Windows 11 will soon work much better with AirPods

Microsoft is working on improving the audio quality during calls in Windows 11 when you use Apple's AirPods headphones. In the latest preview build of Windows 11 Microsoft released yesterday, the company has made various under-the-hood improvements and added support for wideband speech.

Here is what Microsoft says in the official changelog:

We have added support for wideband speech when using Apple AirPods products, improving audio quality for voice calls.

Wideband audio dramatically increases voice quality by extending the frequency range to 50Hz-7kHz, resulting in a much cleaner, more natural voice during calls.

According to the changelog available in a post on the official Windows Blogs website, wideband speech support is available for regular AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max. Microsoft does not say whether wideband speech support includes the latest AirPods 3 released late last year.

For now, wideband audio support for AirPods in Windows 11 is only available for Windows Insiders in the Dev channel (build 22526 and newer).

You can expect those improvements to arrive in Windows 11 in the second half of this year as a part of the first feature update for Windows 11. Still, Microsoft says some of the fixes and improvements for Windows 11 in the Dev channel may arrive in the stable channel as a part of regular servicing updates (monthly cumulative updates).

Unfortunately, there is no information on whether Microsoft plans to add wideband speech for AirPods in Windows 10. The feature might become a Windows 11 exclusive.

Windows 11 22526 is the first build in the Dev channel Microsoft released this year. You can learn more about the changes and new features it brings here.