Apple glossed over AirPods' new custom EQ - but it's a big deal

This year's WWDC is packed with announcements, including customization to the Liquid Glass display, substantial upgrades to Siri, and more intuitive device functionality.

Also: Apple WWDC 2026: Live updates on iOS 27, Siri, and Tim Cook's last event as CEO

If you're an avid AirPods user, there's one announcement that may excite you, but speakers breezed past it, offering hardly any details. Still, Apple promised a real equalizer in iOS 27, finally giving users the opportunity to customize the sound of their AirPods.

Apple didn't say much about the equalizer, but a brief animation showed a graphic EQ, with options to create a custom EQ profile or choose Apple's recommended EQ settings. Users can adjust lows, mids, and highs, though it's unclear how precise the equalizer will be.

Previously, Apple had full faith in its headphones' sound profile, vowing that its sound engineers crafted AirPods to sound as best as possible. Still, users prefer some control over their devices, and a custom EQ is a welcome addition.

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AirPods users could only change their AirPods sound profiles in Apple Music settings, and this customization feature still limited them to preset EQ profiles.

An equalizer is a staple feature for consumer headphones, and even the most limited equalizers are better than none. Bose's equalizer, for example, allows users to toggle bass, mids, and treble on a 20-point scale.

Other companies, like JBL, offer a detailed equalizer with 10 frequency bands, adjustable in Hz. I don't expect Apple's equalizer to be as thorough as JBL's, but instead to be on par with Bose's. Either way, even if you're content with your AirPods' sound profile, the option to change it is what matters.

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