Apple’s hearing health features for AirPods Pro 2 became available in many countries on October 28. Photo: Apple / Supplied

Heavily marketed hearing health features for Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 headphones are now among the tech giant’s latest innovations launching in the United States but unavailable in Australia due to a lack of regulatory approval.

Hearing health features (including hearing testing and clinical-grade hearing aid capability) in Apple’s $399 AirPods Pro 2, announced in September and released on October 28 Available in dozens of countriesIncluding New Zealand.

The features, which Apple describes as “groundbreaking”, have not yet received regulatory approval from the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

The AirPods Pro 2’s hearing protection feature, which Apple says will help users “minimize exposure to loud environmental noise,” was only available in the United States and Canada at launch.

The United Kingdom has also yet to approve any of the new hearing health features, while Canada has only approved Apple’s hearing protection system.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment Information Age About whether AirPods Pro 2 has TGA approval for hearing health features in Australia.

The TGA has previously refused to say whether Apple has submitted new health features for regulatory approval.

“Some hearing health features are currently not available in all regions,” Apple said on its website.

“Hearing testing and hearing aid features are regulated health features that require regulatory approval and will be available once authorization is received.”

Some users ‘very disappointed’

said Kit Laughlin, a 71-year-old former competitive bowler from the south coast of New South Wales. Information Age He purchased AirPods Pro 2 to help with his hearing difficulties so he could better enjoy media from his phone and laptop.

Laughlin said she has given up on buying more expensive hearing aids because she believes they don’t take advantage of the processing power of modern phones and computers.

He also said he sees AirPods as more socially acceptable.

“Everyone uses AirPods these days, so it’s not seen as a stigma,” he said.

“But wearing a powered hearing aid — especially one that sits behind the ears — still (stigmatizes).”

_{Former competitive bowler Kit Laughlin says he bought AirPods Pro 2 to help with his hearing difficulties. Photo: Kit Laughlin / Supplied}

Laughlin said he did not believe Apple was at fault because the hearing health features were not yet available in Australia, but he did send the company feedback about his experience.

Other AirPods Pro 2 users expressed their disappointment in a thread started by Laughlin. Apple’s Community forums.

“Bought my AirPods Pro this morning just for this feature,” one wrote.

“When you return home you will find that it is not available in Australia. Guess how I feel about this topic? I’m not happy.

Another user wrote: “So disappointed, I finally bit the bullet and bought the AirPod Pro 2 today, believing I could use the hearing aid feature only to find out it wasn’t available in Australia.”

“This is extremely frustrating,” another wrote.

“I canceled my new AirPods order because the only reason I updated was because of the promised hearing aid features.”

Dr Sumbul Desai, Apple’s vice president of healthcare, said: in a recent press release The company said it believes its hearing health features will “literally transform people’s lives and democratize access to treatment for a condition that affects more than a billion people.”

Dr Shelly Chadha, the World Health Organisation’s technical lead on hearing, said in the same statement that technology “can play an important role in raising awareness and providing intervention options for those affected by hearing loss”.

_{Apple says the hearing health features in AirPods Pro 2 require regulatory approval in every market. Photo: Apple / Supplied}

Australian Apple users are missing other features

The lack of local regulatory approval for Apple’s hearing health features comes after the company released updated Apple Watch software in September that included a new sleep apnea notification feature. Not yet approved for use in Australia.

Apple said this feature will notify the user if the Apple Watch notices an increased number of respiratory disorders during sleep.

The sleep apnea feature was immediately available in more than 150 countries in September; Australia and Canada were among the few countries where English was spoken.

Australian Apple Watch users previously waited more than two years The electrocardiogram (ECG) and irregular heart rhythm notification features of the device, announced by Apple in September 2018, are expected to be approved by the TGA.

Although not contingent on regulatory approval, Apple Intelligence, the first in a series of long-awaited AI features from the company, was publicly released in October for devices that use US English as the language, but Not available on devices using Australian English By December, Apple said.