On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Apple launched its holiday film spotlighting the Hearing Aid function on AirPods Pro 2. Apple had a unique opportunity to spotlight a condition that affects many people, and boy, did they really deliver with their first global holiday film centred around accessibility.
Source: Apple
About ‘Heartstrings’
The film tells a heartwarming story inspired by the personal experiences and relationships of the cast, focusing on a father with moderate hearing loss as he watches his daughter unwrap a new guitar on Christmas morning. This brought tears to my eyes, as I can only imagine how incredibly powerful this must be for people with hearing loss.
Watch the film here.
About Hearing Loss
With over 1 billion people worldwide living with mild to moderate hearing loss, research shows that many go untreated, and hearing loss can also affect overall wellbeing, leading to issues like dementia and social isolation.
Accessibility
Accessibility has always been a core value at Apple, and they’ve supported users with hearing challenges for years through a wide range of built-in accessibility features.
In 2019, Apple launched the Apple Hearing Study in collaboration with the University of Michigan and the World Health Organization. This study helps researchers understand how sound exposure affects long-term health.
Hearing Aid feature
Apple’s new Hearing Aid feature makes it easier to hear by automatically adjusting the sound on your iPhone or iPad based on your hearing needs. After taking a simple, scientifically-backed Hearing Test, the results create a personalized hearing profile just for you. This profile then adjusts the sound for things like media, phone calls, and even conversations with people around you. And the best part? You can do all of this using the device you already carry with you every day.
This new feature builds on Apple’s existing tools for hearing health, like the Noise app on Apple Watch, which alerts you when environmental noise levels could be harmful to your hearing. On iPhone, the Reduce Loud Audio option allows you to set a volume limit to protect your ears.
