Who should buy the Powerbeats Pro 2? The answer will surprise you.

Apple’s Superstar lineup for marketing the Powerbeats Pro 2:

Shohei Ohtani.

Lionel Messi.

Lebron James.

Your mom.

Wait…what??

Yes, that’s right. Your mom is a Superstar, and an ideal candidate for the Powerbeats Pro 2, at least if she’s anything like mine.

My mom was in the market for some durable earbuds back in October 2021. Besides being wireless, she only had one criterion: the earbuds had to have a loop that goes around her ears and keeps it secure. She wears a headscarf, and headscarves don’t go well with any AirPods that she has tried since they simply are not secure enough. As a bus driver, the last thing she wants to do is try to find her ear bud in the driver’s footwell.

The Powerbeats Pro were the best choice, and she has been using the same pair every day since November 2021. They’re still going strong, and once they go bad, I will probably get her the Powerbeats Pro 2 that I am testing out. I can’t give them to her now because her original ones still work, and she wouldn’t want me to get her new headphones for no reason. I might even get a lecture about wasting money if I did.

It’s an Asian thing.

Just don’t tell her about my Apple Watch obsession.

She’s in her 60s, yet these are perfect for her in many ways besides the secure fit. She is a marathon talker on the phone, and she will be happy with the much better battery life. She manages battery life by alternating ear pieces, and she keeps her other ear free for listening to her surroundings.

I don’t even want to try to explain to her how the force touch tips on AirPods work, let alone the swipe gestures, but the actual buttons on the beats make it simple and easy to understand. A simple volume rocker and a “beats” button for play and pause. Real, clickable buttons, perfect for the elderly and non tech-savvy. She is already used to this layout, so she will feel right at home.

The smaller case will make more room for her purse which is already full (what purse isn’t full anyway?), but it won’t be too small for her to lose it either. The balance is just right.

The other cool aspect about the Pro 2 is heart rate monitoring. My mom refuses to wear an Apple Watch because that’s just one more thing to learn and charge, but she wears her beats all the time. When she is not actively listening to lectures or talking on the phone, her iPhone would be logging her heart rate with the Pro 2. It only logs your heart rate when you are actively in the Health App with both earbuds in place, but it would be nice for her to see at least one health metric. The minute you leave the Health app, the heart rate monitor stops, probably to preserve battery life.

My plan is to get her interested in heart rate monitoring, and then eventually upsell her into an Apple Watch for all the other health benefits.

Lastly, if you’re afraid someone might steal her earbuds, buy the Quick Sand color. That hue of light grayish-brown is a similar color to hearing aids, and looks the part when placed in your ear. I instantly felt older when I looked in the mirror instead of younger and hip.

Storing things inside Your AirPods Pro 2 case.

I ended up getting a mini workout done when I was not really expecting to at my son’s wrestling practice. Normally I just use the time to do some writing, but now I have to split the time between writing and working out due to less free time at home with the new baby.

The Milanese band is my band of choice for jogging, but I forgot to swap it out and was wearing my link bracelet. I wear the link bracelet a bit loose since it’s uncomfortable when tight, but I needed to tighten it up for the workout.

I ended up taking out one link, and storing it in my AirPods Pro 2 case. It fits pretty good inside there, and even attaches magnetically making it harder for the link to fall out. I do use the smaller sized bracelet labelled 38mm (also the same as 40mm, 41mm, and the new 42mm), but I’m confident there is enough space for the larger links to also fit.

I’m not a fan of working out with the link bracelet, but it’s doable, especially if you have storage for your extra links.

You can store one link in each slot.

The links have a strong enough magnetic connection to not fall out when turned upside down. If you drop the case though, they will pop out and fly away.

Why your AirPods might not be working.

If you have AirPods 2, 3, or 4, you might have an issue where the sound is too low, or the sound is heard from the outside vent projecting outward instead of inward to your ears.

I recently had a relative have this problem with her AirPods 2nd gen and 3rd gen, and it was due to earwax build up.

The buildup causes the speaker facing your ear canal to be blocked, causing the sound to be diverted to the outside vent in some cases.

If you have changed nothing else in your Bluetooth or Sound settings, this is probably what’s going on.

