If you’re rocking the iOS 18 beta and have a set of AirPods Pro 2, you might find yourself with a few new interesting features. Firmware 7A294 has been pushed out and brings with it some new hands-free options that allow you to reply to Siri announcements by either nodding your head “yes,” or shaking it “no.”
Once the firmware update installs itself, you’ll be greeted with a few setup dialog boxes that walk you through the option and the process.
The new head gestures are simple enough to use. If Siri asks if you want to accept a call, you nod your head to say yes, or turn it side to side to decline. You’ll find the head gestures in the AirPods Pro settings menu, along with a walkthrough that lets you try the feature before committing — though you can always turn it back off if you want. You hear a tone move from ear to ear as you nod or shake your head, which is a nice confirmation that the feature is working and that you are, in fact, nodding or shaking your head.
The only other option here is the ability to switch whether nodding acts in the affirmative, or if you prefer to shake your head to say yes. That’s good for someone who has limited movement, but you have to imagine that most folks won’t want to swap things up just for funsies.
Apple’s official changelog for the firmware update also says it’s added Voice Isolation to phone calls “to help ensure you come across clearly by removing background noise around you for whoever you are speaking to.” It also points to lower latency and better bit rate for audio while gaming, and improvements to the Personalized Volume feature.
Still to come for the venerable AirPods Pro — new hearing aid features. There’s no word yet if this feature will make it to any of the other AirPods Models, including the new AirPods 4, or the not-quite-as-new new AirPods Max.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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