Introduction

Listening to music is fun, and in order to do that without disturbing the people around you,headphones are a must. First invented in 1891 by French engineer Ernest Mercadier, headphones have eventually become an essential part of the society we live in. His design was revolutionary as he was able to take the technology of his time and make it so small yet effective. There were many details in his designs that are remarkably similar to what we have today. There was even a rubber cover that almost every earbud nowadays contains, and he made this incredible design possible (Stamp, 2013, 3). As the years have gone on, headphones have improved drastically, and every year it seems as if they can do even crazier things than before. Apple, a huge technology company that everyone knows, has had its own evolutionary line in headphones. This would eventually lead to the AirPod Pros, incredibly small earbuds with the capabilities of some headphones far larger than themselves.

(MacRumors, 2023)

The AirPod Pros were released in October 30th of 2019, and they served to be the upgraded version of Apple’s original line of AirPods. The AirPods were great in their own right, but they were simple earbuds that simply served the purpose of wireless headphones. However, with the introduction of AirPod Pros, many new features were introduced. One of the major ones include noise cancellation, which blocks out all surrounding noise so you can stay focused on what you are listening to. It was this addition in these AirPod Pros that allowed them to stand out not just compared to the original AirPods, but wireless earbuds across the market.

Description

The AirPod Pros may look simple in design, however they are incredibly complex and have many components inside it that allows them to operate so efficiently. There are many features such as the noise cancellation and the ability to tap in order to pause or skip a song, and these features require the top-of-the-line technology in order to work.

(audioXpress, 2019)

The noise cancellation is often mentioned, but how does it work? It begins with two microphones, facing inward and outward, that pick up on background noise in the environment. These microphones allow the AirPod Pros to create anti-sound that is equal to the background noise, and what this does is what we know as noise cancellation. Anti-sound may sound like there is a lot to it, however it is simply a soundwave that cancels out another soundwave. (Exploratorium). This gives the effect of noise cancellation, and while this is done, the motion-detecting accelerometer, and speech-detecting accelerometer are also going to work. These components are used to pick up on motion so that listening is not distorted, as well as recognize when someone is talking to the user of the earbuds.

To further analyze the AirPod Pros, there is a custom high dynamic range amplifier. While this part sounds complicated, the amplifier simply powers a custom high-excursion, low distortion speaker driver. Excursion is how far back and forth a speaker moves, and it is optimal for it to behigh on speakers inside smaller earbuds (Sweetwater, 2000). With the speaker driver, you get a detailed audio of both mid-frequencies and high frequencies. But one of the more visible parts ofthe AirPod Pros are the silicon ear tips that provide comfort for the user, and the touch bar that allows you to have full control of the sound you listen to. This touch bar uses a force sensor, that detects when the touch of a fingertip is applying pressure upon the stem of the AirPod Pros. Whether you can see it or not, each aspect and part of the AirPod Pros allow it to be a high quality in-ear sound system.

The thing that powers the AirPod Pros however and allows it to do so many different things simultaneously, is the H1 chip inside its core. Designed by Apple, it has 10 audio cores within, and is responsible for every part of the earbuds. It has audio procession latency that is so low thatit can give you incredible sounding audio quality, in noise cancellation mode, while also ready to listen for “Hey Siri” at a moments notice. Audio latency is how quickly audio is heard after it has been made, and it is incredibly beneficial for it to be as low as it is in the AirPod Pros (Microsoft, 2022). It is truly the driving force of the overall innovation and while all the other mentioned parts are nice on their own, they would be nothing without the H1 chip.

All in all, there are so many hidden components that make the AirPod Pros as capable as they are. Most people don’t realize how advanced the technology is and take it for granted considering the parts making it possible are so small and don’t look like they’d be all that complex. However, they are integral in making the earbuds have tremendous capabilities in noise cancelation, audio quality, and more, and it is a marvel that audio technology has advanced this much.

Sources

AirPods Pro: Recently Launched! New H2 Chip and Better Battery Life. (2023, January 27). MacRumors. Retrieved February 28, 2023, from https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/airpods-pro/

Anti-Sound Spring: Physics & Waves Science Activity. (n.d.). Exploratorium. Retrieved March 14, 2023, from https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/anti-sound-spring

Apple Reveals new AirPods Pro with Active Noise Cancellation. (2019, October 28). audioXpress. Retrieved February 28, 2023, from https://audioxpress.com/news/apple-reveals-new-airpods-pro-with-active-noise-cancellation

Low Latency Audio – Windows drivers. (2022, October 28). Microsoft Learn. Retrieved March 14, 2023, from https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/audio/low-latency-audio

Stamp, J. (2013, March 19). A Partial History of Headphones | Arts & Culture. Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved March 14, 2023, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-partial-history-of-headphones-4693742/

What is “Excursion”? (2000, July 19). Sweetwater. Retrieved March 14, 2023, from https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/excursion/

When Were Headphones Invented: The Complete History. (2023, January 26). Headphonesty. Retrieved February 28, 2023, from https://www.headphonesty.com/2021/05/when-were-headphones-invented/