Do you think iPhone 6 will ship with Beats by Dre earbuds?

[ThatsMeRight]

So, I was just browsing the Beats (by Dre) website and I accidentally stumbled upon these:

They normally retail for $99, but in-ear headphones are generally high-margin products (e.g. very cheap to produce, yet very expensive to buy).

Do you think Apple might include these Beats earphones? It would be a massive marketing advantage for Apple and the colours happen to match the colours of the iPhone.

They can advertise with the popular Beats brand and say $99 headphones are included (while in reality, it might only cost Apple $5).

Or do you think Apple will continue including their standard 'EarPods'?

 

[pooleman]

I'd love them to include these in the box but I doubt that will happen.

 

[Gathomblipoob]

I hope not. The standard EarPods will do me just fine.

 

[Black Magic]

Doubt they would. They would lose money if they didn't mark up the price on the entire phone. Beats are seriously overpriced.

They will probably throw in a free 1 month subscription to Beats Music Service though.

 

[ThatsMeRight]

Doubt they would. They would lose money if they didn't mark up the price on the entire phone. Beats are seriously overpriced.

They will probably throw in a free 1 month subscription to Beats Music Service though.

Except Beats is now part from Apple. Apple doesn't pay the [overpriced] customer price. They pay the production price, which is probably very low.

 

[sunking101]

Except Beats is now part from Apple. Apple doesn't pay the [overpriced] customer price. They pay the production price, which is probably very low.

Sure, but they will want iPhone users to 'upgrade' to these Beats earphones. Why would they include them?

 

[ucfgrad93]

I think Apple will continue to ship their standard earbuds with the iPhone.

 

[ThatsMeRight]

Sure, but they will want iPhone users to 'upgrade' to these Beats earphones. Why would they include them?

To get them in the Beats ecosystem. These in-ear headphones are basically the most basic headphones Beats offer.
The real upgrade, of course, will be the over-ear headphones that cost hundreds of dollars.

Additionally, there is the marketing benefit. "An iPhone includes Beats headphones worth $100 for free!" (While those headphones only cost Apple maybe $5).

 

[Black Magic]

Except Beats is now part from Apple. Apple doesn't pay the [overpriced] customer price. They pay the production price, which is probably very low.

True but Apple is about profit margins. Giving away millions of headsets/earbuds for free with purchase of an iPhone doesn't make any dollars so it doesn't make any sense. iPhone (6, Air, L) will be purchased by the tens of millions. Saturating the market with free Beats will leave nobody left to buy them off the shelf. Folks typically don't refresh headphones/earbuds yearly either.

It would be nice though.

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Sure, but they will want iPhone users to 'upgrade' to these Beats earphones. Why would they include them?

I agree with this and like how you put quotes around upgrade. Beats are marketed as premium headphones. Even the in-ear versions are $129 retail. Giving them away hurts the premium image/marketing.

 

[juanrp]

No, I don't think so. They prefer for people to 'upgrade' to them so Apple still makes money.

I do wish however, that they would make color matched EarPods...I got nothing to lose with just hoping. Although hope is a dangerous thing.

Anyway, I wish they would bring Beats audio over to the iPhone...my sisters M7 has great speaker quality, maybe the iphone could bring that to the table. Depending on how apple integrates it, of course.

 

[Bobby Corwen]

Its not about money or cost. They could manage it theoretically... but the problem is more about the urban nature of their frequency equalizations.

In short, its not a mass solution, only for the hip crowd.

As much as I would like a pair of these for free with a phone as opposed to the generic sound of the current buds (and why does the left always break every time), its just not neutral enough of an EQ style like the current pods and the previous buds to be versatile enough for a wide variety of people and uses.

The current pods are also more comfortable and breathe lighter than suction cup sound blocking in-ear types that create a mini cave feeling in your brain that can be fatiguing like if you're just using the headset to have a voice call or something while driving.

 

[Black Magic]

Its not about money or cost. They could manage it theoretically... but the problem is more about the urban nature of their frequency equalizations.

In short, its not a mass solution, only for the hip crowd.

As much as I would like a pair of these for free with a phone as opposed to the generic sound of the current buds (and why does the left always break every time), its just not neutral enough of an EQ style like the current pods and the previous buds to be versatile enough for a wide variety of people and uses.

