Has AirPods Pro 2 noise cancelling got weaker?

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Level 1

13 points

Has AirPods Pro 2 noise cancelling got weaker?

Am referring to AirPods Pro 2 with firmware 7B21, March 2025

It’s no doubt very subjective, but I could swear noise cancellation has become noticeably worse lately, and transparency has become less transparent. The difference between noise cancelling and transparency used to be very obvious. Lately I’ve found myself having to check my phone to see which mode is activated.

Took them to an Apple Store today to have them checked, but they said diagnostics indicated everything was working as expected. Could be me, of course, but my hearing is okay. Leaving the Apple Store, I tried noise cancelling again and could hear the faint mall music and everyone chatting around me.

Has the quality of noise cancellation changed due to a firmware update?

AirPods Pro (2nd generation)

Posted on Mar 8, 2025 6:01 AM

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Answer 1

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Top-ranking reply

Zurarczurx

Level 4

2,542 points

Mar 23, 2025 3:59 PM in response to jodanchudan

Yes. It seemed to get worse when they introduced the hearing aid functionality.

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Answer 2

Mar 23, 2025 3:53 PM in response to jodanchudan

Yep, same. I used to not be able to hear my garbage disposal while I had my AirPods in. Now I can hear everything. Apple sent me a new pair, same thing. Apple quality has really gone downhill and it’s very disappointing considering how much apple products cost. I’ve been an apple user since the first iPhone came out, and this is the first time I have ever considered switching to android or a different product. I’m beyond frustrated with the AirPods and the lack of response from apple.

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Answer 3

jodanchudan Author

Level 1

13 points

Apr 14, 2025 6:33 AM in response to WheelieNick

It’s definitely happening - I have to check on my phone whether noise cancelling is even on because I can’t tell the difference. Have tried resetting them and taking them to the Apple Store didn’t do anything to fix them. Seems like a common issue on here so fingers crossed an update fixes it.

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Answer 4

Mar 12, 2025 10:43 PM in response to jodanchudan

I am experiencing the same problem. Happened basically overnight.

I tried cleaning the headphones, resetting the headphones, everything in my power to fix this, but nothing helped. Recently noise cancellation got so bad that I often have to check if it is on at all. I can hear everything coming through. Noise cancellation got so bad in fact that I stopped wearing my AirPods Pro 2-s on the bus because there is no point in doing so anymore. The bus is the same loud.

Amazingly, transparency got way louder at the same time and resulted in my ears hurting whenever I only had a single AirPod in.

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Answer 5

Apr 14, 2025 2:05 PM in response to jodanchudan

Hi, with the recent new firmware 7E93 it seems slightly improved. Testing with the "Noise" function from the Apple Watch and with the AirPodsPro2 worn, I detect a noise reduction of about 20 - 25db compared to the transparency mode. Previously the reduction I had noticed (very bad) was about -15db. A little better, for me...

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Answer 6

Apr 15, 2025 12:40 PM in response to jodanchudan

A friend of mine recently bought a new pair of AirPods Pro 2, and she’s already noticing the same issue — she can still clearly hear the sound of a vacuum cleaner while in Noise Cancellation mode (even the first gen Airpods Pro was able to cancel this a week ago). This pretty much confirms that it’s not a hardware issue we are experiencing, but rather a software one affecting all units.

Dear Apple, please address this. It’s genuinely disappointing, and honestly, it’s making me lose motivation to invest in any more Apple products.

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Answer 7

WheelieNick

Level 8

42,693 points

Mar 8, 2025 7:03 AM in response to jodanchudan

For as far as I know that is not happening. Have you tried to reset the AirPods to see if the issues persist?

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Has AirPods Pro 2 noise cancelling got weaker?