Apple releases new firmware for its AirPods and Beats headphones

AirPods with Wireless Charging Case and iPhone in the background
AirPods with Wireless Charging Case and iPhone in the background (Image credit: Joseph Keller/iMore)

What you need to know

  • Apple has released firmware updates for its AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max headphones.
  • It also released firmware updates for the Beats Solo Pro, Powerbeats 4, and Powerbeats Pro.

Apple has released a slew of new firmware updates for its AirPods and Beats headphones.

As spotted by MacRumors, the company has released firmware updates for its AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max headphones. It has also released firmware updates for the Beats Solo Pro, Powerbeats 4, and Powerbeats Pro.

While Apple does not release the details of a firmware update, the report speculates that the update includes the company's new Conversation Boost feature for the AirPods Pro, which focuses audio for a listener.

Apple today released new firmware updates for the second-generation AirPods, the AirPods Pro, and the AirPods Max. All three of the AirPod models are now running 4A400 firmware, up from 3E751 for the standard AirPods, 3E756 for the AirPods Max, and 3E751 for the AirPods Pro.Apple has also released new firmware for the Beats Solo Pro, Powerbeats 4, and Powerbeats Pro.Apple does not offer information on what's included in refreshed firmware for the AirPods Pro, so we don't know what improvements or bug fixes the new firmware brings. The update likely adds Conversation Boost to the AirPods Pro.

Apple does not currently provide release notes for a firmware release like it does for its operating system updates, so we'll have to wait and see if there are any other noticeable differences between the previous release and this one. Firmware updates, while sometimes containing more notable features, are commonly also used for the usual bug fixes and performance improvements.

There is also no way to manually initiate a firmware update for AirPods or Beats. The best thing you can do is keep your headphones near your iPhone and the firmware update should initiate on its own at some point.

Joe Wituschek
Contributor

Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.