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AirPods Pro (2nd generation).

Sofia Pitt

If you were received Apple‘s new second-generation AirPods Pro as a holiday gift, you made out well. These new AirPods were my favorite gadget Apple released this year. If you’re new to AirPods, or if you have an older generation, there are plenty of new features you’ll want to take advantage of with these earbuds.

Here are some AirPods Pro tips and tricks to get you started.

How to find your AirPods Pro if you lose them

There’s a built-in speaker in the new AirPods Pro that plays a sound so you can locate them.

  • Open the Find My app.
  • Tap the name of your AirPods (mine say Sofia’s AirPods Pro).
  • Tap Play sound to help you find them.
  • You can also see the location of your AirPods on a map by tapping Find.

Ways to charge your new AirPods

The new AirPods Pro come with a MagSafe charging case. This means you can simply plop your AirPods down on a MagSafe wireless charging pad and your headphones will start charging. They can also charge on an Apple Watch charger. Simply put your case face up on top of the Apple Watch charger to juice up.

You can now charge AirPods Pro (2nd generation) with your Apple Watch charger.

Sofia Pitt

How to control the volume directly on your AirPods

Touch control on the new Pros allows you to lower or raise the volume by lightly swiping up or down on the stem of the AirPods.

When your finger is on the stem of the AirPods, you’ll feel an area where the material is no longer slippery but a bit indented. That’s the pad where you’ll swipe up or down to control the volume. This is great for when you’re listening to something while exercising, or cleaning and you don’t have easy access to your phone to control the volume.

How to switch between noise cancellation mode and transparency mode

You can switch between noise cancellation mode, which blocks a lot of outside noise, and transparency mode, which amplifies some noises around you. The transparency mode on the new AirPods Pro is better than on the previous generation. You can hear more of what’s going on around you.

To change your AirPod settings on your iPhone:

  • Open Settings.
  • Tap your AirPods name, which will appear at the top of the menu.
  • Swipe between Noise Cancellation Off or Transparency Mode.

Noise cancellation and transparency settings for AirPods Pro (2nd generation).

Sofia Pitt

How to test the fit of your ear tips

When you open up your new AirPods, you’ll notice there are a few different ear tip sizes. To make sure you’re using the right ones, you can conduct a fit test.

  • Open Settings.
  • Tap Ear Tip Fit Test.
  • Tap Continue.
  • Place your AirPods in both ears so they’re comfortable. It’s best to do this test in a quiet environment.
  • Press the Play button.
  • Music will play for a few seconds and then you’ll receive the results which will let you know whether you have a good seal.

What are those two silver holes on the side of my new AirPods?

How to connect two AirPods to one iPhone or iPad

Connecting two AirPods to one device doesn’t just work for the new AirPods. You can try this trick with any generation of AirPods, and it’s great for holiday travel. Imagine both your kids want to watch the same movie on the iPhone or iPad, each using their own set of AirPods.

Two AirPods connected to one iPhone

Sofia Pitt | CNBC

Here’s how to connect two headphones to one Apple device:

  • Connect your AirPods or Beats to your iOS device and begin playing the content you’re hoping to share.
  • Tap the AirPlay button in Control Center on your iPhone or iPad, on the Lock Screen, or in the app that you’re using to watch content or stream music.
  • Tap Share Audio.
  • If you’re sharing with someone who has AirPods or AirPods Pro, have them keep their AirPods inside the case and open the lid while they’re close to your Apple device. If the person you’re sharing with has AirPods Max, these don’t need to be inside the case. If you’re sharing with a Beats user, put those Beats in sharing mode and hold them close to your device.
  • You should see your friend or family member’s headphones appear on your screen.
  • Tap Share Audio again.

That’s it! To stop sharing content, simply tap the check mark next to the headphones you want to disconnect.

Apple unveils new iPhones, AirPods and Watches, with new price options for wearables

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How TikTok’s rise sparked a short-form video race

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How TikTok’s rise sparked a short-form video race

TikTok’s grip on the short-form video market is tightening, and the world’s biggest tech platforms are racing to catch up.

Since launching globally in 2016, ByteDance-owned TikTok has amassed over 1.12 billion monthly active users worldwide, according to Backlinko. American users spend an average of 108 minutes per day on the app, according to Apptoptia.

TikTok’s success has reshaped the social media landscape, forcing competitors like Meta and Google to pivot their strategies around short-form video. But so far, experts say that none have matched TikTok’s algorithmic precision.

“It is the center of the internet for young people,” said Jasmine Enberg, vice president and principal analyst at Emarketer. “It’s where they go for entertainment, news, trends, even shopping. TikTok sets the tone for everyone else.”

Platforms like Meta‘s Instagram Reels and Google’s YouTube Shorts have expanded aggressively, launching new features, creator tools and even considering separate apps just to compete. Microsoft-owned LinkedIn, traditionally a professional networking site, is the latest to experiment with TikTok-style feeds. But with TikTok continuing to evolve, adding features like e-commerce integrations and longer videos, the question remains whether rivals can keep up.

“I’m scrolling every single day. I doom scroll all the time,” said TikTok content creator Alyssa McKay.

But there may a dark side to this growth.

As short-form content consumption soars, experts warn about shrinking attention spans and rising mental-health concerns, particularly among younger users. Researchers like Dr. Yann Poncin, associate professor at the Child Study Center at Yale University, point to disrupted sleep patterns and increased anxiety levels tied to endless scrolling habits.

“Infinite scrolling and short-form video are designed to capture your attention in short bursts,” Dr. Poncin said. “In the past, entertainment was about taking you on a journey through a show or story. Now, it’s about locking you in for just a few seconds, just enough to feed you the next thing the algorithm knows you’ll like.”