It can be hard to see any buildup since the speaker grill is black, but you should follow Apple’s instructions for cleaning them.

You’ll be surprised by how much gunk gets stuck in there.

If you want to avoid this problem in the future, consider getting the AirPods Pro 2. The silicone tips have a mesh grille that detaches from the black speaker head. The mesh is small enough to let sound through, but no earwax can go back into the speaker grille, preventing buildup.

I’ve had my original AirPods Pro for 5 years now, and never had the earwax buildup issue.

Adam Savage reviews the AirPods Pro 2 as a hearing aid.

​​A nice review by Adam Savage, former MythBuster. Calling it a review is doing it injustice as he really goes into his personal life and how hearing aids in general have even changed his marriage dynamics. Didn’t know he wore hearing aids, but his enthusiasm for Apple products and his real world experience really shows how useful the AirPods Pro 2 are.

Some highlights:

I think Apple turning the AirPod Pros into a substitute hearing aid is one of the best sub-features I've seen out of this consumer product in a long time. Having been a very public hearing aid wearer for 15 years, I have been sent a lot of people’s versions of earbud-hearing-aids and I’ll, I’m not naming any names but everything I have tried sucked. Everything I have tried had a very bad user experience in the calibration, in the testing, in the integration. These (the AirPods Pro 2) were really really just as advertised by Apple, straightforward, simple to understand, fast to execute, and awesome to use…

If you have people in your life who need hearing aids, this might be a great gateway drug to hearing aids, given that it is a lot less expensive and it carries a lot less of the, stigma of hearing aids. One of the rhetorical flourishes I gave people a few years ago that a lot of folks have told me worked on people in their lives, is to explain that no one who ever got hearing aids thought to themselves, “well that was a bad idea.”

AirPods with “tiny cameras.”

Joe Rossignol from MacRumors:

Apple continues to explore the idea of releasing camera-equipped AirPods in the future, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Gurman only briefly mentioned the possibility of AirPods gaining tiny cameras, as part of his Power On newsletter intro this week, focused on Apple's future wearables ambitions. He did not explain what the cameras would be used for.

The tiny cameras would not be for taking photos, but rather serve as infrared sensors.

Here’s what Ming Chi-Kuo said about these infrared cameras:

Kuo said the new AirPods with infrared cameras would provide an enhanced spatial audio experience with the Apple Vision Pro headset.

"For example, when a user is watching a video with Vision Pro and wearing this new AirPods, if users turn their heads to look in a specific direction, the sound source in that direction can be emphasized to enhance the spatial audio/computing experience," wrote Kuo.

The infrared cameras could potentially enable "in-air gesture control" as well, allowing for device interaction with hand movements.

Although enhanced Spatial Audio might be a feature, I’m sure Apple’s target with this is more health features, such as blood pressure monitoring. I’ve talked about this at length a few days ago, and it only makes sense that these infrared sensors are PPG sensors just like on the Apple Watch for measuring heart rate, oxygen saturation, pulse, etc.

Still a few years to go before it’s ready for prime time.

How Apple will probably implement their blood pressure technology.

Whenever I go to my annual Doctor’s visit, it's nice to notice certain technological advancements when getting that initial screening by the nurse. 

Your height is measured by what I would call an extremely large digital caliper connected to the weighing scale, where they lay the top part of the “caliper” on your head, and instantly know your height. 

Your weight is digitally and effortlessly measured. I do miss the old scales where you had to move the weights and find that point where the balance finally starts to budge. It was more dramatic since you could see the nurse constantly sliding the weight past the point where you would hope the scale would balance out, only to realize you put on a few more pounds.

Your pulse is checked with an oversized digital clothespin that they put on your finger instead of the nurse clutching your wrist. 

Your temperature is checked execution style as they shoot your forehead with infrared rays instead of sticking a thermometer up your…in your mouth.  

Finally your blood pressure (BP) is checked…the old-fashioned way. You still have to remove your bulky jacket and strap that overly “velcrofied” arm cuff on while the nurse uses her stethoscope to check your blood pressure.

It’s the one vital information of your health that still requires old methods to get right. As a matter of fact, one could argue that your blood pressure reading is the most important reading of that visit because high blood pressure, or hypertension, leads to worse outcomes for every other health condition.

