I have a set of NHS hearing aids (free and with a lifetime supply of free batteries), and they're effectively given a custom EQ profile to match my hearing loss (frequencies above 4khz). They also have feedback protection, which I can occasionally hear kicking in.
That’s it.
It won’t replace real hearing aids all the time. The battery only lasts 4 hours after all.
But for people without hearing aids it may be useful in lour places or to hear quiet talkers.
Just buy two, and keep one charging at all times. Two airpods are still about 1/10 the cost of hearing aids.
I’ve also had them since launch and use them basically every single day at work. Maybe those ridiculously tiny batteries have worn down a little bit.
An iPhone doesn't just have a microphone. It has 4 microphones.[1] And it has the ability to do some very sophisticated DSP on the sounds it receives.
So, unless your hearing aids communicate with each other (L and R) in real time, the iPhone might be able to do a better job. That's theory. Does it actually work that way in practice? I don't know.
It would be nice if Apple also did custom EQ like your hearing aids do. It would be pretty easy to add something like that in software, the hardware can certainly do it.
[1] https://www.quora.com/How-many-mic-does-the-iPhone-have (hopefully a Quora link is trustworthy)
These are just the free hearing aids you get on the NHS I believe so I would imagine that the ones you need to pay for are significantly more sophisticated in this respect.
I have no idea what is available in the US - perhaps this phone-based approach is good for people who don't have $10k to spend just to get some basic amplification?
I know from when my grandfather went through this stuff a few years ago capabilities varied widely. Everything from an electronic “ear tube” that does nothing but make things louder up too much fancier things with digital processing to help you hear voices. It all depended on how much money you had to spend/how good your insurance was. Sounded like it was common for people to get the low-end models and only something for one ear to try and save money.
iPhones cost much less, but many people still can't afford them. Perhaps a publicly provided health care approach would help people in the U.S.