# Apple AirPods Pro 115 Hacker News commenters recommended Apple AirPods Pro and 62 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 3 years (9 owners). **Verdict:** Recommended for excellent noise cancellation, strong sound for wireless earbuds and useful hearing-assist features, but many report rattling or failures and limited repair or warranty help. ## Why people recommend it - Top-tier active noise cancellation (6 comments): "they are actually well designed headphones. They are remarkably unremarkable. They have good (the new Pros even great) ANC." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48711426)) "Great cancellation and they’re always on my person thanks to the case perfectly fitting that tiny right pocket" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48714026)) "The noise cancellation is unparalleled (which is huge if you use public transit or use them in the gym)." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46212242)) - Great sound for wireless earbuds (7 comments): "they sound excellent. and they've never fallen out of my ears during normal movement like i assumed they might." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49654981)) "Apple's audio engineering is truly top-notch, and all the convenience features are icing on the cake." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48711583)) "the sound quality of the AUD$400 set of Airpod Pro 2s completely smokes the AUD$5,000+ set of Phonaks" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46039993)) - Helpful hearing accessibility features (5 comments): "the hearing accommodations on the AirPod Pro 2/3 headphones brought literal tears to my eyes because of how fabulous it makes music sound for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48200206)) "AirPods Pro 2 and 3 can amplify ambient sound." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47433747)) "the sound quality of the AUD$400 set of Airpod Pro 2s completely smokes the AUD$5,000+ set of Phonaks" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46039993)) - Comfortable, secure fit (4 comments): "they sound excellent. and they've never fallen out of my ears during normal movement like i assumed they might." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49654981)) "the replacement - pro v3 - had fixed the rare shape and they started falling out like any other earbuds" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48598867)) "My Pro 2s are genuinely very comfortable and still work great after 2+ years of moderate use" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49632047)) ## What people warn about - Rattling, noises and early failures (5 comments): "In first and second generation I had an issue with one AirPod making strange noises" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45947945)) "I had this exact problem on my AirPod pros too! It is the internal mic, but if you forcefully suck the air out from the black mesh microphone openings, it gets rid of it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47407836)) "All three pairs of AirPod Pros I've owned have had rattling issues that would reproduce when I physically moved/tilted my head." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47402500)) - Annoying outside Apple or multi-device (5 comments): "AirPods microphones just don't work for my vocal range, they sound horrible and underwater." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47378502)) "airpods pro 2nd gen immediately started behaving extremely annoyingly to the point of becoming completely useless for any serious use" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45943697)) "My pro 2s worked fine on my S21 and S24 ultra. What annoyed me the most is that they would auto connect to my iPad first" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45945540)) - Poor repair and warranty support (3 comments): "they rejected my airprods pro warranty claim because it was a month after they stopped accepting warranty for a known failure mode" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49630915)) "I missed the replacement window by three weeks and they offered to “repair” them for $180. Was not impressed." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48712650)) "Apple intentionally choose unrepairable design, despite much smaller companies offer repairable earplugs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48948761)) - Fit varies between generations (3 comments): "I love the sound of Airpods Pro in particular even if they don't want to stay in my ears" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46543838)) "The first generation stayed in my ears perfectly, but the second generation does not." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48593541)) "the replacement - pro v3 - had fixed the rare shape and they started falling out like any other earbuds" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48598867)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Apple AirPods](https://hackerapproved.com/p/airpods.md): 257 recommend - [Fairphone Fairbuds](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fairbuds.md): 7 recommend - [Pine64 PineBuds](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pinebuds-pro.md): 7 recommend - [Sony WF-1000XM5](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sony-wf-1000xm5.md): 5 recommend - [Anker Soundcore earbuds](https://hackerapproved.com/p/soundcore-earbuds.md): 5 recommend ## Where to get it - [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Apple+AirPods+Pro+2&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link) - [Official site](https://www.apple.com/airpods-pro/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Apple AirPods Pro", https://hackerapproved.com/p/airpods-pro/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).