It’s the most important, yet it is also the most tedious because your blood pressure constantly changes throughout the day. If you buy any sort of portable blood pressure machine, you will notice a whole list of prerequisites before you take your blood pressure. Here is what the CDC says you should do before taking your blood pressure:

Don't eat or drink anything 30 minutes before you take your blood pressure.

Empty your bladder before your reading.

Sit in a comfortable chair with your back supported for at least 5 minutes before your reading.

Put both feet flat on the ground and keep your legs uncrossed.

Rest your arm with the cuff on a table at chest height.

Make sure the blood pressure cuff is snug but not too tight. The cuff should be against your bare skin, not over clothing.

Do not talk while your blood pressure is being measured.

There are other factors as well, such as “white-coat syndrome,” where a patient is nervous about getting their blood pressure taken, and it becomes falsely elevated.

This is all assuming you’re using an arm cuff, which is the most accurate. Wrist cuffs are more convenient but less accurate, and now you have to factor that into the equation.

There have been advances in how blood pressure is measured leading to more convenient choices in the future, such as photoplethysmography (PPG). This is where your device can be used to shine infrared lights into your skin to detect blood volume changes. It is a graphical representation similar to an ECG, where people who know a heck of a lot more than me can determine what is wrong with a person's heart. 

This PPG technology can be used on your finger, your wrist, your foot, and even your ears. (Apple Ring and Apple Toe Ring anyone?)

It’s really inexpensive compared to an ECG, and your Apple Watch uses PPG all the time to get information about your pulse, blood oxygen levels, and your cardio health. If someone had a sensor on their wrist and on their finger for example, you can then calculate the pulse travel time (PTT) between the wrist and their finger, and use that time measurement to estimate blood pressure.

According to a study by Nature, that is still less accurate than using an ECG along with one PPG datapoint, such as your wrist or finger. This is actually better for the end user because you only need to have one device, along with an ECG which your Apple Watch already measures.

So in theory, your Apple Watch measures an ECG which has its own waveform, which can be correlated with a PPG waveform that measures changes in blood volume. You end up with 2 waveforms that can then be studied and analyzed along with machine-learning and anonymous, historical user data to determine blood pressure.

That would be how the Apple Watch can analyze blood pressure without any other complicated cuffs that inflate on your wrist, which would be a disaster since so many things can go wrong with an “Apple Cuff.” 

“You’re using it wrong.”

“You’re placing it wrong.”

The Apple Watch by itself naturally sits on the flat part of your wrist, and you don’t have to tell anyone how to wear it.

But it doesn’t end with the Apple Watch.

Apple already has another device that can be just as good, dare I say, even better at determining blood pressure.

According to researchers at the University of Toronto, noise-cancelling earbuds have the potential to measure blood volume changes in your ears, giving more data points to analyze a person’s blood pressure:

Many earbuds have noise-cancelling technology, which relies on having an outer microphone and an in-ear microphone. The outer microphone listens for ambient sound while the in-ear microphone listens to what’s happening inside the ear. It turns out that the in-ear microphone is able to pick up on some very interesting sounds inside the body, including heart sounds. Research has shown that you can use the audio recorded from inside the body to measure heart rate, but you’re really able to get the same sounds you would hear from a stethoscope. We’re hoping that we can analyze these heart sounds using different signal processing techniques to infer someone’s blood pressure. 

Furthermore, they are even optimistic of bridging many technologies together to get better results:

One study we’re hoping to do alongside this project, or maybe a little later, would be to compare and contrast all the different technologies being considered for blood pressure monitoring – earbuds, smartwatches, smartphones – to see what works best. Can we get better performance with earbuds versus a smartwatch? Can we combine a smartwatch and earbuds to get an even more accurate measurement? 

I found another study where they did use time differences between pulses going into the left and right ear, and they were able to get promising blood pressure results that did not significantly differ from the true blood pressure measured with a proper arm cuff.

They called it “Stereo Blood Pressure,” which just sounds awesome.

Not only that, but their diagram even had a guy wearing AirPods.

These studies still had limitations due to small sample sizes and the candidates all being normal healthy individuals, but it’s still progress.

