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Apple just announced its new AirPods 4 ($129) and a noise-canceling version for $169. The noise-canceling ones include a feature called "Conversation Awareness" — and it could change the way we talk to each other.
In the demo video during Monday's Apple event, when it showed off its new iPhones and other updated products, it gave us a preview of how "Conversation Awareness" works: A woman approaches a coffee cart and greets the barista, placing her order. As they speak, the headphones can tell that she is talking to someone, and they lower the volume of the music she's listening to.
This is great in theory: You won't have to take out your earbuds while exchanging a few words with someone. (This feature debuted last fall with the AirPods Pro models.)
It sounds small, but this is an aggravation in daily life: getting to the checkout line at the grocery store and fumbling to shove my AirPods into my pocket — or dropping them to the bottom of my purse while chatting with the cashier.
After I'm done checking out — and would love to put my AirPods back in my ears — I sometimes can't because my hands are full with my bags. I've also gone days missing an earbud that was dropped among the crumbs and crumpled receipts at the bottom of my cavernous tote bag. Yes, life is a struggle; I'm as amazed as you are that I can still get out of bed each morning.
So, in theory, it would be great to have this feature, which would automatically turn down my music while I order a coffee.
But … is "Conversation Awareness" all good? Isn't it, you know, kind of rude to keep your AirPods in while talking to someone — even if the sound is turned down?
Yes, yes it is. It is rude, and you should avoid doing this if possible. Now that the feature isn't just in the fancy AirPods Pro models and is included in the more affordable AirPods 4 with noise canceling, we will probably start seeing more and more people walking among us while using this feature — ordering coffees, asking directions on the subway, talking in the office.
Still, I'm not totally sure what the near future will look like. One of the other great features that the new AirPods Pro 2 now have is a hearing aid-type function that can help diagnose hearing loss and then help people who might otherwise struggle to hear voices clearly. So how do you tell if someone is wearing their AirPods to help them hear, or is just being rude? I'm not sure!
So maybe the norm around wearing AirPods even while talking in real life should change — and will help normalize using AirPods as hearing aids. We shall see what happens!
