Gurman: New iPads still coming, AirPods Pro 2 to get hearing aid mode

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman is the Apple whisperer - if that means the guy who is plugged into all things Apple. As such, his newsletter always delivers interesting tidbits of information regarding the Cupertino company's products, and this time is no different.

Last week, Apple announced the new M3-powered MacBook Air, which was expected. But new iPads were also rumored countless times for a spring introduction, and so far... nothing. Gurman calms us down by saying not to worry, the new iPads are still coming, either in late March or early April.

Those iPads in question are a couple of new iPad Pros in the two sizes we're already used to but much slimmer thanks to the use of OLED panels, and two new iPad Airs - there will be a bigger one as well this time, so the iPad Air will become a line just like the iPad Pro. That said, the word "Air" will also become devoid of its originally intended meaning - to signify thinness - since the new Pros will be thinner than the new Airs.

Also in Apple-related news, the AirPods Pro 2 are said to gain "hearing aid mode" later this year via iOS 18. That's a bit weird - it's not a software update for the AirPods themselves that will enable this functionality, but one for your iPhone? This makes us think the feature will use your iPhone's mics in addition to the AirPods' in order to make it work.

That would be similar to Live Listen, a feature which launched in iOS 12 that turns your iPhone into a directional mic, transmitting the audio it captures to your AirPods in real time. In 2021, the AirPods Pro also got Conversation Boost, which boosts their mics' pickup from directly in front of you to better understand what someone talking to you is saying. Hearing aid mode could combine all of these into something even better, hopefully.

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