Windows 10 Is Finally Getting Better Support for AirPods

Part of Microsoft’s great big overhaul to Windows 10 finally includes some major changes to Bluetooth support and audio endpoints. These changes are now live in the latest Windows 10 Insider preview build, reports The Verge.

The bigger of the two changes involves adding support for the Advanced Audio Codec (AAC) over Bluetooth. Currently, Windows only supports SBC and AptX over Bluetooth, and anyone with a pair of Apple’s headphones knows AAC is the default compression codec for those devices.

It’s a compressed, lossy format to create small file sizes, and it’s the most popular consumer audio format. Many think AAC makes music sound a bit better, too, since it’s a great codec for streaming music.

Microsoft is also cleaning up how it displays audio endpoints. Instead of seeing the same audio device listed multiple different ways, Windows 10 will now unify them into a single audio endpoint. On my PC, it’s currently showing me four playback devices even though I only have a single pair of headphones plugged into the 3.5mm jack.

But with this update, only one audio endpoint will be shown in the volume dropdown, and Windows 10 will automatically switch to a different audio output if you’re watching a YouTube video and need to take a Teams call, for instance.

In addition to these latest changes, Microsoft is reportedly overhauling its store on Windows 10 to make it more attractive to use. Windows 10 is also getting a total redesign of its classic icons like Documents and Music.