Tired of your AirPods' terrible call quality? It seems Apple's quietly fixed it

Date:
Mon, 08 Jul 2024 14:20:37 +0000

Description:
A new AirPods firmware update for improved call quality has been spotted, and its rollout to iPhones could be soon.

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Ever felt like your AirPods dont deliver on the call audio front? Youre not alone. After years of purported air traffic control call quality, it seems Apple is finally tackling the problem head-on with a new firmware update. Exciting as it sounds, we dont know whether this will be available for all AirPods generations, or if itll just work with newer models such as the AirPods 3 and AirPods Pro 2 .

For a few years, owners of AirPods have highlighted the issues theyve experienced when it comes to taking calls using their earbuds, with many drawing the comparison to calls sounding underwater. With the new firmware update, Apple aims to fix this poor call experience by maintaining a clear audio quality when the microphone is switched on during calls to improve the Bluetooth experience that's according to a Headphonesty report at least.

While its yet to be widely rolled out, the latest Mac and AirPods firmware beta was spotted by user @hrolnd on X (formerly Twitter), where he shared a short video of his findings. Roland continued to say that Apple had mastered its improved AirPods call quality by maintaining the same 48000kHz sampling rate when the mic is being used in headset mode, saying that it would be a game changer when introduced to the iPhone. holy shit you guys werent
kidding, the latest mac + Airpods firmware beta is black fucking magicApple figured out how to keep the same 48000khz sampling rate WITH THE MIC IN USE
in headset modeno more air traffic control audio quality dips. if it comes to iphone, game changer pic.twitter.com/J2MY2S2KFx July 2, 2024

His video takes it even further, showing how Apple has uniquely approached
its codec switching when the microphone is turned on. Headphonesty points out that some users believe this could involve proprietary hardware, however another user on X, @gssp_acc , quoted Rolands post but suggested its more to do with smart engineering (read: reducing stereo inputs to a mono input and thus, the three-channel setup to two). Clever design, not black magicThey swapped the stereo inputs for a mono input reducing the total channels from 3 (2in, 1out) to 2 (1in, 1out) https://t.co/ptet88hgLh July 2, 2024

Despite a few minor imperfections in the firmware pointed out by Roland, theres no doubt that this update will be a major improvement to the Bluetooth call experience once its rolled out to iPhones. Analysis: call quality is the new focus (Image credit: TechRadar)

Back in 2015, Onkyo released its W800BT earbuds which were widely regarded as the first true wireless earbuds. One mic in each bud was seen as
revolutionary at the time, but now, most wireless earbuds often contain the standard three beam-forming mics per earpiece, which help handle features
such as active noise cancellation and ambient noise features using
proprietary antiphase technology. This phase cancellation can quash
background noise, amplify your voice and cut out blustery wind interference all of which help to improve Bluetooth call quality.

Weve noticed a stark rise in interest when it comes to call quality in the best wireless earbuds . As a result, were adding methodology sections to our reviews and buying guides on TechRadar. This means that we now conduct specific mic tests where we record our own voices to get a gist of how well a set of earbuds can capture and deliver spoken word.

In recent news, Apple AirPods have officially been deemed as vintage . This classification generally occurs when an Apple product hasnt been sold for
five or more years. But for the remaining (admittedly ageing) current AirPods lineup, finally fixing that underwater call quality would certainly extend
the longevity. And with Amazon Prime Day 2024 on the horizon, a discounted price on a good pair of AirPods will still be worth it. You might also like The latest Galaxy Buds 3 leak includes more images and good news on pricing Apple AirPods 4: everything we know so far and what we want to see Jabra's super-cool new earbuds will be its last and that's a real shame



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/audio/earbuds-airpods/tired-of-your-airpods-terrible -call-quality-it-seems-apples-quietly-fixed-it


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