It’s time to do that dance again: Apple has released a new beta firmware update for its AirPods wireless headphones, and nobody is sure what it does.
Firmware version 6E188, up from 6B34 released in December, is currently in beta and, as reported by MacRumors, is available to developers only. (Because of this, it hasn’t yet replaced 6B34 on Apple’s firmware listings page.) It’s for the second-gen AirPods Pro, and applies to both the USB-C and Lightning editions of that device.
Apple has been testing iOS 17.4 for about a month and it’s due to arrive on phones this coming week. It’s likely that this beta will arrive alongside that release or shortly after.
But what does it actually do? Nobody outside of Apple actually knows–and that’s not unusual. A glance at the firmware page listed above shows that the last seven have all listed, under their release notes, simply “Bug fixes and other improvements.” Apple doesn’t really tell people what firmware updates change about AirPods behavior, and even that boilerplate text is misleading since often there are only “big fixes” and no “other improvements” at all.
At times like this the best approach is to look at recent news stories to see if the AirPods models in question have any obvious high-profile bugs that would call for a fix. But there isn’t much to speak of concerning the AirPods Pro.
Interestingly, the forum response to MacRumors’ news story does feature a number of complaints that the update could conceivably be intended to address, but they cover a range of issues–automatic switching, inconsistent Bluetooth connection, loss of charge–none of which have been reported in large volumes; these are more likely to be isolated issues with individual units rather than fundamental problems that need to be addressed at the firmware level. (One cynic even hints that the update could be intended to weaken the earbuds’ performance to make customers more likely to buy an imminent new model.)
Orindarily we’d say that the best way to find out what the update does is to install it. (Or rather, wait for it to install itself. This will automatically happen at some point in the near future when the AirPods are in their case and charging.) But as this one is for devs only we’ll all have to wait until it’s released to the general public.
Author: David Price, Editor
David has loved the iPhone since covering the original 2007 launch; later his obsession expanded to include iPad and Apple Watch. He offers advice to owners (and prospective owners) of these devices.
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