The first two conditions for using AirPods hearing aid functionality are fairly easy; these are:
1. Second-generation AirPods Pro (both Lightning and USB-C versions are compatible)
2. An iPhone or iPad running iOS 18.1
Similar to Google’s geographically limited feature rollouts, it’s been seen on Apple’s website (by 9to5Mac) that the new Hearing Health features for AirPods Pro 2 will be initially available only in a couple of countries. Those countries are the USA and Canada. That means the third condition is:
3. To be physically located in the US or Canada
This is what a part of TnCs says:
Feature is only available in the U.S. and Canada
Despite the global popularity of AirPods, users outside North America will have to wait, for I-don’t-know-how-long, to experience the new Hearing Health capabilities.
The functionality the rest of the world will be missing out on would be:
- Hearing Test: A built-in, clinically validated hearing assessment
- Hearing Aid Functionality: FDA-authorized “clinical grade” hearing assistance
Apple’s decision to restrict the feature’s availability most p[probably stems from regulatory hurdles. The company has secured FDA authorization in the US and Canada, allowing them to market the AirPods Pro 2 as hearing aids. Similar approvals from health regulators in other countries are presumably pending, which explains the limited rollout.
Apple hasn’t provided a timeline for international expansion.
Almost impossible is a bit harsh I think. True this is a subset of their customer base but there are a couple of points I think you glossed over. As you mentioned this isn’t like a new watch face or Siri function. This is a medical test subject to approvals in each country and region. These approvals take time, and some places wait until it is approved in a neighbour before they consider it for themselves. This is normal for this kind of feature and isn’t Apple’s fault. Actually I will give Apple credit on this one for having it come out in the US AND Canada. Very often Canada lets overlooked. I seem to remember ApplePay came up here after it was available in Australia and Europe. So Apple rolling it out in both countries simultaneously is a good thing. But that brings me to the second point; Apple always does rolling releases of major new features. They always start in the US and as the bugs get sorted out, and approvals are met, they expand across the globe. Apple has learned from previous bad experiences to not try and do everyone and everything at once. Releasing this function in this way is normal and a good thing.