They're small. They're light. And they'll be easy to misplace. But the just-announced AirPods 4 will include a new feature familiar to owners of the AirPods Pro that will help you find your case when it gets lost.
On Monday, Apple held its latest product reveal event, which it dubbed Glowtime. As befits the company's typical September strategy, it was a stacked show, featuring the debuts of the iPhone 16 lineup and the Apple Watch Series 10, as well as the latest upgrade to its entry-level wireless earbuds, the AirPods 4. These new buds boast a number of features bringing them closer in line with the AirPods Pro 2, including spatial audio support, an H2 chip and a USB-C charging case. The case will also feature speakers, allowing them to tap into another Pro feature for when you misplace it.
Lost parts are a common horror story for owners of the AirPods, and the premium members of Apple's wireless headphone line, the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max, have boasted a feature in the Find My app since 2021 that allows owners to see them on a map and to play a beeping noise from their speakers to make them easier to locate. Here's how the new feature will work on the AirPods 4.
For more, find out what iPhone 16's Visual Intelligence can do for you and when you'll be able to buy the new AI-ready smartphone.
How do I use AirPods 4's Find My functionality?
At the event on Monday, Apple Vice President of Hardware Engineering Kate Bergeron revealed that the cases for AirPods 4 will be getting a new speaker, allowing them to make use of the Find My app's noise feature.
Based on how it works with the Pro version, to use this, users can open the Find My app, select the devices tab and select the AirPods they want to track.
Click on either the listing for your AirPods 4, or the case alone if the earbuds are out of it, and select the option to Play Sound. This will begin the process of playing a beeping noise of the case's speakers, and if you're close enough to where you misplaced it, this should help you pinpoint its location.
When do AirPods 4 come out?
The AirPods 4 will be released on Friday, Sept. 20. Preorders have been available since they were announced on Monday. Customers have two options when picking up their new earbuds: $129 for the standard edition, and $179 for the edition with active noise canceling.
For more on the latest from Apple, find out what additions are coming to the AirPods Max and how the Apple Watch Series 10 fared in a hands-on test.