Along with the new Apple iPhone 16 series, and the AirPods Max headphones, Apple announced new in-ear headphones, AirPods 4. There are two versions, regular AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) both the H2 chip.
The AirPods 4 ANC have an open-ear design. They have features like listening modes such as Transparency Mode, which allows you to hear the environment around you; Adaptive Audio, which is a combo of both Transparency and Active Noise Cancelation based on the environment you’re in; and Conversation Mode, which lowers the music when you’re speaking to someone nearby.
Apple promises long battery life, up to 5 hours of listening time on one charge, with the AirPods 4. Of course, the case charges via USB-C. If you have the AirPods 4 with ANC, you can charge those with an Apple Watch Charger or a Qi-certified charger and it has a speaker for the Find My feature. The case is smaller than the AirPods 3 case.
- Customers can now pre-order AirPods 4 for $129 (U.S.) from apple.com/store and in the Apple Store app in the U.S. and more than 58 other countries and regions, with availability beginning Friday, September 20.
- Customers can now pre-order AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation for $179 (U.S.) from apple.com/store and in the Apple Store app in the U.S. and more than 58 other countries and regions, with availability beginning Friday, September 20.
FROM THE APPLE PRESS RELEASE
“With AirPods 4, customers can enjoy Active Noise Cancellation and the most advanced audio experience ever in an open-ear design,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering. “And with a revolutionary update to the world’s best-selling headphones, AirPods Pro will deliver groundbreaking new capabilities — including Hearing Test and Hearing Aid features — to help more than a billion people affected by hearing loss.”
AirPods 4 Unveil an Industry-Defining Design
With incredible sound quality, up to 24-hour battery life with the charging case, and an iconic design, the original AirPods offered wireless convenience and seamless pairing with the Apple ecosystem of products. That experience gets even better with AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC, offering a brand-new fit and an array of powerful features and capabilities.
AirPods 4 are the best headphones Apple has ever created with an open-ear design, setting an entirely new benchmark for fit and comfort. The new design is built with an unparalleled data set that uses advanced modeling tools, like 3D photogrammetry and laser topography, to precisely map and analyze thousands of ear shapes and over 50 million individual data points in total. This process helped refine the design to deliver the most comfortable AirPods ever with one shape that naturally fits even more users around the world.
Delivering a massive improvement in sound quality, AirPods 4 feature an entirely new acoustic architecture, low-distortion driver, and high dynamic range amplifier, and add Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking for the most immersive media experience. With the H2 chip, AirPods 4 unlock intelligent audio experiences only Apple silicon can deliver, such as Voice Isolation, enabling clearer call quality no matter the environmental conditions, and Siri Interactions, allowing users to simply nod their head yes or gently shake their head no to respond to Siri announcements. For even more control, AirPods 4 also feature a new force sensor on the stem to play or pause media and mute or end calls with a quick press. Thanks to the H2 chip, AirPods 4 are also great for gaming, delivering low wireless audio latency and excellent voice quality when chatting with teammates and other players, including support for 16-bit, 48kHz audio.
AirPods 4 Bring ANC to an Open-Ear Fit
For the first time, AirPods 4 bring ANC to an open-ear design with an additional model. With upgraded microphones, the power of the H2 chip, and advanced computational audio, AirPods 4 with ANC help to reduce environmental noise like airplane engines, city traffic, and more. Working across hardware and software to deliver the most natural listening experience, AirPods 4 with ANC also introduce intelligent features like Transparency mode to keep users aware of their environment; Adaptive Audio, which dynamically blends Transparency mode and ANC based on the conditions of a user’s environment; and Conversation Awareness, which lowers the user’s media volume when they start speaking to someone nearby.
