Apple’s new AirPods double as a hearing aid. Here’s what you need to know.

Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 headphones will soon include a new feature aimed at an older audience: Americans suffering from hearing loss.

Wireless earbuds designed for listening to music on the go are now also a medical device that doctors and hearing experts say could be a game-changer. The devices address a number of issues that often deter Americans from getting hearing aids, namely stigma and cost, experts told CBS MoneyWatch.

In late 2022, the Food and Drug Administration announced that Americans now you can buy hearing aids without a prescriptionwhich generally makes these devices more affordable than those dispensed by physicians.

Now, Apple’s improved AirPods could offer consumers with mild to moderate hearing loss another, potentially cheaper option. The company has been touting the upcoming features of the earbuds on the company’s annual technology launch on Tuesdayincluding a feature called Hearing Protection, a built-in hearing test, and an over-the-counter hearing aid feature that Apple says “helps make accessing hearing assistance easier than ever before at an affordable price.”

As the tech giant noted, the hearing test and hearing aid features have not yet been approved by the FDA.

However, experts say the new functionality may be important because, according to the World Health Organization, 1.5 billion people worldwide suffer from hearing loss.

It doesn’t look like a hearing aid

“There’s a huge frustration among the community of people who dedicate their lives to hearing health that the vast majority of people who could benefit from over-the-counter hearing aids don’t,” Dr. Sujana Chandrasekhar, a leading otologist and neuro-otologist at Mount Sinai, told CBS MoneyWatch. “And when hearing loss is left untreated, it’s associated with social isolation, which can cause depression, which can lead to dementia.”

She compared OTC hearing aids to cheap reading glasses you can buy at a convenience store, but pointed out a distinct difference that goes beyond price: “People on the street are wearing all kinds of cool glasses that are purple, pink, invisible, visible, and no one bothers you when you wear them. But hearing aids still have an ageist stigma.”

Dr. Chandrasekhar said Apple’s AirPods could close that gap.

“They do a hearing test and they amplify where it looks like you need amplification. And since everyone walks around with something in their ear, you don’t look like you’re wearing a hearing aid. So they bypass all those obstacles,” she said.

How much do they cost?

AirPods introduce a much more affordable OTC hearing aid product to the market. According to the National Council on Aging, a high-tech pair of the devices can cost $3,000. AirPods Pro 2 cost $249. They are currently available but do not yet have hearing-assistance features, which are pending FDA approval.

“The price is much lower than other OTC products, and the fact that it’s so popular—we know that when you design something for everyone, you help people with hearing loss,” said Barbara Kelley, executive director of the Hearing Loss Association of America. “With Apple and the way Apple does things on a grand scale, there’s really a focus on hearing health and treating hearing loss, which is part of overall health.”

Because AirPods act as in-ear headphones that allow users to listen to music or communicate through their iPhones, “people with mild hearing loss can take that first small step and start treatment sooner,” she noted.

While Illinois-based otolaryngologist Dr. Sreek Cherukuri welcomed the news, he pointed out some potential downsides to Apple’s investment in hearing aids.

“When it comes to social relationships, if you see someone with AirPods in their ears, you don’t talk to them because you think they’re on their phone or listening to music,” he told CBS MoneyWatch.

Cherukuri also noted that older consumers who are most likely to need hearing aids tend to have larger ear canals. That means AirPods may not fit them. “They may be too small for their ear canals.”

Plus, while hearing aids are designed to last all day, AirPods have a limited battery life, Dr. Cherukuri explains.

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