Researchers from the journal iScience conducted an interesting study. This week, they published a paper stating that Apple’s AirPods Pro headphones could be an inexpensive alternative to hearing aids.
A team of researchers from Taiwan tested this feature of the AirPods Pro and found that when the headphones were paired with a smartphone, “there was no significant difference in speech perception between the AirPods Pro and the hearing aids in silence.”
On the other hand, this was not the case in the presence of background noise. However, the researchers concluded that “AirPods Pro could potentially be suitable as a hearing aid for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss.”
The testing was done on AirPods Pro with the iPhone XS Max, released in 2018 and running iOS 13 software, which was released the following year. The sample of participants was small, just 21 people. It was a collaborative research program between the Veterans General Hospitals and the University System of Taiwan. The Ministry of Nat’l and Technology also helped fund this study.
If Apple considers this and develops features for people with hearing problems, the AirPods pro could become a cheap alternative to hearing aids. The latest AirPods Pro model costs $249, while prices for hearing aids can range from $1,000 to $4,000, the Hearing Industry Association told NPR.
