Apple introduces the new AirPods 4 with ANC and tons of new features

This year the regular AirPods get a lot of love from Apple. In fact, the AirPods 4 is the only pair that gets a meaningful hardware upgrade this year. They now come in two variants – standard AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 Active Noise Cancellation.

As with every generation of new Apple products, the AirPods 4 are touted as the best-sounding non-Pro AirPods so far as well as the most comfortable ones. Apple has used special mapping technology to examine a large pool of users’ ears and make the earpods more comfortable. The company also implemented a new acoustic design that drastically improves sound quality.

Personalized Spatial Audio is also a new feature and it’s supposed to improve sound quality to your liking even further.

Arguably the most important update to this year’s AirPods is the addition of active noise cancellation. The once Pro-only feature has now trickled down to the AirPods 4 ANC. And ANC works both ways too – it will tone down your surroundings during music playback and calls.

The ANC comes with additional features such as Transparency Mode and Adaptive Audio. The former amplifies the outside noise so you can hear your surroundings more clearly, while the Adaptive Audio intelligently selects the appropriate mode depending on your environment. For instance, if the system detects that you are engaging in a conversation, it will turn on Conversation Adaptiveness and lower the music volume.

The case has also been revamped and Apple says it’s the lightest and most portable one yet. With the said case, the buds can go for 30 hours of continuous playback, so no compromises in battery life.

The case also gets a small speaker so you can find your AirPods 4 easily or notify you of incoming calls, for example. Right next to the speaker, Apple has added a USB-C connector for charging. Now, the AirPods can be charged wired or wirelessly.

The standard AirPods 4 without ANC will go for $129, while the ANC version will ask for $179. Shipments will begin on September 20. Pre-orders start as early as today.