Apple has released a new beta firmware version, 9B5042a, for five of its headphone models. The update was made available to both developers and public beta testers on September 30.
The company has not provided specific details regarding the changes included in this release. Typically, such updates focus on improving system stability, battery management, noise cancellation performance, device switching, and call quality.
To install the update, users must connect their AirPods to devices running iOS 26, iPadOS 26, or macOS 26 or later. The beta firmware option must be manually enabled within the AirPods settings menu.
Once the beta update is enabled, the firmware downloads automatically in the background. The installation process requires the headphones to be connected to an Apple device and plugged into a power source, which may take several hours to complete.
