In other words, without getting too much into the weeds of things, active noise cancellation works by the device "monitoring" the outside noise and emitting an inverted soundwave, or what Treski calls "the anti phase," to neutralize or negate the external cacophony.

There's no feeling quite like the anticipation of a new tech product that promises to do something pretty wildly different, and then having that anticipation paid off by the product actually delivering the goods.

For the first time ever, the entry-level AirPods have active noise cancellation (ANC). Apple unveiled the new AirPods 4 on Sept. 9 at the "Glowtime" event where the Cupertino-based tech giant debuted the new line with two variants: one with ANC and one without ANC.

To a publication, Apple executives explained the magic behind AirPods 4 ANC feature that works without ear tips.

The AirPods 4 with ANC and the regular AirPods 4 introduce the H2 chip, Apple’s new processor that enables features like Adaptive Audio, Transparency Mode, and Conversation Awareness. The chip also helps the regular AirPods 4 with voice isolation and Personal Spatial Audio, which are a part of the package with the AirPods 4 with ANC.

The work that began with EarPods continues to pay off as Apple prepares to ship the noise-canceling AirPods 4.