Apple Reportedly Targeting WWDC for Over-Ear Headphones Launch, New 'AirPods X' Later in the Year

[MacRumors]

Rumors of Apple-branded over-ear headphones have been circulating for quite some time, while more recent rumors have mentioned an "AirPods Pro Lite" that could also be in the works, and Twitter leaker Jon Prosser's recent foray into Apple rumors provides a bit more detail on what we might able to expect for these products.

Current Beats Studio3 Wireless and BeatsX​

On the over-ear side, Prosser says that Apple is targeting a June WWDC debut with pricing set at around $350, putting them in the range of Beats Studio3 and Bose 700 headphones. Prosser says Apple's codename for these headphones is B515, which matches up with leaked icons for these headphones found in an iOS 14 build last month.

As for the "AirPods Pro Lite" previously rumored by DigiTimes, Prosser says they are likely what he has heard are referred to as "AirPods X," which should launch in the September-October timeframe. He says these would be similar to the current BeatsX earphones, which are targeted at the sports market. He doesn't specifically say, however, whether the AirPods X would have a wire between the earbuds as BeatsX do. He also says the AirPods X, which carry a codename of B517, will be priced at around $200, which is double the price of BeatsX.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1247498140468547585

Generally speaking, Prosser believes that Apple's ultimate goal is to eventually phase out the Beats brand, as both of these new Apple headphones are similar to existing Beats products. That will take time, however, as Beats offers a fairly extensive line of headphone options, including the fairly new Beats Solo Pro and the Powerbeats lineup that has seen several recent updates.

Article Link: Apple Reportedly Targeting WWDC for Over-Ear Headphones Launch, New 'AirPods X' Later in the Year

 

[Logic368]

This makes me miss Steve Jobs so much. Remember when Apple made just a few insanely great products? Now they’ve got their brand on all sorts of crap.

 

[imnotthewalrus]

Okay, I know it's a "rumors" site, but I expect at least somewhat legitimate sources to be posted by the MR staff.

 

[newyorksole]

This makes me miss Steve Jobs so much. Remember when Apple made just a few insanely great products? Now they’ve got their brand on all sorts of crap.

Yeahhh that was almost a decade ago buddy. You don’t think if Steve was alive today that things at Apple would be much different than they are right now?

The tech industry changed a lot since 2011. At least Apple has solid footing in all of the new areas they stepped into.

 

[macloverHK]

Just pronounced "AirPods Ten" in my mind...

 

[blairh]

Wonder if the over-ears will have ANC.

 

[imnotthewalrus]

This makes me miss Steve Jobs so much. Remember when Apple made just a few insanely great products? Now they’ve got their brand on all sorts of crap.

I empathize with you. I worked for Apple during the Steve Jobs era, and was still there when he passed. He chose Tim Cook as his successor, and advised him to run the company the way he (Cook) saw fit.

 

[BehemothManiac]

Beats X are my favorite every-day headphones. Unfortunately, they usually do not live longer than 6 months - I have to replace mine like zillion times already. Hope the new one will be more sturdy.

 

[fbr$]

I just bought Galaxy Buds+ a few days ago, I'm using them on my 2018 iPad 6th to watch videos, I'm so glad I bought it instead of the regular Apple AirPods.

The battery charge seems to last for more than 10 hours (it takes more than 1 hour to drop from 100% to 90%). So as I will only use it in the 70%-100% battery charge range, I guess the battery will last for years, much more than AirPods' battery.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Lets start with the “Jon has a comedy tech channel on the fancy YouTubes, he could never be an actual leaker” comments.
Remember, Jon said iPhone SE on April 14/15, and 9to5Mac said April 3rd. Guess whos quickly becoming more accurate
[automerge]1586270430[/automerge]

This makes me miss Steve Jobs so much. Remember when Apple made just a few insanely great products? Now they’ve got their brand on all sorts of crap.

iPod, iPod Mini, iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle, iPod Touch.
A product for every use case and price point. How is this any different.

 

[AppleUser2]

Okay, I know it's a "rumors" site, but I expect at least somewhat legitimate sources to be posted by the MR staff.

This guy has had quite a few recent successful predictions (and before anyone else). He's pretty reliable at the moment.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Okay, I know it's a "rumors" site, but I expect at least somewhat legitimate sources to be posted by the MR staff.

