Another month, another AirPods firmware update where nobody knows what it does. Are we doing this again? Okay!
As spotted by MacRumors, Apple released a raft of firmware updates on Tuesday. These updates apply to a huge range of its audio products:
- AirPods Pro: 6A326 (up from 6A321)
- AirPods Pro 2 (USB-C and Lightning models): 6F8 (up from 6F7)
- AirPods (2nd gen): 6A326
- AirPods (3rd gen): 6A326
- AirPods Max: 6A326
- Beats Fit Pro: 6F8
- PowerBeats Pro: 6F8
As is nearly always the case, we don’t know what these updates do. For some reason, Apple is tightlipped about AirPods firmware; whereas iOS and macOS updates get copious release notes, AirPods firmware updates are usually labeled as containing “bug fixes and other improvements.” That’s been the case for the last 11 updates, including both 6F8 and 6A326, as you can see on Apple’s taciturn release notes page. (British readers should note that the version numbers are different for U.K. users.)
While in general, it might seem unwise to install a software update on a device when you don’t know what that update does, you should be pretty safe to do so here. If the updates did something major, Apple would make an exception and tell us so, as it did for the new features added in 6A300/6A301. There are probably just some minor bugs that you may not even have noticed but need patching just to be on the safe side.
Apple announced several new features for AirPods coming to iOS 18, including nodding to answer phone calls and Personalized Spatial Audio for games. Currently in beta testing, the update will arrive in the fall.
Updating AirPods firmware is not something the user has a great deal of control over. Rather than being triggered manually, the firmware will automatically install at some point in the near future when the AirPods are in their case and charging. If you’re wondering which firmware version your AirPods are running at the moment, open Settings on your iPhone, select your AirPods, scroll to About, and check Version.
Author: David Price, Editor, Macworld
David has been writing about technology for well over two decades, and got on board the Apple hype train when covering the original iPhone launch in 2007. He is an enthusiastic Apple Watch evangelist and feels that the HomePod is misunderstood.