This viral thread about AirPods Pro 2 as hearing aids shows how good they are – and why Apple should take a lesson from its own Beats division

• Hollywood power player Frankin Leonard's AirPods post went viral
• He loves what AirPods Pro 2 can do for his hearing
• But they're so very, very white against darker skin tones

When Franklin Leonard posted about his experience of AirPods Pro 2's hearing aid mode, he wasn't trying to go viral. But 250,000 views and over 3,000 likes later, that's exactly what happened. And his post, which we've embedded below, is well worth reading if you're interested in Apple's hearing aid mode.

Leonard is a well-known figure in the entertainment industry and founded The Black List, the famous list of unproduced screenplays that could well include the next big blockbuster. Watching movies – lots of movies – is what Leonard does, but when an illness damaged his hearing two years ago he started struggling to hear the dialog in the movies he loves so much.

As he wrote in his post, "I considered getting hearing aids, but even the cheapest good ones cost thousands of dollars, and health insurance does not cover their cost, even when you have a documented need."

Enter AirPods Pro 2 and their hearing aid feature.

AirPods Pro 2 hearing aid mode: the good and the not so good

Leonard's folks saw the Apple AirPods Pro 2 ad and bought him a pair for Christmas. "They're already a game changer for me," he wrote. While they're not cheap, they're a fraction of the cost of hearing aids – "and that alone is a potential game changer". Leonard is "overjoyed" by the benefits of hearing aid mode.

That said, he's also identified something that Beats already does but Apple doesn't. Copying in Apple's account, he said "let's talk about skin toned color product" and showed a picture of the AirPods Pro in his ears, where they couldn't look more distractingly white if they were a Hollywood star's teeth.

I know that the pearly whiteness of AirPods is part of the branding, a marketing thing that goes back to the very first iPod and its associated ads. But for people buying AirPods for their hearing aids feature, that visibility may be a downside because it draws attention to them.

It'd be really nice if Apple could take a leaf out of its Beats division's book and offer some colors that are less "look at my AirPods" against olive, brown and black skin. The reaction to the skin toned Beats Fit Pro was very positive, and I'm sure there are lots of people who'd buy skin-toned AirPods in a snap.

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