iOS 15 will require AirPods to be linked with Apple ID for FindMy

If you’ve got AirPods, you’ve lost them for good at some point, which is why the addition of improved FindMy support will be a huge relief once iOS 15 drops later this fall. However, in order to do that, it looks like you need to link the device to your Apple ID.

As with AirTags, iOS 15 will bring precision research to AirPods Pro and AirPods Max. (Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the original AirPods or AirPods 2 are supported.) While AirPods currently work with FindMy, it’s not always very useful. For example, you cannot find the heads when they are in the charging case. Also, if you lose a single bud at home, your only recourse is to play a sound through the FindMy app. And let’s face it, it doesn’t always work that well. The search for precision, a feature introduced with AirTags earlier this year, would be incredibly useful.

Code identified by 9to5 Mac in the fifth beta of iOS 15 shows that by linking AirPods to your Apple ID, lost devices can continue to send their location through FindMy, even if, for example, a thief has paired them with another device. However, unlike other iOS gadgets, AirPods won’t have the option to lock activation.

That said, there will be an option to manually unlink devices in case you want to gift an old pair to a friend or resell them down the line. The method is quite simple with AirPods Max. All you have to do is hold down the noise canceling button and the digital crown for about 12 seconds. AirPods Pro, however, will require a slightly more difficult method. You basically have to hold your fingers over the speaker holes and press the buttons on the rod a few times. Whether you should do this for both buds, or just one, is unclear.

This isn’t the only update coming for the AirPods. Apple last week released a beta version of a conversation boost functionality. The feature uses the computer audio and the AirPod Pro’s beamforming microphones to focus on the voice of a person in front of you while reducing potentially annoying ambient noise.

Either way, these things are still evolving and the final version might look slightly different than what we are currently seeing in the beta of iOS 15. Either way, we expect the public release of iOS 15 drops next month, once Apple completes its annual fall launch event.