Walk around without headphones or earbuds for long enough and you’ll cotton onto a problem that technology can solve, or at the very least quell: the world is noisy, the flood of a choir of sound can impact your little bubble as you walk about, or even simply sit around.
It’s no wonder then that noise cancelling headphones have become more useful than simply cancelling engine noise on aircraft and trains, providing a way to centre one’s self by calming the noise of the world.
Not everyone likes a pair of noise cancelling over-ear headphones, and others mightn’t enjoy an earphone, even if they can test the fit using their pinky. That might explain why Apple added noise cancellation to its AirPods earbuds in a move that a couple of years ago seemed crazy, and yet worked incredibly well.
Since then, others have tried, and yet no manufacturer we’ve seen has managed to really recreate what Apple made in the AirPods 4. So two years on, it makes sense that Apple is set to change things largely for the better.
Alongside the launch of the foldable iPhone Duo and the capable cameras of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max was an updated AirPods 5, a variation on a theme that keeps the tip-less earbud design, but brings active noise cancellation to the model regardless of how much you spend.
In the AirPods 4, you had the option of a pair with active noise cancellation, and a pair without for less money. This year, both models get ANC, but the more expensive will see wireless charging and controls on the stem.
They will both sport improvements to the cancellation, however, removing up to 50 percent more noise compared to the AirPod 4 thanks in part to new audio algorithms and new acoustic architecture for the earbuds.
The AirPods 5 still feature adaptive audio modes and support for transparency, but that new architecture not only means better noise control, but also improved sound thanks, something Apple says should help across ear sizes (Apple’s word was “geometries”).
Even the battery life has gone up, with an extra hour on the AirPods 4, supporting up to five before needing a charge, and up to 22 with the case.
There aren’t a heap of changes beyond these, but the aim is to bring everything that worked before — such as transparency, spatial audio, and live translation — in a pair designed to bring more of that bubble back, cutitng back on the outside world.
Australians can expect the AirPods 5 in stores next week alongside the new iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max models, priced for $219 without the wireless charging, while the wireless charging case model will cost $249.
