This might end up having a huge impact on the entire field of treatment for hearing impairment. A big problem in the field is getting products to patients who could use them, but won’t because of stigma. This particularly true of young patients and unfortunately many might go even decades with a known hearing problem and still ignore it, and this can lead to social isolation and has a huge negative impact on their quality of life. Breaking the stigma of having hearing impairment might lead to these patients seeking out help much much sooner, and even if the AirPods aren’t perfect for everyone they might serve as an easy “on ramp” to getting traditional hearing aids for those who need them.
I had stigma before getting my hearing aids. I thought the hearing aids would be easy for others to see plus often the perception is that only elderly people get hearing aids. But the reality is that most people don't easily notice you are wearing hearing aids. Even my family has to stare closely at my ear to tell I'm wearing them.
Can you elaborate more on the stigma? From my perspective, if I were talking to someone with hearing aids I wouldn't give it a second thought (or I would try to speak more clearly). Talking to someone with Airpods in, I might assume they're listening to music and ignoring me.
> Can you elaborate more on the stigma? From my perspective, if I were talking to someone with hearing aids I wouldn't give it a second thought
I think it's mostly perceived stigma (or self-stigma) rather than actual stigma from others, and partially a generational thing where there was more stigma in the past. Attitudes to sight correcting glasses have also massively changed in the last few decades.
There's a gulf between how people treat workmates/strangers/friends and mate selection. Modern cultural ideas of discrimination go flying out the window for the second category. They might not appear to treat you any worse but will be less inclined to want to have your babies if you seem disabled.
sorta like crocs: god awfully ugly but really comfortable. there's groups (not the groups you'd initially imagine) who are against them because they're 'lame'.
hearing aids are kinda lame. they fix deficiency whereas cool things usually raise normal baselines.
again, a lot of old people wear them and young people often reject old people things reflexively, regardless if it's beneficial or not.
Yeah it's a big generational thing, my 90 yr old grandmother wouldn't wear hearing aids despite losing 80% of her hearing in both ears. Said they looked ugly.
My problem is that I'm right at the edge, I can hear most conversation but if it's noisy or someone is talking more quietly I have problems making out the words. So, 95% of the time I'm fine, and it's hard to convince myself it's worth the thousands of dollars traditional hearing aids cost, plus the futzing with wearing them. I have some Air Pod Pros 2 in my cart that I almost pulled the trigger on, but I'm an android guy so I need to see if I can get one of my wife's old iPhones up to configure it.
I won't speak for everyone but my $1,500 hearing aides are terrible Bluetooth earbuds. Music streamed from my phone is full of static and I end up going back to my trusty wired headphones.
If the AirPods work as hearing aides I'm never going back.
I have a set of the Pro 2s. The noise cancellation and adaptive listening is really great, but the damn things will not stay in my ears no matter what tip I use or how I orient the things in my ear.
Talking, chewing gum, and even just leaning my head back is enough to make the things fall out.
I really wanted to like these things as I have terrible hearing, and the assistive hearing on these is already pretty nice, but they don't do me any good if they won't stay in my ears.
I haven't had this issue with any other earbud I've ever owned.
Do yourself a favor and try a pair out first before you buy, if you can.
EDIT: I am very open to specific recommendations on 3rd-party eartips for these things.
I like the Comply foam tips. You can buy the "assorted" pack in different sizes, and use whichever ones fit best.
Both ears need not use the same size tips btw, you can mix and match sizes as many people do. You can also use different tips in summer vs winter for better comfort due to thermal expansion.
> but the damn things will not stay in my ears no matter what tip I use
Look at third-party tips. There's no set of 3 tips that can work for everyone, but with third-party tips you're much more likely to find some that work.
I'm a runner and I'd have no hope of keeping those airpod pros in my ears if it weren't for the airpod hooks that I have. There's a variety of inexpensive ones on Amazon that you can try out. I've had good luck with the ones that nestle inside my ear.
Are you sure you aren't just using tips that are too large?
I've used AirPod Pros for the past ~3-4 years and have spent hundreds of hours walking, running, and biking with them. They have never once come out or even become loose, though I do use the smallest size tip.
I’ve had great luck with Comply. The Apple tips are worthless for me, but Comply tips solve the problem.
The only problem is they last long enough that I can never remember what size I ended up using, so I have to buy a sampler kit instead of my preferred size.
With you on this one. The Pro's just never fit my ears. I tried all sorts of tips. Foam, silicon, even the ones that fit "into" the ear curve fail and leads to a really inconsistent experience.
The regular AirPods work well ENOUGH for me that when I walk I don't need anything to keep them in, but running would be an absolute no go. And I feel like they never actually "stay put" in the ear even when walking. I always have to push them in again.
