Apple seemingly just removed one of the reasons to upgrade from the original to the second-gen AirPods Pro. An eagle-eyed Reddit user noticed that the Adaptive Transparency toggle appeared for his first-gen AirPods Pro after installing iOS 16.1 beta 3 and the relevant AirPods firmware (5A304A).
The move is unexpected because Adaptive Transparency was one of the features highlighted by Apple when it unveiled the new version of the AirPods Pro earlier this month. Previously, AirPods users could choose to block out external sounds using noise cancellation, or (when situational awareness is important) allow them through using Transparency mode, but Adaptive Transparency offers the best of both worlds. Instead of letting in all sounds, it adapts to your environment and only dampens sounds that are especially loud.
It’s worth noting that Apple hasn’t been confirmed whether this will make it into the public launch of iOS 16.1. Betas are for testing, after all, and beta features sometimes don’t make it to the full launch. But the inclusion in the latest beta is a positive sign for owners of the original AirPods Pro who didn’t fancy paying for an upgrade.
iOS 16.1, while “only” a point upgrade on the major iOS 16 release, is eagerly anticipated because of the number of delayed features it could bring to the iPhone. You can read about the imminent changes in our iOS 16.1 guide.
For advice about the whole range of Apple’s AirPods, including the Max, Pro and the standard AirPods models read: Best AirPods – Which AirPods are best? and AirPods vs AirPods Pro.