Using AirPods Pro? Here’s how to get the most from Apple’s first noise-cancelling earbuds, using your iPhone or Apple Watch
The AirPods Pro are Apple’s first earbuds with active noise cancellation – but many people aren’t getting the most from their best features – here’s what you might be missing
The AirPods Pro are Apple's first noise-cancelling wireless earbuds. The AirPods – both the original version and the slightly updated version two that Apple released in Spring 2019 – don't have noise-cancelling features.
But the AirPods Pro have three noise settings: active noise cancellation, transparency mode (which mixes in some ambient sound, so you can still hear what's going on around you) and off (which is equivalent to not using noise cancellation).
You can control these different noise modes from the AirPods Pro while you're wearing them, or from the iPhone or Apple Watch. Here's how.
How to control noise cancellation on the AirPods Pro
Press and hold the force sensor on the stem of either earbud until you hear a chime to toggle the noise-cancellation mode. The force sensor is the flattened section of the stem.
By default, this will toggle between active noise cancellation and transparency mode. You can customise which modes you toggle between on the AirPods Pro page of your iPhone's Bluetooth settings.
How to control noise cancellation on AirPods Pro from an iPhone
1. Be sure you are wearing both AirPods Pro earbuds.
2. Open the control centre by swiping down from the top-right of the screen on an iPhone X or later, or swipe up from the bottom of the screen on an earlier iPhone.
3. Tap and hold the volume slider on the right side of the control centre (next to the brightness slider) until it expands and displays the noise-cancellation controls.