Will try these new ones, but most likely will fall back to my usual AirPods.
I figured they needed a bit of friction to not move around in my ears. Two small patches (dots) of bandaid material solved the problem. (From the end with the sticky back, not the center). Works great. If you place them right they won't be visible when you wear them. Roughly $0.
There are also silicone wraps for sale that achieve the same effect.
I don't like the foam tips, what works better are silicon sleeves for each AirPods or grippy pads that you can tape on. You don't have to take either off when putting them back in their case.
Curious as a future patient. How long do the prescribed hearing aids lost? I don't know when the AirPods came but I have used only 2 generations and with a price tag of 200-250 odd, I don't mind replacing every 2-3 years, just trying to see comparison with the medical industry (whether we pay or the insurance pays)
In the US clinical hearing aids cost 2,000 to 7000$ for a pair (half that if you need one) + whatever the audiologist charges. Like a lot of medical expenses you can drop that significantly with over the counter options available for under 1,000$.
That said, hearing loss varies quite a bit and high end devices have meaningful benefits in terms of customization.
My dad’s were in the 2k range and are expected to be good for about three years. Not that they don’t last longer- just that all the features like Bluetooth should last for three years.
Yes, bluetooth in hearing aids is great for answering the phone, but it's disappointing for music. It's not really what hearing aids are for.
But I expect that we will still be switching between hearing aids and AirPods because they are different enough problems that they need different hardware. AirPod battery life isn't good enough and using them when talking to people is off-putting; it's a social signal you're not listening or don't want to be bothered.
While not as cheap as AirPods, there have been a boom of low-cost hearing aids in the last few years. They are finally available OTC, so that has driven prices down. A quick search will yield a few in the $300-range, but tbh I’m not sure about quality. I really hope the FDA keeps expanding OTC access to health tech. Especially devices that don’t typically cause damage or carry much risk.
My in-laws all have hearing problems (genetically?), and they said the prices are starting to reach the “keep a pair in the office, and a pair in the car” prices.
I hope so, too! They recently approved an OTC blood glucose monitor and it's been very eye-opening seeing how food and exercise affect blood glucose and then correlating how I feel with my blood glucose level. It's driving a lot of behavior change, and I would be a lot healthier now if I had access to it years ago.
I am currently trialling a pair of Phonak hearing aides (mid-range audio package, roughly AUD$5K) and I can assure you the sound quality is garbage even at this price point.
Yes, they pick up sounds I don't normally hear, but I would compare the experience to listening to world through a cheap high-school PA system.
I do not own airpods so don't know about quality. But if a hardware company as great as Apple can build a hearing aid earpiece there are some companies that should be very worried.
I'm just googling about this as we speak, but apparently the FDA approved OTC hearing aids last year and there are already many models available at retail from name brands like Sony and Jabra. Apple is definitely going to make a splash in this space, but there are already a lot of options and probably some very good ones (I've never been disappointed by Jabra).
It's a hugely under innovative, insular and overpriced industry that has been begging for disruption for decades.
Now that there's critical mass in an aging population, companies like Apple that have the clout and cash to ignore the threats of patent infringement can finally apply some real technical innovation to the problem.
I'm on my 4th pair of airpods. Sound quality is good for such small in ears, convenience is amazing, but they don't last very long when used daily. They tend to break after about 1.5 year and the warranty is 1 year.
As others have mentioned, though hearing aids are a 4-digit item for many people. Even if you have to rebuy AirPods Pro regularly, you're still likely saving money. Granted, they may not work in all situations or all cases, but if they work for you it could still be a huge quality-of-life upgrade at a fraction of the cost.
I still use my first gen pair bought on day 1. Got sick of waiting for them to die and finally bought Pros last month. Battery life has declined but still work great otherwise.
My biggest gripe is that Apple went for aesthetics over functionality with the charging case. It's impossible to clean the tiny little charging contact far down and curved away from where a straight tool can fit, and when you put them in your case after working out the salt from your sweat corrodes the pins.
If/when the next ones break I might just DIY a "sleeve" design with replaceable contacts.
Huh. I’ve got the AirPod Pros and use them almost everyday for running. Which means they’ve been sweated on like nobody’s business, and they’ve held up to this use for years. I’ve been impressed with their performance.
Yes, this is a clear example of how regulation was harming people (not all regulation is bad, but some of it is, usually the kind that gets between safe things and users)
What do you call "regulation" vs "deregulation". This is technically a new rule that added a category of OTC called "hearing aids" and established guidelines for OTC hearing aids
This is great! Hearing aids are stupidly expensive and I hope we see more solutions leveraging mass production to improve accessibility of hearing aid tech
Another thing I'd love to see is affordable AR glasses with auto captioning for noisy environments with many speakers. My mother struggles with hearing loss, and it's apparent to me that audio-only solutions are not sufficient for many situations and types of hearing loss.