The current pods are also more comfortable and breathe lighter than suction cup sound blocking in-ear types that create a mini cave feeling in your brain that can be fatiguing like if you're just using the headset to have a voice call or something while driving.

The current EarPods are stylish and go with any type of person (executive or young adult). Not sure I can say the same for Beats.

 

[bobright]

No way the hipsters would throw hissy fits rofl

 

[Gathomblipoob]

No way the hipsters would throw hissy fits rofl

I just hate the artificially overemphasized bass of Beats headphones.

 

[NovemberWhiskey]

It would be a great marketing move to at least offer the option of a beats upgrade (or perhaps if they offer several different tiers of iphone, put this on the high-end model as standard).

Even if they used a lower quality headset, just slapping the Beats name on there would attract buyers.

Of course this is purely from a marketing perspective. If they start doing this, that Beats acquisition is starting to look smarter and smarter.

 

[Truefan31]

iPhone 6s. S- sound and sapphire

 

[x-evil-x]

I hope not. The standard EarPods will do me just fine.

you actually use those? missing out...

i guess some people don't like good earbuds.

 

[jolux]

It just occurred to me that those colored Beats may have been a clever hint at things to come...

 

[Gathomblipoob]

you actually use those? missing out...

i guess some people don't like good earbuds.

No, I don't like exaggerated bass with my jazz, classical, and rock. If I want to drown out half of my mids and highs, I'll go with Beats.

 

[Tthomas612]

I do like those ear buds, but I don't think that the iPhone 6, 6s, 7, 7s, the 6c, 6L. ... None of them will ship with them...

I understand Apple doesn't have to spend much money making this and that's the exact reason they won't ship them with any iPhone....

PROFIT MARGIN

You can sale double the amount of the iPhones or ear buds or phone cases or whatever that you sold last year, but if your profit margin drops instead of going up then there's a whole new set of problems.

Could I be wrong? Of course, but for one this just isn't the way Apple does things. We're talking about a company that still uses 16gb for the entry level flagship... Because of PROFIT MARGIN...

I don't see it happening not this year or anytime in the near or distant future

 

[cmaier]

To get them in the Beats ecosystem. These in-ear headphones are basically the most basic headphones Beats offer.
The real upgrade, of course, will be the over-ear headphones that cost hundreds of dollars.

Additionally, there is the marketing benefit. "An iPhone includes Beats headphones worth $100 for free!" (While those headphones only cost Apple maybe $5).

Didn't seem to work for htc when they tried it.

 

[cynics]

Has Apple ever included brand name stuff with anything they've sold? Getting some Beats earbuds with my iPhone just sounds cheesy.

Personally I'm fine with the standard earbuds. I'm not an audiophile so I have a tough time noticing better sound quality through better earbuds.

However I'm not opposed to the idea of higher quality earbuds standard in box.

 

[x-evil-x]

No, I don't like exaggerated bass with my jazz, classical, and rock. If I want to drown out half of my mids and highs, I'll go with Beats.

so you stick to earbuds that sound like crap. makes sense. I'm not saying you need beats but the apple earbuds are horrible(imo) i still have the unopened set from my last 4 iPhones if you want them

 

[Black Magic]

so you stick to earbuds that sound like crap. makes sense. I'm not saying you need beats but the apple earbuds are horrible(imo) i still have the unopened set from my last 4 iPhones if you want them

Ill take them if they are the EarPods.

Regarding Beats (urBeats), I looked up the reviews on Amazon and came away unimpressed. Apparently the build quality is poor and they will break soon. Apple will want to avoid that PR nightmare.

 

[iamMacPerson]

If they do include them, I have a feeling it will be on the higher end models. Look at what they did with the 5th Gen Touch; the 16GB dropped price but $30, gained a camera and iPod touch loop, but no lanyard so it makes the loop pointless without spending the extra $20-$30.

They might make it where the 5.5" iPhone comes with Beats, but the 4.7" models come with EarPods. Or the higher capacity models get Beats and the lower end ones get EarPods.

It could be possible they will pull something like they did with the dock in the 1st Gen iPhone's case; include the Beats headphones with the iPhone 6, then the 6s will include only the EarPods.

The fact each color is named after the color of the iPhone (gold, silver, space gray) leads me to believe that they might be included if for no other reason then color coating. Would be nice if they were exclusive to the iPhone only, but they are already sold for retail so I don't see that happening.