When iOS 17 arrived in September, it brought a slew of new features including adaptive audio and conversation awareness. It also brought a slew of firmware updates, with no fewer than four arriving since September. And now Apple has released another one, bringing the iOS 17 total to five.
For perspective, Apple released just six AirPods firmware updates for the entirety of iOS 16, beginning with 5A374 in September 2022. Then the new 2nd-gen AirPods Pro got their own update a couple of weeks later, followed by updates in November, January, April, and May. Since 6A300/6A301 arrived alongside iOS 17 in September, Apple has released four firmware updates just for the 2nd-gen AirPods Pro, with “bug fixes and other improvements.”
The newest update, 6B34, Is once again only for the 2nd-gen AirPods Pro, which includes both the original Lightning model and the new USB-C model. There isn’t a way to force an upgrade to the new firmware; it will automatically install when the AirPods are in their case and charging. It can take hours or even days to get the latest firmware.
To see what firmware version your AirPods are running, you can open the Settings app, select your connected AirPods (near the top), scroll down past all the options to the About section, and look at the Version line. You can also find this information in General > About > AirPods Pro.
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor
Michael Simon has been covering Apple since the iPod was the iWalk. His obsession with technology goes back to his first PC—the IBM Thinkpad with the lift-up keyboard for swapping out the drive. He's still waiting for that to come back in style tbh.