When will Apple actually implement blood pressure measurements into their devices?

Apple doesn’t want to be first at something, they want to be the best. 

They were first with Siri, and look at what that’s done for them.

Whenever Apple releases blood pressure monitoring, I think it will be a feature for both AirPods and the Apple Watch. They will work together to get the best data and eliminate any hurdles.

For example, you can’t wear AirPods when sleeping, but you can wear your Apple Watch to sleep and get data and information when in a more relaxed state.

Another hurdle could be a lack of data points for better accuracy. Each device separately only provides 2 data points each:

1. Apple Watch - single-lead ECG and PPG on the wrist.

2. AirPods - PPG on the left and right ear.

It’s not hard for most people to wear an Apple Watch and AirPods, so getting information from 4 data points will be a lot easier and unobtrusive.

When you combine those 4 data sets along with advances in AI, machine learning, and historical data analysis, you get a pretty good recipe for blood pressure monitoring. 

Of course it sounds easy on paper, but it makes sense for Apple to take a safer approach like they did with Sleep Apnea. Their blood pressure technology will sense changes in blood pressure and not actually give you a reading like 120/80. It will probably alert you if you have an elevated BP over a sustained amount of time, and it will err on the side of under-diagnosing versus over-diagnosing incorrectly. 

They would rather have false negatives and put their disclaimer similar to their sleep apnea disclaimer:

It's important to remember: not all people with sleep apnea will receive a notification. If you believe you have sleep apnea you should talk to a doctor.

When this technology is released and ready, it will be a game changer for the healthcare industry because of how effortless blood pressure monitoring can be. Simply wear your AirPods and your Apple Watch and go about your day.

The icing on the cake? 

Not knowing when your blood pressure is being taken is the most accurate way of measuring it.

Using your AirPods Pro upside down works great.

I have been using my AirPods Pro upside down for certain reasons, and it turns out to be a great solution.

When I trim my beard near my ears, the AirPod stems get in the way and are at risk of falling out since I’m bringing my trimmer right in that area. All I do is switch the left and right earbuds, and flip them so the stems are now facing upwards. 

If I am at risk of them falling out or getting loose, such as during intense workouts, I also do the same thing, and they are actually more stable for me.

Keyword being, for me. 

We all have different ear shapes and sizes, so if you do have AirPods Pro, or even any other AirPods, give it a shot and see how you like it. 

I even called my wife while in “upside down mode,” and she could still hear me, but she said I sounded “distant,” and not in the psychoanalytical way. A disadvantage for call quality, but that’s fine because when I’m trimming my beard or working out, I don’t want to talk to anyone.

It’s even easier to adjust the volume up and down when the stems are pointing up. I don’t feel like my ear fit is any looser versus when the stems are hanging down. It actually feels more stable. 

The controls are reversed, so you have to slide up to lower the volume and slide down to increase the volume. Think inverted mouse scrolling.

This is a legitimate way to use your AirPods in certain scenarios. If you are using them for other Accessibility reasons such as Hearing Aids, I wouldn’t recommend flipping them upside down since orientation is a big part of those features working properly.

Anker MagGo Apple Watch Power Bank Review - a lone champion.

Following the recent recall of Belkin’s BoostCharge Pro Fast Wireless Charger for Apple Watch + Power Bank 10K, (that’s one heck of a name), there are now only a handful of official fast charging power banks for the Apple Watch.

Two to be exact.

You have Otterbox’s 2-in-1 Power Bank with Apple Watch Charger, and the other one is the Anker MagGo Power Bank for Apple Watch.

The Otterbox one is cheaper at $35, but it has several limitations that make the Anker MagGo at $55 a much better deal. The only thing the Otterbox version has going for it is its smaller size and price. But for just $20, you can get so much more for your money. Not to mention your watch might not be as secure as you would like on the charging stand. Throw a steel Apple watch with a link bracelet, and I bet it falls off.

Here’s a quick chart comparison:

In terms of design and aesthetics, the Anker MagGo Power Bank looks and feels like a high quality product. Say goodbye to battery packs with rubbery coatings that inevitably get sticky and attract more lint than wool pants. The top is a curved matte-plastic with a glossy sheen, while the bottom is a matte plastic with 4 little feet that  probably are screw covers.

