Unlock Your AirPods Pro Experience With These 13 Features

AirPods are everywhere these days. And with three distinct lines, regular AirPods, AirPods Pro and AirPods Max, Apple isn’t likely to slowdown selling them anytime soon. I own a pair of AirPods Pro and absolutely adore them. But whether you have a pair of the original AirPods Pro or Apple’s second-generation ones, there’s a lot to learn about your in-ear buds. In this guide, we’ll show you everything you need to know about the AirPods Pro, from how to pair them correctly with your smartphone to taking advantage of spatial audio for a more immersive sonic experience.

Last Year, Apple debuted a new version of its wireless earbuds called the AirPods Pro 2. They have a longer battery life, a new charging case with Find My support, updated microphones, new volume controls and a new H2 chip. 

The second-gen AirPods Pro are a follow-up to the original that came out in 2019 and include the same features, like active noise cancellation for an improved listening experience and interchangeable silicone tips for a more comfortable fit.

In his AirPods Pro 2 review, CNET’s David Carnoy said that while they may not be perfect, “they feel like a much more fully evolved, refined product that packs not only an impressive set of features but top-notch performance in a very small design.”

Read more: Best Apple AirPods for 2023

Pairing the AirPods Pro takes just a few seconds

After you unbox the AirPods Pro, unlock your iPhone or iPad and open the charging case to your earbuds. A second or two later, a prompt will appear asking if you want to pair the earbuds.

Tap Connect to initiate the pairing, and you’re done. Not only will the AirPods Pro work with your iPhone, they’ll also be paired with all Apple devices you’ve signed in to via your iCloud account. 

Press, don’t tap, on your AirPods Pro

Instead of tapping one of the AirPods, use the stems of the AirPods Pro as buttons. There isn’t actually a button there; instead, it’s a pressure-sensitive section that can replicate how you’d use a button. It’s similar to how the trackpad on the MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro don’t physically move to click. 

Using two fingers, squeeze the flat indention on each AirPod. You’ll hear a click in your ear with each press. Here’s what each button press does:

• Single-press: Pause/Play
• Double-press: Skip forward
• Triple-press: Skip backward
• Long-press: Switch between noise cancellation and transparency mode.

Swipe to change AirPods Pro volume

You can also add the battery widget to your iPhone’s home screen. When the AirPods are actively paired to your phone the remaining battery life for each earbud and the case will show in the widget. 

How to use active noise cancellation

The headline feature for the AirPods Pro is its active noise cancellation, or ANC. When it’s turned on, noise cancellation blocks nearly all background noise that you’d normally hear with regular earbuds or the standard AirPods. If you work in a noisy office, for example, or a home office shared with a partner and kids who are remote-learning, it can help block out the chatter and distractions. 

One of the most welcome features to the second-generation AirPods Pro is the ability to use Find My and precisely locate a lost AirPods Pro case. Open the Find My app on your iPhone and tap on the Devices tab. Tap on your AirPods Pro in the list to see its location on a map. If you’re within 30-feet or so of the case, press the Find Nearby button. Then follow the prompts onscreen to be guided to it.

Spatial Audio is an impressive experience

Spatial audio provides an immersive surround sound experience, delivering 360-degree soundscape that adjusts to your movement. The experience is relatively new, and is available on the AirPods Pro (along with the recent addition of Dolby Atmos for Apple Music) — it’s just a matter of enabling the feature in your settings.

Turn on Spatial Audio by going to Settings  Bluetooth  tap the “i” next to your AirPods Pro and then slide the switch next to Spatial Audio to the On position. You can then listen to a demo to see how the feature works by selecting See Hear How It Works.

If you have an Apple Watch, you can tap on the AirPlay icon in the Now Playing app to switch between noise cancellation and transparency modes whenever your AirPods Pro are in use.

AirPods Pro case attachments

When using your AirPods Pro with your Mac, you can switch between noise cancellation and transparency mode without having to squeeze your AirPods Pro. On your Mac, you’ll see an AirPods icon when your earbuds are successfully connected to your computer. Click on it, then change the mode.

Get the right fit by switching tips

Included in the box with your AirPods Pro 2 are three additional sizes of ear tips; the medium size comes preinstalled. Try those out first, and if they feel uncomfortable, you can swap out for a different size. The original AirPods Pro lacked the XS tips. There’s no trick to getting the tip off of each AirPod, just pull to slide it off and push to fit another pair on. It may feel like you’re going to rip it, but from the few swaps I’ve done, they eventually come off.