New AirPods case beeps if you lose it: What we know about Apple’s upcoming feature

They’re small. They’re light. And they’re easy to lose. But the just-announced AirPods 4 include a new feature familiar to AirPods Pro owners: helping you find your case if you misplace it.

On Monday, Apple held its latest product reveal event, which it called Glowtime. In keeping with the company’s typical September strategy, it was a packed show, with the debuts of the iPhone 16 setup and the Apple Watch Series 10As well as the latest upgrade to its entry-level wireless earbuds, the AirPods 4. These new earbuds have a number of features that bring them more in line with the AirPods Pro 2, including support for spatial audio, an H2 chip, and a USB-C charging case. The case will also include speakers, allowing them to use another Pro function if you lose yours.

Lost parts are a common horror story for AirPods owners, and the premium members of Apple’s wireless headphone line, the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max, have had a feature in the Find My app since 2021 that lets owners see their parts on a map and play a beep sound from their speakers to make them easier to find. Here’s how the new feature will work on the AirPods 4.

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How do I use the Find My feature on AirPods 4?

During Monday’s event, Apple’s vice president of Hardware Engineering, Kate Bergeron, announced that the AirPods 4 cases will get a new speaker, allowing them to take advantage of the Find My app’s white noise feature.

Based on how it works with the Pro version, users can open the Find My app, select the Devices tab, and select the AirPods they want to track.

Click on the listing for your AirPods 4—or just the case if the earbuds are out—and select the option to play sound. This will begin the process of playing a chirping sound from the case’s speakers, and if you’re close enough to where you lost them, this should help you pinpoint their location.

When will AirPods 4 be released?

The AirPods 4 are set to release on Friday, September 20, with preorders available since they were announced on Monday. Customers will have two options when it comes to picking up their new earbuds: $129 for the standard edition and $179 for the Active Noise Cancellation edition.

For more of the latest news from Apple, read about what new features are coming to the AirPods Max and how the Apple Watch Series 10 performed in a hands-on test.