That is the thing though, these "Pro Series" headphones could be like the Apple TV. Apple does not make a lot of money on the Apple TV, remember they always say it is more of a hobbyist product. Now, that may be changing a little bit now since cord-cutting is becoming a bigger thing. I have had every Apple TV generation made, except for the 4k because I do not have a 4k tv..but I love my 4th Gen. ATV. I cut the cord over a year ago and went with a continue to go with DirecTV NOW. Love it, and has helped me save almost $85.00 a month that Time Warner/Spectrum was robbing me of. Anyway...back to the topic at hand...
Now Apple can keep Beats and AirPods as their mainstream headphones, aimed at the non-pro consumer. With the Apple branded "Pro Series" headphones, they can market them at people who want the best headphones that Apple makes, and (my guess) with hi-fi support in iTunes and other services like Tidal possibly. I think these will start off like the Apple TV did, being a hobbyist type product and Apple will see where it goes. They may fly off the store shelves or be a niche product that takes a while to catch on with people. It is not like Apple will be taking a huge chance here, if these were to flop (which I do not think they will) Apple will just fall back on Beats and AirPods. I would most likely buy a pair of these if they are in fact a "Pro Series" type of headphone, especially if they can play hi-fi music and have tap/touch gesture controls like the AirPods, and also always on "Hey Siri" support. I would even make a prediction that if these are pro series type headphones they will probably come with a custom W series chip that only these headphones will have, or maybe a whole new type of chip that only these will support.
Just my best guess...
I just don't get the hangup over the word "Pro." Depending on the person and the topic, either "Pro" is not pro enough, or "Pro" is perfect for their self-image.
What you're describing isn't "pro" in my book, it's audiophile. You're describing end-user concerns, not the needs of content producers. As a former audio content producer, I certainly appreciated when my audience could hear my work under the best conditions, but I'd much rather "best conditions" extended to the kind of affordable gear the masses might buy. What good is all our hard work if only a handful of consumers ever hear it at its best?
I was a professional user of headphones for many years. When I was out in the field recording/broadcasting concerts, I almost never had the luxury of an isolated control room with monitor speakers - I was out in the hall or back stage with a pair of headphones clamped over my ears. Sound isolation was at least as important as sound quality, and durability was equally important - the last thing I'd want is my "ears" crapping out on me in the middle of a show. I also appreciated having efficient 'phones - capable of pumping out the dB SPL with a minimum of input wattage, since a lot of gear came with fairly weak headphone amps (or simply bridged across the +4 dBm line out, like the classic Shure M-67 mixer).
When back in the studios, where there were dozens of pairs of cans in use/abuse by air talent, on-air guests, and session musicians, the staffs I supervised were responsible for making sure everything was working reliably - we were constantly repairing 'phones. A jock might jump up from his chair to cue-up a disk, CD, or tape and promptly separate the cable from the plug. Even without catastrophes, the pivoting/flexing of the ear cups would eventually break the internal connections. Some members of the string section, anxious to get to the next session, might drop their cans to the floor, to be trampled in the stampede... We bought replacement cable assemblies in cartons of 50 or more. If you added up the minutes, we probably spent several weeks out of the year testing the cans we deployed prior to a session, to ensure a minimum of interruptions during the show/session, when someone might shake their head or draw a finger across their throat while pointing to the left or right ear cup. And sound isolation was always a factor - while jocks loved open-ear headphones for the comfort and light weight, they were also highly prone to feedback (especially at the volume levels demanded by the jocks' progressive hearing loss).
So you see, I have my own, personal definition of "pro" that has little to do with audiophile quality. And other pros will have different definitions, based on their particular experience (
including as an audiophile-quality reference for evaluating mixes). It's little different than any other subjective matter like fine wines, fine art, or Olympic ice skating performances, one person's "pro" will be another's "crap."
