Apple gets FDA authorization to turn the AirPods Pro into hearing aids - The Verge
The FDA’s conclusion:
In a press release, the FDA describes Apple’s solution as “the first over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aid software device.”
The feature “was evaluated in a clinical study with 118 subjects with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss,” according to the FDA, and “the results demonstrated that subjects who used the HAF self-fitting strategy achieved similar perceived benefit as subjects who received professional fitting of the same device.”
See some pre-existing discussion about AirPod features in this and other threads (quite a few):
I’d say a main negative about these OTC HAs is the battery life per charge of an AirPod is terrible compared to most medical grade HAs, particularly if employing AirPod Active Noise Cancellation, which is exceptional but every bit the battery hog that Phonak Audeo Sphere noise reduction is. ANC effectively cuts AirPod battery life in half, and it’s only something like 8 hours per charge to begin with, but the case can carry something like 30 hours of charge.