Apple is adding a customizable equalizer to AirPods with iOS 27.
The update gives AirPods users manual control over their audio EQ — something Apple has withheld while competitors built out full-featured tuning apps. Until now, AirPods offered preset listening modes and Headphone Accommodations settings aimed at hearing adjustments, but no standard tone controls. Details on which AirPods models will support the feature and how many bands of adjustment it includes have not been confirmed.
For anyone who has watched Sony's Headphones Connect app or Samsung's Galaxy Buds equalizer from the sidelines, this is a long-overdue addition. Apple controls both the hardware and the software, which makes the years-long absence of basic EQ all the more conspicuous — and the eventual arrival feel less like progress than catching up.
The real test is execution: a two-band slider would be a cosmetic fix; a proper multi-band EQ would actually close the gap with rivals.