Lately I’ve found myself asking friends to repeat themselves, open up subtitles and improving dialogue while watching TV and trying to focus on conversations in places like crowded restaurants. I know I have some amount of hearing loss — but is it enough to warrant the time and expense of seeing an audiologist?
I suspect that as you read this, you may be asking the same question.
Age-related hearing loss is one of the most common conditions affecting the elderly as we age. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, 1 in 8 people in the US (or 30 million) aged 12 or older have hearing loss in both ears.
If you have hearing loss, Apple now has a new way to help make that decision to get your ears tested. As part of the new Hearing Health features launched with iOS 18.1you can take a “clinical grade” hearing test on your own The iPhone using AirPods Pro 2 earbuds.
I took the 5 minute test and the results surprised me. To find out more, unlock these hidden features of AirPods and find out about these important features of iOS 18.
Watch this: Apple’s Hearing Aid Test: Hands on with AirPods Pro 2 Software Update
All you need to do is take an Apple hearing test
The most important part of Apple’s Hearing Health features is what you put in your ears. You must own AirPods Pro 2 — original AirPods Pro, standard AirPods and AirPods Max will not work.
The second most important part is silence: Find a quiet room where you can take the hearing test undisturbed for about 5 minutes.
As part of the test, the iPhone measures whether the AirPods Pro ear tips are adequate and checks your surroundings. If something disturbs the peace, the experiment stops.
How to do a hearing test
Start by putting your AirPods Pro 2 earbuds in your ears, hold your iPhone and do the following:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Tap that The name of your AirPods Pro which appears after your Apple Account settings.
- Underneath A life of hearingpress on Take a Hearing Test.
Start the hearing test in the AirPods Pro 2 settings.
The test begins with a series of preparatory questions, such as whether you are over 18 years old and whether you have been exposed to a noisy environment in the past 24 hours. It also plays snippets of music to make sure the earbuds fit well enough that sounds don’t leak through them.
The test confirms that AirPods Pro and the environment are all fine.
After doing that setup, the test itself begins, starting with the left ear. The iPhone plays three tone pulses: When you hear it, press the screen. Tones occur at varying volumes and frequencies and last for several minutes; at the top of the screen you can see a progress bar that shows how much of that ear’s test has been completed.
Touch the screen when you hear a tone.
After checking the left and right ears, the test ends and shows the results as dBHL (decibel hearing loss) values. You can also view an audiogram that shows frequencies and volumes.
The results of my hearing test.
Not unexpectedly, my left ear did worse than the right. I saw that before the test, a situation made worse by constant crying. In fact, some tests of the left ear sounded like there were no tones playing because I couldn’t get them out of the tinnitus ring.
However, to my surprise, the test results told me that both ears had “Little to No Loss.” Tapping Show Details shows the range that indicates the worst hearing loss.
Test results are stored in the Health app, where you can view additional data, including tests you perform over time to track your hearing function. There is also Download the PDF option if you need to send the test to the doctor.
Are Apple’s hearing tests legit?
Apple’s health-related features tend to stay on the side of “useful but not clinical.” For example, the ECG app on the Apple Watch measures your heart’s electrical activity to check heart health, but it’s not as accurate as getting a professional electrocardiogram. An ECG result showing signs of atrial fibrillation is essentially saying, “This could be a problem. Go get it checked out by a specialist.”
However, for the hearing test, Apple was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US shortly after the feature was announced, which is why Apple calls it “clinical grade.”
Next steps after taking a hearing test
If the test on your iPhone shows signs of addition, you have several options:
- At the end of the test you can turn on Media Assist for use with your AirPods Pro 2, a feature that adjusts sound levels and sound clarity based on test findings.
- You can set the Hearing Aid feature of AirPods Pro 2.
- If you’re concerned about the results, schedule an appointment with your doctor or a professional to get a professional opinion and see what else you can do, such as getting dedicated hearing aids.
To find out more about the new iPhone features, see which one Apple Intelligence features you’ll actually use and where AI shortcuts don’t live up to the hype.
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