look and did see some variation in ANC performance but we’ll need to look into it further. We’re going to be off for the holidays for a bit but we’ll re-test their ANC, along with FR, once we’re back in January." and then today "Expecting to have them by the end of week, will keep you all in the loop!".

In the same thread comment they wrote

We re-tested on firmware 2B588 and didn’t find any noticeable results in ANC performance

Honestly, I do not put all my hopes on rtings response.

Don't get me wrong, I'm the first one who hope the ANC will get better :)

Today I had the opportunity to try 2 different demo unit and they where slightly better than mine in terms of ANC.

The voice of the girl talkin in front of me was a bit more muffed with the demo unit. But in the rush and few minutes you have to do the comparison i don’t know how much my words are objective.

Both the demos had the 2C54, exactly like mine.

So it’s not software related issue guys.

I didn’t swapped because don’t want to play the lottery (battery, mic quality and so on) and honestly I didn’t find a day/night difference with the demos.

I have 11 day more to make the return, so I will see: in the meanwhile I’m using the modded version, that have the strongest anc ever tried.

My Apple advisor sent me a new pair and plan was to send my originals (purchased from big box retailer) to them. Unfortunately, new pair were on updated firmware out of box and there was no difference in NC. Since I was still in return window, the replacements were sent back instead. While my advisor didn’t come out and say it, I feel like he thinks that I’m expecting too much from them. He said having 2 pairs with identical issues is virtually unheard of as well as everyone has the Pros there and raves about them. I tried to stress how different it was from when I first bought them but not sure he believed me. Current state “NC” is absolutely abysmal- I can hear my dog’s nails clicking on hardwood floors, I can hear myself walking on snow. That is completely unacceptable.

JoelW777 wrote:

Maybe it's just the update process itself which broke anc.

I have 2B588 on my new APP I got 3 days ago, and I can't compare it, as that's everything I heard. But basically when driving with 160 KM/h, I wouldn't hear anything when it's switched on, except of around 20% of the high pitched wind/rain noise. Or when colleagues are talking from 2 meters away, I can still understand what they say if I don't hear any music and concentrate on it, with music I basically just hear some "s" and "t" sounds, everything in the higher frequency range.

So in the middle and lower frequency spectrum, it basically filters out almost everything, in the higher frequency spectrum it does not. Was it different with previous firmwares?

I ordered some Symbio W eartips now for the modification, I'm already excited about how much additional noise cancelling it will provide. Are the wind tunnels always open on the side or are they closed when anc is on?

Same for me.

Bought on novembre, 20.

FW: 2C54

Never failed seal test.

With the Symbio mod they works GREAT. It would be awesome if they'd would like that without the mod.

There is only one hardware version at the moment and that’s 1.0.0. All new shipments currently are 1.0.0 unless anyone knows differently.

If people are reporting loss of noise cancelling which Is restored when receiving new hardware that is using the same version of firmware then it has to be hardware that is the issue

Yes, Joel. That’s preciously what we are trying to say. When I bought the AirPods, if you had ANC on, any voice was a muffle. Like being underwater and hearing a voice. Unless the person was screaming or something crazy.

This issue is such a simple matter of a code change related to the ANC in 2B588 which was carried over to 2C54. This is what I believe and what the evidence shows.

Anyone who never experienced the Pros on 2B584 or prior cannot give any fair comparison as only the early adopters with the stock firmware experienced how the device functioned under that firmware. I’m not understanding why this thread is getting so big yet Apple has remained silent even with me. They have told me they are waiting for the “data” they collected from me to be looked over by another team — whoever that may be.

Throwing in my thoughts again. When RTings tested 2B588 they didn’t notice much difference. And when they tested the 2C54 they noticed a reduction in bass noise isolation which you’d expect if they accidentally killed the bass and pulled the firmware.

my concern is that they didn’t notice much difference between stock and 2B588 where mine are basically unusable.

if no new firmware is out by March I’m going to AppleCare these and test 2B588 on w replacement set to see what’s what.

but this product is really showing the old shady side of apple products that I remember from the days of Antennagate.

I hope this is the case but there’s not enough information to conclude either way.

if someone came out and said they have boxed AirPods from release and they won’t update then we could infer that both firmware releases are pulled.

but it just seems like 2C54 is pulled. And my support rep says despite others being told to wait for an update I should go in for Genius Bar or send them in

The RTINGS result is an extremely good thing because it's gonna get reported in the tech press and hopefully put pressure on Apple to fix this. At the same time though, I still don't think it rules out the scenario of the firmware somehow damaging the actual hardware and causing variable levels of ANC loss. I'm 100% positive that both my friend's and my units were on 2C54 when we compared them and his sounded noticeably better. We both heard the difference easily. I think there's some other variable involved here. Obviously the firmware is the trigger, but what is actually happening to the units remains unsolved. We may be looking at a recall/swap of the actual hardware to fully fix this. I seriously hope that's not the case and there somehow actually is a purely firmware/software explanation though.

There are two new threads popping up about this so I am forwarding them all here. Unfortunately the Community Specialists (with all due respect) are acting as if there is no issue. So I have replied to them with this:

I respect that you are a Community Specialist but this is a large problem.

There is already a large thread about this. Please check this thread with over 20,000 views, 1,800 people confirmed with this problem, etc.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250887615

It has also been in mainstream news now.

Verge: https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/17/21069953/apple-airpods-pro-noise-cancellation-problems-firmware-2b588-2c54

MacRumors: https://www.macrumors.com/2020/01/13/airpods-pro-2c54-firmware-noise-canceling/

We need to make sure this thread is updated and on the front page as many others are having the issue and just now discovering it.

They said that the new one has the same ANC reduction as the old one.

so it’s just as bad on this 2B588

so it is the firmware

they commented at the end about wanting to see an configurable ANC so we can set the ANC to the power it had on previous (to 2B588) firmware.

I think.

depends if you read ANC reduction as I do, a reduction in ANC ability. Not reduction of noise with ANC.

Take a look at this article published in my country (France): 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

Basically, it's a mass effect and we're crazy :)

The ANC issue is well known at this point in time with the recent media coverage in support of this forum. If Apple does not issue a fix with the next firmware update, I'd say the chances are high that 2B588 will be the standard for ANC going forward in this product.

There could be legal ramifications but I assume those wanting a refund will be able to do so. Still, it's pretty disappointing.

Got new pair of AirPods today and Apple collected the old ones for "examination". they did this while I am in Korea as that is where I bought them even though I am from US.

Anyway, news ones are running 2B588 (as expected) and it still has the ANC issue (as we also expected because it is a firmware problem that we already all knew)

I will say that the audio quality (the bass) is better on 2B588 compared to the (pulled) 2C54 update (which other threads were saying caused bass audio quality issues)

Anyway, I will have to contact Apple to (again) tell them that I am thankful that they gave me a brand new pair of AirPods Pro (manufactured in January 2020) but that it still has the same ANC issue that we all have because 2B588 changed the ANC settings... 2B584 was perfect and we all are in consensus that 2B854 was better than 2B588 -- those who never had 2B584 cannot make a valid comparison...

Please update us on your guys' situation too. Thanks.

Also now 1,900 people have still confirmed this issue on this thread and it now has 25,000 views.

All of us that have swapped our devices have received new AirPods on 2B588 which still has the same issue -- everyone has said this on the forum. So please let your Apple rep know that you still have the issue and I will do the same and have them check this thread (again again)

Thanks all.