Amid the chaos and excitement of an Apple event, one or two interesting announcements will generally fall through the cracks and go unreported. Sure enough, one WWDC25 news item affecting the AirPods has only just been noticed, and it could make a big difference to the user experience.
As spotted by MacRumors, Apple’s press release for new features coming to the AirPods this fall contains a quiet surprise at the bottom of the page: “All of these features are available for testing starting today through the Apple Developer Program… and a public beta will be available through the Apple Beta Software Program next month.”
That’s new. For updates to most of Apple’s operating systems—iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS—the company rolls out pre-release beta testing versions for developers only, followed a little later by betas for the general public to try if they are interested. But AirPods firmware updates have never previously been available to the public until they officially launch. That’s changing this year, as is confirmed by the inclusion of AirPods in the front-page verbiage on Apple’s beta test site.
The average AirPods software update isn’t likely to generate a great deal of interest from the public. They tend, somehow, to be simultaneously dull (generally containing few if any new features and focusing more on bug fixes) and mysterious (Apple’s release notes are spectacularly uninformative). But the annual new releases are different. For example, this year’s version contains studio-quality audio recording and camera remote, two distinct new features that Apple is keen to promote. It’s possible that this is why the company has decided to finally allow public beta testing.
While the developer beta of the update is available already, the public beta is currently slated to appear sometime in July. Readers who aren’t experienced with betas should be warned that such software can be buggy and may not work as advertised: spotting bugs is what the beta testing program is all about. But it also means you get a chance to try the new features ahead of launch, see if they make a significant difference to you, and generally brag about being ahead of the curve.
If that sounds like something you’d enjoy, sign up to Apple’s beta testing program.