The sides are matte but ridged so you get a grippy surface. The MagSafe puck can be flush with the device or can be positioned at 90 degrees if you have a special band that won’t lie flat like the link bracelet . The puck is a bit stiff to bring up and down, but I would rather have it be a bit stiff vs being loose.

The built-in USB-C cable is supposedly very durable since it acts as a lanyard, and only time will tell how well it holds up. It’s not meant to be lassoed around, but if you just use it to pick it up and put away, that should be fine. The cord material is nice and might be made of the same material as an Apple Watch sport band. It feels like the Apple coined, “fluoroelastomer” material. The cord easily glides out of the slot to be used to charge any other USB-C device and nestles back into its space magnetically, which is satisfying.

You can charge the battery bank two ways: with the built-in cord, or with the built-in port. You also get infinite battery life if you plug in the cord to the port (you don’t actually get infinite battery life by doing that).

The button next to the cord allows you to turn on the display to check battery status, and pressing it again changes the orientation of the read-out. If you take the puck charger out at its 90 degree angle, the display automatically orients itself in the right direction. The display turns blue when charging other devices, and green when being charged up. You also get wattage readouts for each device being charged. Up to 3 devices at the same time.

So does it actually live up to its claim of fast charging the Apple Watch Series 10 from 0-80 in 30 minutes? 

Yes it does.

I drained my 42mm Jet Black Series 10, and I got 82% after 30 minutes. With the larger sized watches I am sure they will meet the 80% claim. I even tested the 41mm Series 9, and I got 88% in 45 minutes which exceeds Apple’s 80% in 45 minutes claim.

The Anker MagGo Power Bank for the Apple Watch is the lone champion right now if you want an external power bank that can fast charge the latest Apple Watches. Even though it is the only option with faster charging, it does not skimp on features and functionality, making it a great buy. Normally priced at $80, it is currently on sale for $65, and if you keep track of the price, you can get it for even cheaper (I got mine for $55).

How to tell the difference between AirPods Pro 1 and AirPods Pro 2

Whether you get them mixed up or you have some shady person trying to sell you AirPods Pro 2 at a discount, you should know the difference between the two.

The outer casing is a dead giveaway with the speaker holes and the lanyard slot, but how would you tell the actual buds apart?

The heads of the buds on the Pro 2 have two black speaker/sensor cutouts vs the single one on the 1st generation.

The stems are identical.

AirPods Pro 1 (left) vs AirPods Pro 2 (right).

AirPods Pro 2 gets approval to be used as a clinical-grade hearing aid.

The engineering put into the AirPods Pro 2 is just phenomenal, but it also begs the question:

What percentage of hearing loss can be attributed to AirPods?

Or the even bigger question:

Since Apple was part of the music revolution with the iPod in 2001, what percentage of hearing loss can be attributed to Apple?

It’s not fair to blame Apple for hearing loss since they’re not forcing anyone to listen to music (or anything else) on absurdly high volumes, but it’s still something to think about.

At least they’re trying to raise awareness and fix it with the newly updated AirPods Pro 2.

How to get USB-C charging on your old AirPods

Filipe Espósito from 9to5Mac:

Engineer Ken Pillonel has developed a simple but great accessory: a case for AirPods that have a charging case with a Lightning port. But rather than being a mere protective case, Pillonel’s invention comes with a USB-C port, so that owners of older AirPods can simply “upgrade” their charging case.

Essentially, the case created by Pillonel has a built-in Lightning to USB-C adapter. All users need to do is put their original AirPods case inside the USB-C case. Then, when you connect a USB-C cable to the protective case, it will transmit power to the AirPods case inside.

Apple sells a USB-C charging case for the second generation AirPods Pro, so that those who own the Lightning version can upgrade without having to buy new earbuds. However, the case alone costs $99. Pillonel’s solution costs around $40 and is available not only for AirPods Pro 2, but also for AirPods 1, 2 and 3 and the original AirPods Pro.

Not a bad idea if you just want to go full on USB-C. Plus they're made in Switzerland. I really like how the engineer was trying to avoid any litigation from Apple by cleverly disguising the name AirPods into 41rP0d$.