Apple has teamed up with Sydney-based medical firm Cochlear to create the first Made for iPhone inner ear implant for those who are deaf or have moderate to profound hearing loss.
Cochlear on Wednesday announced its Nucleus 7 Sound Processor, which will let users stream high-quality audio directly from an iOS device — including phone and FaceTime calls, videos, movies, music and podcasts. The device was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in June, and it is notable because it’s the first cochlear inner ear implant to join Apple’s Made for iPhone family of third-party accessibility devices.
Sarah Herrlinger, Apple’s director of global accessibility policy and initiatives, told CNET that Made for iPhone is an example of how Apple can solve real-world problems in innovative ways.
The Nucleus 7 is also the first hearing aid or cochlear implant to be controlled by an iPhone without the need to download a third-party app or use an external remote. Users who wish to fine-tune their experience can download the Nucleus Smart App, where they can customize and control their hearing even further, such as for different environments. The app also allows for monitoring functionality, including a time spent in speech tracker and a Find My Processor feature that can help users find a lost Nucleus.
“The approval of the Nucleus 7 Sound Processor is a turning point for people with hearing loss, opening the door for them to make phone calls, listen to music in high-quality stereo sound, watch videos and have FaceTime calls streamed directly to their cochlear implant,” Cochlear CEO Chris Smith said. “This new sound processor built on our long-standing commitment to help more people with hearing loss connect with others and live a full life.”
Cochlear worked extensively with Apple to refine the device’s compatibility with iOS, particularly focusing on helping Cupertino to differentiate its capabilities from those of a standard over-ear hearing aid. The two companies even co-developed a method for synchronizing sound between various Made for iPhone devices. That’ll allow users to wear a cochlear implant in one ear and a hearing aid in the other with seamless audio streaming, a method Cochlear calls the Smart Bimodal Solution.
Apple is fairly well-known for its commitment to user accessibility. The tech giant’s Made for iPhone initiative already lists more than 50 models of hearing aids that can seamlessly connect to an iPhone or iOS device. But hearing aids don’t work for everyone with hearing loss, so the introduction of a tailor-made cochlear implant is an important step forward in device accessibility for Apple and the industry as a whole.
The Nucleus 7 Sound Processor is expected to become available in the U.S. and Canada in September. Cochlear noted that the next step is to get Android on board, but for now, the Nucleus 7 will only work with Apple devices.
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