22 Macworld • December 2019APPLE AIRPODS PRO
transparency mode), there are several ways to do it.
You can use Siri, long-press the new force-sensitive
touch pad on the stem, toggle it in Control Centre,
or in Bluetooth settings. Apple even added the
ability to change noise cancelling modes in
Shortcuts in iOS 13.2, so you can create some
fancy automations that change modes.More testing is still needed
I still need to do a lot more testing. Battery life is a
big concern, of course. Apple promises about the
same battery life as the regular AirPods: 4.5 hours
(with noise cancelling) for the buds and 24 hours
of charging in the Wireless Charging Case. I need
to verify that.
After an hour and a half at my desk and half
an hour walking around the neighbourhood with
my dog, most of the time with noise cancellation
enabled, the battery dropped from full to 56 percent.
I also need to test a lot more listening to music
and video, games and phone calls. I need to
wear them for longer periods, and put myself in
a wider variety of settings to see how the noise
cancellation handles them.
All of which is to say that I’m not ready to pass
judgement on them. My initial impression is that
people who loved the AirPods will almost certainly
love these much more. Apple likely has a huge hit
on its hands.