Updating firmware versions on AirPods models is pretty straightforward, insofar that it’s basically out of the user’s hands. Apple issues updates and the headphones will update on their own in due time. However, for folks who might want to –or need to– get their wireless headphones updated, a manual option is available.
For select models, that is. Before the end of 2021, Apple Stores picked up a tool that made it possible to manually update the firmware version for AirPods Pro headphones. It’s not a tool that’s accessible by the end user, so if you want to use it you’ll need to visit a store. And, at the time, you needed AirPods Pro, of course.
But, according to a report today from MacRumors, Apple has informed those who need to know via an internal memo that Apple Stores’ firmware updater tool now supports the second-generation AirPods. So, that’s good news, but it might still leave a lot of customers left in the lurch.
That’s because this updater tool still doesn’t support the third-generation AirPods or the AirPods Max. And there’s no word on when that might change. As for the tool itself, it’s meant to make it easy (or possible) to get the truly wireless headphones updated to the current firmware version, in the rare instance the headphones can’t be updated automatically.
It’s worth noting that Authorized Service Providers should have access to the tool, too, just in case you can’t make it into an Apple Store proper.