Apple to Start Sharing What's New in AirPods Firmware Updates Via iOS 16

Apple plans to begin listing new features and changes in AirPods firmware updates in a forthcoming support document on its website.

airpods pro black background
In the fifth developer beta of iOS 16, navigating to Settings → General → About → AirPods and tapping on Firmware Version leads to a new page indicating that AirPods firmware details are available at support.apple.com, complete with a link to a support document that will likely be published by the time iOS 16 is publicly released in September.

The new AirPods support document will likely be similar to one that Apple published for AirTag firmware updates earlier this year.

iOS 16 beta 5 AirPods Firmware Version

The new AirPods firmware version screen in iOS 16 beta 5 via Reddit

As noted on Reddit, the new Firmware Version page displays the firmware version for both AirPods and the charging cases. The latest firmware version for AirPods was released in May and is listed as "4E71" in the Settings app. There is still no manual way to update the firmware on AirPods, with updates installing automatically.

Related Roundups: AirPods 4, AirPods Max, AirPods Pro
Related Forum: AirPods

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website. Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50. We have outlined some examples below: Device New Value Old Value iPhone 15 Pro Max Up to $630 U ...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Rumored to Be Compatible With These iPhones

Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models: iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhon...
airtag 4 pack blue

AirTag 2 Launching This Year With These 3 New Features

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:11 am PST by
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory. A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June. The original AirTag was announced...
iPhone SE Dynamic Island Majin Bu

iPhone SE 4 Leak Shows Dynamic Island, Casts Doubt on Rumored 'iPhone 16E' Name

Monday January 20, 2025 9:01 am PST by
A new iPhone SE is widely rumored to launch this year, and the device has potentially been confirmed today by known leaker Evan Blass. In a private social media post, Blass shared an image of what appears to be source code mentioning an iPhone SE (4th Gen), which casts doubt on the alternative "iPhone 16E" name rumored for the device. However, the name in the source code could be a...
iPad Pro vs iPhone 17 Air Feature

Here's How Thin the iPhone 17 Air Might Be

Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...

Top Rated Comments

fwmireault Avatar
32 months ago
Good news! Now, having a procedure to force update AirPods would be a nice next step
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Vasilioskn Avatar
32 months ago
Omg how brave!!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
retrac1324 Avatar
32 months ago
Finally
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
johnediii Avatar
32 months ago

Good news! Now, having a procedure to force update AirPods would be a nice next step
My AirPod Pros are stuck on a 2 year old firmware and will not update automatically no matter what I do. The Apple Store manually doing it for me is not convenient. I'd even accept having to plug them into a Mac to do it. Just let me do it.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
webbuzz Avatar
32 months ago

Good news! Now, having a procedure to force update AirPods would be a nice next step
Let's not get crazy now.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
svish Avatar
32 months ago
Good to see this change.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)