Updated to 18.1 this morning. I read the fine print—Australia is *not* in the list of countries where Hearing Test is available. Very disappointing. I was looking forward to using iPods Pro 2 for hearing assistance.
AirPods Pro (2nd generation)
Just bought my airpods pro this morning for just this feature. Get home and find it’s not available in Australia. Guess how I feel about this issue. Not happy.
I was able to input my hearing test results and that made a significant difference to the sound quality
I did not carry out a test using my iPhone
still early days but it seems to work quite well boosting speech even while listening to music etc
👍
Only if Apple wants to listen.
I posted on 30 Jan 2025 "Rumour has it Apple has hearing issues.".
After seeing so many disgruntled loyal Apple customers.
They subsequently removed my post. However, anyone who bagged the TGA all good.
No apologies nothing from Apple.
Regardless I completed another feedback form as suggested.
Some news from Apple here about Canada (who are in a similar situation as us in Australia)
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/03/18/airpods-hearing-aid-feature-canada-update/
I know it's not that helpful, but at least some things are moving somewhere ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
None that I have found. If anyone breaks this nonsense, plenty will be grateful. Having been a loyal iPhone, iPad (since their initial releases) and Mac user including a current M4 Mini Pro, this issue and the issues with removable drives in recent MacOS releases are undermining my faith in Apple.
I too would like to know if we can somehow change our geolocation without having to travel to another country to access this feature. Obviously, Apple don't think we are important enough to get moving on this. Makes me wonder whether setting up an Apple-based ecosystem for my business was a wise move.
gazrad wrote:
I too would like to know if we can somehow change our geolocation without having to travel to another country to access this feature. Obviously, Apple don't think we are important enough to get moving on this. Makes me wonder whether setting up an Apple-based ecosystem for my business was a wise move.
Apple can only do what local regulations allow. To do otherwise might jeopardize their ability to sell anything in your country.
And as we all know, government bureaucracies often move very slowly.
David Mundy wrote:
TGA approved the feature on 24th Dec 24 but Australia is still not shown on the Apple availability page.
Just out of curiosity, since I am not familiar with your region, does purchasing a Hearing Aid require a prescription?
In Canada, the Health Authority approved the use of the AirPods as Hearing Aids, but regulations still required a prescription for their use, so the feature was further delayed. Eventually the feature was released after all Provinces agreed to new regulations for Hearing Aid use.
In Australia no need for doctor visit to use airpods feature but I would imagine for a standard hearing aid even though here no doctor’s prescription is required you should be referred by someone like an audiologist or doctor etc.
David Mundy wrote:
In Australia no need for doctor visit to use airpods feature but I would imagine for a standard hearing aid even though here no doctor’s prescription is required you should be referred by someone like an audiologist or doctor etc.
Thanks for the info. Canada considered them a medical device when used with the Hearing Aid feature. That was a contention point where even after the Health Authority approved them for use as a Hearing Aid in December, it was still true that for most Provinces that a prescription was required for a Hearing Aid and Over The Counter(OTC) Hearing Aids could not be sold. If they allowed the AirPods to be sold with an OTC feature, then they also need to allow other devices too. Prescription Hearing Aids in Canada costs $2000 - $10,000 a pair, so you can imagine the bureaucracy.
https://www.hearingdirectory.ca/help/hearing-aids/otc-hearing-aids
Anyway's it sounds like you guys are on track for the feature, so that is good news.
As others have noted & was even featured on News over different media on The hearing test facility appeared on my AurPods Pro 2 settings on Wednesday 26th March.
I have been using it since then daily. It wasn’t associated with any announced firmware updates.
gspeak wrote:
As others have noted & was even featured on News over different media on The hearing test facility appeared on my AurPods Pro 2 settings on Wednesday 26th March.
I have been using it since then daily. It wasn’t associated with any announced firmware updates.
That is correct. A new firmware update was not required to use the feature or even an iOS update. The firmware update that includes the feature was made long ago in Version 7B19, so making sure you have at least that version would be necessary to use the feature.
I posted here last night and now my post has disappeared. Does the Big Hearing Aid lobby control this site too?
What I said was that I have just installed the 18.4 update on my phone and the hearing aid function is still missing. Is this a game or something?
arjmand wrote: "@apple should do something about it."
arjmand ~ Your "@apple" won't be seen by Apple in these user-to-user communities. Go here:
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Just tried a friends phone /Airpod Pros .. looks good. He started doing the hearing test but didn’t get to finish
Hearing test not available in Australia after iOS update this morning