The problem is that folks who are hard of hearing want to be part of the conversation and make eye contact. The transcripts in the audio recorder app on Pixel phones is quite good, though combining computer vision and audio processing is necessary for loud and complex social environments.
One thing I love about Apple is that they are building products for what their leadership team actually needs/wants and uses themselves. This started with iPhone (e.g. what kind of smartphone do we want instead of all that blackberries?) and is very obvious with Apple Watch line.
This is great and one of the reasons why their products offer genuinely best user experience.
It does explain why the Apple Watch tracks of lot of metrics mostly applicable to the elderly - Double Support Time, Walking Asymmetry, Walking Steadiness.
They really are amazing. I've been wearing them to concerts to help with noise... work incredibly well. They're the only earbuds I've had that survived a full summer of sweaty running in the desert.
Grumbling about having to pay $100 for a new case though, while I watch my old case (left on a trail in Sedona) wander around PHX.
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It turns out, they're inconspicuous enough that I can't imagine higher-grade aids would really compete on subtlety.
I think it's mostly perceived stigma (or self-stigma) rather than actual stigma from others, and partially a generational thing where there was more stigma in the past. Attitudes to sight correcting glasses have also massively changed in the last few decades.
hearing aids are kinda lame. they fix deficiency whereas cool things usually raise normal baselines.
again, a lot of old people wear them and young people often reject old people things reflexively, regardless if it's beneficial or not.
Deleted Comment
People who have no problems wearing eyeglasses balk at hearing aids.
But making it a standard headphone thing might make it normal
If the AirPods work as hearing aides I'm never going back.
Talking, chewing gum, and even just leaning my head back is enough to make the things fall out.
I really wanted to like these things as I have terrible hearing, and the assistive hearing on these is already pretty nice, but they don't do me any good if they won't stay in my ears.
I haven't had this issue with any other earbud I've ever owned.
Do yourself a favor and try a pair out first before you buy, if you can.
EDIT: I am very open to specific recommendations on 3rd-party eartips for these things.
Both ears need not use the same size tips btw, you can mix and match sizes as many people do. You can also use different tips in summer vs winter for better comfort due to thermal expansion.
https://www.complyfoam.com/products/apple-airpods-pro-ear-ti...
Look at third-party tips. There's no set of 3 tips that can work for everyone, but with third-party tips you're much more likely to find some that work.
I've used AirPod Pros for the past ~3-4 years and have spent hundreds of hours walking, running, and biking with them. They have never once come out or even become loose, though I do use the smallest size tip.
The only problem is they last long enough that I can never remember what size I ended up using, so I have to buy a sampler kit instead of my preferred size.
The regular AirPods work well ENOUGH for me that when I walk I don't need anything to keep them in, but running would be an absolute no go. And I feel like they never actually "stay put" in the ear even when walking. I always have to push them in again.
Will try these new ones, but most likely will fall back to my usual AirPods.
There are also silicone wraps for sale that achieve the same effect.
That said, hearing loss varies quite a bit and high end devices have meaningful benefits in terms of customization.
But I expect that we will still be switching between hearing aids and AirPods because they are different enough problems that they need different hardware. AirPod battery life isn't good enough and using them when talking to people is off-putting; it's a social signal you're not listening or don't want to be bothered.
My in-laws all have hearing problems (genetically?), and they said the prices are starting to reach the “keep a pair in the office, and a pair in the car” prices.
If your dad doesn't care about those, then he's not Apple's target demographic anyway.
Yes, they pick up sounds I don't normally hear, but I would compare the experience to listening to world through a cheap high-school PA system.
It's a huge industry.
It's a hugely under innovative, insular and overpriced industry that has been begging for disruption for decades.
Now that there's critical mass in an aging population, companies like Apple that have the clout and cash to ignore the threats of patent infringement can finally apply some real technical innovation to the problem.
If/when the next ones break I might just DIY a "sleeve" design with replaceable contacts.
[0] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/16/health/fda-hearing-aids.h...
Those who have the money/insurance will still go through their doctor for expensive "prescription" hearing aids.
Those low income ones can buy one off Amazon/Walmart which (though not the best) makes a huge difference than not having one.
Another thing I'd love to see is affordable AR glasses with auto captioning for noisy environments with many speakers. My mother struggles with hearing loss, and it's apparent to me that audio-only solutions are not sufficient for many situations and types of hearing loss.
There's a small company already working on auto-captioning, but the price point is currently $5k - https://www.xanderglasses.com/xanderglasses
This is great and one of the reasons why their products offer genuinely best user experience.
Grumbling about having to pay $100 for a new case though, while I watch my old case (left on a trail in Sedona) wander around PHX.