Also found in various Beats products
Everything about Apple’s audio chips
Apple develops all kinds of chips in-house. There are the W1 and H1 chips especially for (wireless) earphones. These chips control, among other things, the automatic pairing and energy management of the earphones. The first generation of AirPods had Apple’s W1 chip. You will also find this W1 chip in various Beats products. Since the AirPods 2, Apple has switched to the newer H1 chip, which, among other things, made Hey Siri possible. The latest chip is the H2, which you will only find in the AirPods Pro 2022 for the time being. You can read everything about the function of these chips and what they make possible below.
- Overview of audio chips
- H2 chip functions
- H1 chip functions
- W1 chip functions
- Why a chip?
- Advantages
- Cons
Overview of audio chips
Which audio chip can you find in which product? This overview gives you an overview of everything:
| Chip name | Product | H2 chip |
|
|---|---|
| H1 chip |
|
| W1 chip |
|
What is the H2 chip: features and more
The AirPods Pro 2022 are the first earphones with a brand new H2 chip. This is the successor to the H1 and enables several new features, such as improved noise cancellation, an adaptive transparency mode and better sound.
These are the functions that the H2 chip controls:
- Active Noise Cancellation: The H2 chip in the AirPods Pro 2022 can suppress twice the noise compared to the original AirPods Pro.
- Adaptive transparency: The H2 chip can reduce ambient noise on the device itself, such as a siren, construction work or loud speakers at a concert, while you can still hear voices and other important sounds.
- Improved audio quality: According to Apple, the H2 chip provides an “exceptional acoustic experience” thanks to the collaboration with the new audio driver and special amplifier, which prevent distortion. The bass is stronger and the sound is clearer across a wide range of frequencies.
Of course, it also includes all the functions of the predecessors H1 and W1, such as easy pairing and automatic switching between devices.
- Personalized Spatial Audio: Personalized spatial audio also worked on the AirPods 3, but has been further improved thanks to the H2 chip. By scanning your ears with the TrueDepth camera, the sound is tailored to your ear.
- More efficiency: The earphones last longer because energy is used more efficiently. As a result, the AirPods Pro 2022 do not last 4.5 hours on a battery charge, but even 6 hours (under the same conditions).
You can read whether this is all true in our AirPods Pro 2022 review. We discuss the innovations compared to the previous model.
Functions of the H1 chip
The H1 chip is an improved version of the W1 chip and has largely the same functions. This chip makes the connection even more stable and ensures that the earphones are more energy efficient.
The H1 chip provides these features:
- Hey Siri
- More stable wireless connection to devices.
- Switch between active devices twice as fast.
- 1.5 times faster connection time for phone calls.
- More energy efficient, resulting in extra hours of speaking time when calling.
- Wireless charging from the box.
- Thirty percent lower gaming latency.
The H1 chip is also useful for advanced functions such as noise cancellation, transparency and call amplification.
In addition, all functions that were already controlled by the W1 chip are present:
- Easy connection based on iCloud account.
- Power management.
- Audio playback.
- Manage Bluetooth connections.
- Controlling the sensors.
- Control the audio synchronization between the two earphones and the audio source.
Apple products:
Beats products:
W1 chip functions
The W1 chip was Apple’s very first chip made specifically for wireless earphones. This also took care of linking to your iCloud account, power management and audio playback, but it is missing some features compared to the H1, such as support for Hey Siri.
After the W1 chip, Apple also released the W2 and W3 chips for the Apple Watch, but these were not used in earbuds. You can read more about it in our overview of Apple chips. The letter W probably stands for ‘Wearables’. Apple later switched to the letter H, which probably stands for ‘Hearables’.
Why earphones with a chip?
The AirPods and other audio products have a number of useful functions thanks to the audio chip:
- The AirPods know whether the earbuds are in your ear. They automatically pause the music as soon as you take them out.
- The AirPods know when you’re talking. They then switch on the microphone to be able to dictate, for example.
- AirPods can filter out background noise when you talk, making your voice more audible.
- If you double-tap the AirPods, you enable Siri. You can then instruct to adjust the sound volume.
- You can pair the AirPods with multiple devices. Open the storage box of the AirPods and they will automatically pair with the device you are currently using.
The audio chips control a number of sensors that are present in the AirPods and in some Beats products:
- Motion sensors: these determine whether the earplug is in use.
- Infrared sensors: these are the small dots on either side of the speaker port that determine whether the earbud is in your ear.
- Speech accelerometer: these sensors recognize when you talk.
Advantages of audio chip
If you look at the advantages of such an audio chip, there are three that immediately stand out and which we will discuss in more detail below: better battery life, easier pairing and a more stable connection.
#1 Better battery life
There are several reasons why the battery life of earbuds with W1, H1 or H2 chip is much better. Firstly, there are the sensors, which determine whether the earplugs are in your ear. As soon as you stop listening, the AirPods turn off and go into energy saving mode. So it can never happen that the music continues playing unexpectedly.
In addition, the chip ensures improved efficiency, making your earphones more energy efficient. This is noticeable, for example, in the Beats Solo 3, which has a battery life of 40 hours, while its predecessor had a battery life of 12 hours. This is not exclusively due to the chip, but also to other improvements and optimizations.
#2 Easy pairing
Apple has eliminated the 3.5mm headphone jack in many devices and would like us all to switch to wireless earbuds. But then connecting to your devices must be made a lot easier. This is the case with earphones with a W or H chip: pairing is effortless and automatic. So you no longer have to look for your Bluetooth earphones in the settings or enter a numerical code. Once you pair your earphones with the device for the first time, they will also immediately connect to any other devices you’re signed in to with the same iCloud account. So you can easily switch between AirPods in the car, Beats earbuds while exercising, Apple Watch when you’re in bed and the iMac when you’re sitting at your desk.
All you have to do is open the storage box and take out the earphones. The connection is then made automatically.
#3 Stable connection
The connection of the AirPods is more stable than with other headphones. With regular Bluetooth earbuds, the connection deteriorates the further you are from the iPhone, for example if you walk away to grab a cup of coffee. This should not be the case with earphones with an audio chip, but you can still experience some stuttering even at greater distances.
Disadvantages of earphones with audio chip
As far as we know now, there are actually no disadvantages if you buy earbuds with a W or H chip (except for the higher price). The AirPods can still connect to other smartphones, tablets and computers because they can also be used as standard Bluetooth earphones. In combination with a suitable Apple device you benefit from the extra functions of the audio chip and with other devices you have the normal Bluetooth connection. The biggest disadvantage is that as an Android user you do not benefit from this.
Another disadvantage is that you are stuck with Apple products. Apple doesn’t seem to be planning to make the chips available under license to other audio product manufacturers, so you can only take advantage of these features if you buy AirPods and Beats.
A third disadvantage is that it is less easy to share your earphones with a friend or partner, because they are linked to your iCloud account. But we wonder if that often happens with small earplugs. This will be more common with the AirPods Max.
Are you looking for AirPods alternatives, such as Beats earphones? Then take a look at the round-up below.