Despite sky-high engagement, monetizing short videos remains an uphill battle. Unlike long-form YouTube content, where ads can be inserted throughout, short clips offer limited space for advertisers. Creators, too, are feeling the squeeze.

“It’s never been easier to go viral,” said Enberg. “But it’s never been harder to turn that virality into a sustainable business.”

Last year, TikTok generated an estimated $23.6 billion in ad revenues, according to Oberlo, but even with this growth, many creators still make just a few dollars per million views. YouTube Shorts pays roughly four cents per 1,000 views, which is less than its long-form counterpart. Meanwhile, Instagram has leaned into brand partnerships and emerging tools like “Trial Reels,” which allow creators to experiment with content by initially sharing videos only with non-followers, giving them a low-risk way to test new formats or ideas before deciding whether to share with their full audience. But Meta told CNBC that monetizing Reels remains a work in progress.

While lawmakers scrutinize TikTok’s Chinese ownership and explore potential bans, competitors see a window of opportunity. Meta and YouTube are poised to capture up to 50% of reallocated ad dollars if TikTok faces restrictions in the U.S., according to eMarketer.

Watch the video to understand how TikTok’s rise sparked a short form video race.

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Elon Musk’s xAI Holdings in talks to raise $20 billion, Bloomberg News reports

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Elon Musk's xAI Holdings in talks to raise  billion, Bloomberg News reports

The X logo appears on a phone, and the xAI logo is displayed on a laptop in Krakow, Poland, on April 1, 2025. (Photo by Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Elon Musk‘s xAI Holdings is in discussions with investors to raise about $20 billion, Bloomberg News reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The funding would value the company at over $120 billion, according to the report.

Musk was looking to assign “proper value” to xAI, sources told CNBC’s David Faber earlier this month. The remarks were made during a call with xAI investors, sources familiar with the matter told Faber. The Tesla CEO at that time didn’t explicitly mention any upcoming funding round, but the sources suggested xAI was preparing for a substantial capital raise in the near future.

The funding amount could be more than $20 billion as the exact figure had not been decided, the Bloomberg report added.

Artificial intelligence startup xAI didn’t immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment outside of U.S. business hours.

Faber Report: Elon Musk held call with current xAI investors, sources say

The AI firm last month acquired X in an all-stock deal that valued xAI at $80 billion and the social media platform at $33 billion.

“xAI and X’s futures are intertwined. Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent,” Musk said on X, announcing the deal. “This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI’s advanced AI capability and expertise with X’s massive reach.”

Read the full Bloomberg story here.

— CNBC’s Samantha Subin contributed to this report.

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Alphabet jumps 3% as search, advertising units show resilient growth

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Alphabet jumps 3% as search, advertising units show resilient growth

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai during the Google I/O developers conference in Mountain View, California, on May 10, 2023.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Alphabet‘s stock gained 3% Friday after signaling strong growth in its search and advertising businesses amid a competitive artificial intelligence environment and uncertain macro backdrop.

GOOGL‘s pace of GenAI product roll-out is accelerating with multiple encouraging signals,” wrote Morgan Stanley‘s Brian Nowak. “Macro uncertainty still exists but we remain [overweight] given GOOGL’s still strong relative position and improving pace of GenAI enabled product roll-out.”

The search giant posted earnings of $2.81 per share on $90.23 billion in revenues. That topped the $89.12 billion in sales and $2.01 in EPS expected by LSEG analysts. Revenues grew 12% year-over-year and ahead of the 10% anticipated by Wall Street.

Net income rose 46% to $34.54 billion, or $2.81 per share. That’s up from $23.66 billion, or $1.89 per share, in the year-ago period. Alphabet said the figure included $8 billion in unrealized gains on its nonmarketable equity securities connected to its investment in a private company.

Adjusted earnings, excluding that gain, were $2.27 per share, according to LSEG, and topped analyst expectations.

Read more CNBC tech news

Alphabet shares have pulled back about 16% this year as it battles volatility spurred by mounting trade war fears and worries that President Donald Trump‘s tariffs could crush the global economy. That would make it more difficult for Alphabet to potentially acquire infrastructure for data centers powering AI models as it faces off against competitors such as OpenAI and Anthropic to develop largely language models.

During Thursday’s call with investors, Alphabet suggested that it’s too soon to tally the total impact of tariffs. However, Google’s business chief Philipp Schindler said that ending the de minimis trade exemption in May, which created a loophole benefitting many Chinese e-commerce retailers, could create a “slight headwind” for the company’s ads business, specifically in the Asia-Pacific region. The loophole allows shipments under $800 to come into the U.S. duty-free.

Despite this backdrop, Alphabet showed steady growth in its advertising and search business, reporting $66.89 billion in revenues for its advertising unit. That reflected 8.5% growth from the year-ago period. The company reported $8.93 billion in advertising revenue for its YouTube business, shy of an $8.97 billion estimate from StreetAccount.

Alphabet’s “Search and other” unit rose 9.8% to $50.7 billion, up from $46.16 billion last year. The company said that its AI Overviews tool used in its Google search results page has accumulated 1.5 billion monthly users from a billion in October.

Bank of America analyst Justin Post said that Wall Street is underestimating the upside potential and “monetization ramp” from this tool and cloud demand fueled by AI.

“The strong 1Q search performance, along with constructive comments on Gemini [large language model] performance and [AI Overviews] adoption could help alleviate some investor concerns on AI competition,” Post wrote in a note.

WATCH: Gemini delivering well for Google, says Check Capital’s Chris Ballard

Gemini delivering well for Google, says Check Capital's Chris Ballard

CNBC’s Jennifer Elias contributed to this report.

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