In the last couple months, Jon has been extremely accurate.
Every leaker starts somewhere, Jon just started on YT instead of a tech blog
[automerge]1586270648[/automerge]

This guy has had quite a few recent successful predictions (and before anyone else). He's pretty reliable at the moment.

Thank you

 

[HiVolt]

I hope they keep Beats & Airpods, unless they plan to give more controls on Airpods for users outside of the ecosystem.

Beats work properly with every device, not just Apple because they have physical controls.

 

[jaytv111]

iPod, iPod Mini, iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle, iPod Touch.
A product for every use case and price point. How is this any different.

iPod Hi-Fi would be on version 5 and it would still have a 30 pin dock and no other input /s

 

[nicho]

iPod, iPod Mini, iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle, iPod Touch.
A product for every use case and price point. How is this any different.

Add the iPod Photo in there too.

Not to mention the U2 special edition iPod and iPod + HP - I'd rather have their brand on all sorts of products than crap brands all over their products.

 

[Dwalls90]

It makes sense that Apple is trying to wind down the Beats brand. They've already absorbed Beats Music into Apple Music. With most consumer headphones going the wireless dual earbud route, it makes sense to sunset the Beats headphones brand, and rebrand any other headphone technology into the Apple brand. I'm surprised the Beats headphone brand has survived as long as it has.

 

[DinkThifferent]

AirPods X? Jeez, this whole naming scheme is getting confusing.

By using my Boomerthinker3000 I can imagine how this would play out if this name holds up.


Boomer at Best Buy: So the AirPods X are newer than the AirPods Pro? They were not release at the same time as the iPhone X But after the iPhone 11 Pro? ?

 

[imnotthewalrus]

This guy has had quite a few recent successful predictions (and before anyone else). He's pretty reliable at the moment.

We'll see. But - the speculation of End goal: phase out Beats

... really?

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

It makes sense that Apple is trying to wind down the Beats brand. They've already absorbed Beats Music into Apple Music. With most consumer headphones going the wireless dual earbud route, it makes sense to sunset the Beats headphones brand, and rebrand any other headphone technology into the Apple brand. I'm surprised the Beats headphone brand has survived as long as it has.

Got to agree with you here. In 2014, I seriously thought that the entire brand would be gone within two years

 

[gusping]

Wonder if the over-ears will have ANC.

Almost certainly. Very few mid-high end consumer headphones do not have ANC (ignoring audiophile headphones for now). To be competitive they have to have it, simple. They will given AirPods now have ANC. If they are not on par or better than the ANC in Sony's headphones, I will be very disappointed.

 

[JosephAW]

All day battery please.

 

[imnotthewalrus]

It makes sense that Apple is trying to wind down the Beats brand. They've already absorbed Beats Music into Apple Music. With most consumer headphones going the wireless dual earbud route, it makes sense to sunset the Beats headphones brand, and rebrand any other headphone technology into the Apple brand. I'm surprised the Beats headphone brand has survived as long as it has.

I'm not a fan, but Beats has a loyal fanbase. Apple spent a TON of money to acquire the brand. I see no reason they would just drop the brand.

 

[HiVolt]

iPod Hi-Fi would be on version 5 and it would still have a 30 pin dock and no other input /s

LOL, Homepod is even worse, because it offers NO inputs or Bluetooth.

 

[iRutherford]

It makes sense that Apple is trying to wind down the Beats brand. They've already absorbed Beats Music into Apple Music. With most consumer headphones going the wireless dual earbud route, it makes sense to sunset the Beats headphones brand, and rebrand any other headphone technology into the Apple brand. I'm surprised the Beats headphone brand has survived as long as it has.

Beats has earned itself a reputation for being overpriced fashion junk, so it's probably good that they're phasing it out. Apple would have saved so much money if they bought out Nokia's MixRadio instead. It was a solid streaming platform, but as with anything that Microsoft touches during the Steve Ballmer era, they didn't know what to do with it.

 

[FightTheFuture]

We'll see. But - the speculation of End goal: phase out Beats

... really?

I'm not a fan, but Beats has a loyal fanbase. Apple spent a TON of money to acquire the brand. I see no reason they would just drop the brand.

Yeah I don’t see this either. Regardless of its flaws, Beats is an extremely popular brand. Even with the AirPods phenomenon, Beats Studios, Solos and PowerBeats still sell well. In fact, with all of Apple’s wearables revenue, the emphasis is on AirPods and Apple Watch. A big chunk of that might be Beats products.