How loud are AirPods? Decibel levels and how to check yours

Last updated: November 9, 2026

How do I see my AirPods’ decibel level?

Your iPhone measures it for you, two ways (Apple: check your headphone audio levels):

• Right now. Add the Hearing control to Control Center (Add a Control, then Hearing). While audio plays, it shows the Headphone Level in decibels.
• Over time. Open the Health app, tap Browse, then Hearing, then Headphone Audio Levels, to see your exposure over days and weeks.

Apple says these measurements are most accurate with Apple or Beats headphones, and that the level through other headphones is estimated from the iPhone’s volume.

How loud can AirPods get?

Apple does not publish a maximum output level for any AirPods model, and we found no peer-reviewed measurement of one. The figure that is sourced is for headphones in general: the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders puts headphones at maximum volume at 94 to 110 dBA, in the same band as concerts and sporting events (NIDCD). The CDC’s decibel table, now retired, listed personal listening devices at maximum volume at 105 to 110 dB (archived copy); see how loud a personal listening device is at maximum volume.

What reaches your ear depends on the recording and the volume setting, which is why the live reading on your own iPhone is more useful than any single number.

What decibel level is safe for AirPods?

The World Health Organization and ITU standard for safe listening allows adults 80 dB for 40 hours a week, and children 75 dB for 40 hours (WHO; ITU-T H.870). Every 3 dB more halves the time:

Level at the ear	Safe listening time in a week (adults)
80 dB(A)	40 hours
83 dB(A)	20 hours
86 dB(A)	10 hours
89 dB(A)	5 hours
92 dB(A)	2 hours 30 minutes
95 dB(A)	1 hour 15 minutes
98 dB(A)	37 minutes 30 seconds
101 dB(A)	19 minutes
104 dB(A)	9 minutes 30 seconds
107 dB(A)	4 minutes 30 seconds

So at the top of the range for headphones at full volume, a week’s allowance is gone in a few minutes. More on the numbers in how loud is too loud for headphones.

What does iPhone do when AirPods are too loud?

• It warns you. A headphone notification appears when you reach 100% of a 7-day exposure limit; Apple’s example of that limit is more than 80 decibels for a total of 40 hours within the last 7 days. It counts media audio only, not phone calls (Apple: headphone notifications).
• It turns the volume down. After a notification, the volume is set lower the next time you connect headphones. You can turn it back up.
• It can cap the level. In Settings, Sounds & Haptics, Headphone Safety, turn on Reduce Loud Audio and set a level; iPhone reduces any headphone sound above it. A parent can lock the setting with Screen Time.

Apple notes that in some countries and regions headphone notifications cannot be switched off, because of regulations and safety standards.

Is there a legal volume limit for earbuds?

The European Union set one. A 2009 European Commission decision required personal music players to limit exposure, using 80 dB(A) for 40 hours a week and 89 dB(A) for 5 hours a week as the safe levels (European Commission). The European standards that followed in 2011 set 85 dBA as the default limit, let the user override it up to a maximum of 100 dBA, and required a repeated warning after every 20 hours of listening above the default (CENELEC).

How do AirPods compare with noise at work?

The US workplace recommendation from NIOSH is 85 dBA averaged over an 8-hour day, with the allowed time halving for every 3 dB above it (NIOSH). By that yardstick, 85 dB through AirPods for 8 hours is a full day’s allowance. To find out how loud the room around you is, the free online decibel meter measures it in your browser, and what decibel level is dangerous puts the numbers side by side.

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