Apple Explains How AirPods 4 Feature 'Great' Active Noise Cancellation Without Ear Tips

In a recent interview with Engadget, Apple's vice president of hardware engineering Kate Bergeron and AirPods marketing director Eric Treski explained how the company was able to add "great" active noise cancellation (ANC) to the higher-end AirPods 4, even though the earbuds have an "open-ear design" without silicone ear tips.

Apple said the H2 chip and "computational audio" were significant factors in adding ANC to the standard AirPods for the first time.

"It's even computationally more intense in many ways than it is with the AirPods Pro," said Bergeron, in regards to ANC on the AirPods 4.

"It's really, really hard to create this great ANC quality in a non-ear-tip product," said Treski. "The power of the H2 allows that, so we're actually doing a lot with the H2 chip to manage ANC quality and listen from the mics for environmental noise to make sure we're canceling as much as possible."

Apple said the revised shape and acoustic architecture of the AirPods 4 also contributes to the earbuds having effective ANC.

The full interview offers additional details about how Apple designed the AirPods 4, which became available in stores today. There are two types of AirPods 4, with only the higher-end $179 ones offering active noise cancellation.