Missing hearing test on iPhone 18.1 with AirPods Pro

UK, airpods pro 2 with latest firmware

You will not get your Airpods working in the UK if you have updated to IOS 18.1.

The MHRA have not approved them for use as Hearing Aids in the UK and as of last week Apple have not even applied for approval.

Somebody on one of the hearing forums contacted the MHRA directly to confirm it.

Since Apple received FDA approval to sell the Airpods as OTC (over the counter hearing aids) they have strict rules that they have to adhere to. IOS 18.1 now restricts the use in countries without approval. That includes the UK, Canada, France, Italy, Spain and Australia. There are over 100 countries with approval and includes the USA.

I started using my AirPod Pro 2s as hearing aids 6 or 7 weeks ago well before 18.1 was even announced and the features have been available since September 2022. I am running IOS 17.7.1 and they work really well.

You can still get them working as hearing aids if you have an Apple device, an iPad OR an iPhone running an older IOS than 18.1. The oldest iPhone you can use is an iPhone 12.

I checked last week with a 2018 iPad running IOS 17.7.1 that it still possible to set them up as hearing aids with the latest firmware and it worked. By the way, the Apple Hearing test won’t be available if you set them this way but you can apply your own existing Audiogram OR download the Mimi hearing test app from the App store.

To set up with a device on the older IOS go to Settings/Accessibility/Audio and Visual

Expanding on what Jeff said, you need to have the AirPods Pro 2, and as he said they need to have the latest firmware. The test is also only available in certain countries. See:

AirPods Pro 2 - Hearing Health Feature Availability - Apple

For more details on the test, see:

Take a Hearing Test with AirPods Pro 2 - Apple Support

Regards.

Apple have geographically locked the use of Airpod Pro 2s as hearing aids in many countries that don't have approval. Where do you live?

Do you have AirPod Pros or AirPod Pro 2? Is the firmware updated to the required version? Firmware needs to be 7B21 or higher I believe.