iOS 26 Adds New AirPods Pro Hearing Protection Setting in Some Countries

Friday September 12, 2025 1:29 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol

iOS 26 adds a new Hearing Protection setting for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 in some countries across Europe and the Middle East, such as Belgium, Czechia, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Türkiye, and the United Arab Emirates.

iphone 17 airpods purple
Specifically, there is a new "EN 352 Protection" setting in these countries. When this setting is turned on, Apple's website says the Hearing Protection feature on AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 complies with the European hearing protection standard EN 352, by limiting the maximum volume level of media playback to 82 dBA.

When a set of AirPods Pro 2 or AirPods Pro 3 are paired to an iPhone, this new setting can be turned on or off in the Settings app, by tapping on your AirPods, selecting Hearing Protection, and adjusting the "EN 352 Protection" toggle switch.

It is unclear if Apple was required to introduce this setting, or added it voluntarily.

iOS 26 will be released to the general public on Monday, September 15. AirPods Pro 3 are available to pre-order now, and launch on Friday, September 19.

With the overall Hearing Protection feature, AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 can help protect your hearing in loud environments, by reducing your exposure to loud sounds.

The new setting was discovered by MacRumors contributors Aaron Perris and Steve Moser.

Related Roundups: AirPods Pro 3, iOS 26, iPadOS 26

Buyer's Guide: AirPods Pro (Neutral)

Related Forums: AirPods, iOS 26

Popular Stories

Apple Now Pushing iPhone Users Still on iOS 26 to Install iOS 27

Thursday October 8, 2026 1:17 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol

Starting today, iPhone users still running iOS 26 will see iOS 27.0.1 as the prominent software update in the Settings app under General → Software Update, with iOS 26.7.1 now relegated to a smaller "Also Available" section at the bottom. iOS 27 was released on September 14, but until now that update and later iOS 27.0.1 were shown under the "Also Available" section, with iOS 26.7 and...

• 97 comments

apple lock security bug vulnerability fix privacy

iOS 26.7.1 Fixes Vulnerability Used in Targeted Attacks

Monday September 28, 2026 11:45 am PDT by Juli Clover

iOS 26.7.1, iPadOS 26.7.1, macOS Tahoe 26.7.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.8.1 address a major vulnerability that Apple believes was used against a small number of people. Apple's security support pages say there was a CoreGraphics out-of-bounds write issue that could be exploited with a maliciously crafted file, allowing for arbitrary code execution. It has been fixed with improved bounds...

• 28 comments

Here's What Apple's Apps Look Like on the iPhone Duo

Tuesday October 20, 2026 11:12 am PDT by Juli Clover

With just three days to go until the iPhone Duo is released, Apple is getting ready for the launch. Behind the scenes, the App Store now has screenshots of Apple's built-in apps running on the Duo. We've seen some apps in marketing materials, but images of the ones we haven't seen give us an idea of what it will be like using the iPhone Duo day to day. Many apps are shown in landscape...

• 116 comments

Top Rated Comments

star-affinity

15 months ago

Let me tell you that you don’t want hearing issues due to overexposure to sound.

It is difficult to comprehend how this can be since normally you don’t think about your ears nor your hearing – it’s just there.

But there are symptoms to be had such as tinnitus, hearing-loss, hyperacusis and pain hyperacusis, crawling and burning sensations in the ears and dysacusis etc. Symptoms that can truly effect the quality of life and prevent you from using your ears and listening to music like you used to. It can affect your sleep, and your cognitive abilities. Quality of life being severely affected.

So many symptoms and the ears in humans are pretty bad at healing, unfortunately.

Hoping for future cures.
Until then, be aware and don’t take your hearing and ear health for granted!

https://hearinghealthfoundation.org/keeplistening

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Ries

15 months ago

Apple's website says the Hearing Protection feature on AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 complies with the European hearing protection standard EN 352, by limiting the maximum volume level of media playback to 82 dBA.

Ugh! Someone please DELETE the European Union.

You might think this is an non issue, but once you get old and your hearing starts crapping out, you wish you hadn't disabled that setting.

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Ntombi

15 months ago

But there are symptoms to be had such as tinnitus, hearing-loss, hyperacusis and pain hyperacusis, crawling and burning sensations in the ears and dysacusis etc. Symptoms that can truly effect the quality of life and prevent you from using your ears and listening to music like you used to. It can affect your sleep, and your cognitive abilities. Quality of life being severely affected.

So many symptoms and the ears in humans are pretty bad at healing, unfortunately.

I recently had tinnitus as a med side effect, and even though it was intermittent and apparently classified as mild, it was incredibly annoying and distracting. I am really lucky that it has basically gone away now that I’m done with that round of meds. Eight months was quite enough, thank you.

I also have friends and family members with lifestyle related serious hearing loss, and it is really hard and also expensive to address! The even worse thing is that if you don’t address it, you’re at a much higher risk of developing dementia.

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Little Boy Blue

15 months ago

This should help limit the amount of damage younger people do to their hearing. Hearing loss is annoying and tinnitus is no fun at all.

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

iGeek2014

15 months ago

Are these additional settings tied to the hardware itself, or is it just determined by the region settings on your iPhone? Anyone know?

That’s a good question.

In the UK here and it’s not currently available - switched some settings to United States but Hearing Protection didn’t appear, even after a reboot.

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

svish

15 months ago

Good to know about the change. Reason for this implementation should most probably be to comply with local regulations.

Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Read All Comments

iOS 26 Adds New AirPods Pro Hearing Protection Setting in Some Countries

Popular Stories

Apple Now Pushing iPhone Users Still on iOS 26 to Install iOS 27

iOS 26.7.1 Fixes Vulnerability Used in Targeted Attacks

Here's What Apple's Apps Look Like on the iPhone Duo

Top Rated Comments

Next Article

Videos

Guides

Upcoming

Other Stories