Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Obvious move after AirPods and HomePod. But what I don’t get is, why haven’t they just rebranded Beats?
 
Obvious move after AirPods and HomePod. But what I don’t get is, why haven’t they just rebranded Beats?

This is the first time i know Apple is leaving Beats alone. for some reason i'll never know.. Probably Apple wants to just compete.
 
AirPods I get as an Apple branded product, but surely this should be a Beats branded product? Or are we saying Beats are going to dodo?
 
Obvious move after AirPods and HomePod. But what I don’t get is, why haven’t they just rebranded Beats?

Beats was a strong brand to begin with, and there's still a lot of money to be made there. Apple probably acquired them in order to curtail their growth and feature development, knowing that they themselves were going to occupy the same space five years down the line. I'm not sure that beats were or are anything special, but they were clearly popular.
 
I would be absolutely shocked if these could hold a candle to my audio technica ath m50x’s. And of course, we cant forget that they would presumably cost twice as much, too.

but damn these look ugly..i wouldn't want to leave the house with them.
 
So these are going to be Apple branded headphones and not Beats? What exactly is the purpose of Apple developing its own audio accessories separate from Beats? :confused:
 
Apple killed off their Wi-Fi router and display departments, haven’t updated the Mac Pro in over four years, and haven’t updated the Mac Mini in over three years.

Because the AirPods are selling like hot cakes and will help to keep people with the iPhone, their biggest cash cow.
They are not alot of fun when you use them with an android device.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bernuli
It’s not really surprising at all. The iPhone is Apple’s top money maker, and so the next logical step is to release more iPhone accessories to further monetise the iPhone user base.

1) iPad - uses the same apps as the iPhone
2) Airpods - why do you think the iPhone lost the headphone jack?
3) Apple Watch - the best smartwatch for the iPhone
4) AirPower - to charge everything
5) Apple TV / HomePod - airplay from your iPhone
6) services such as Apple Pay, Apple Music, Siri, iMessage and iCloud make more sense on the iPhone than any other Apple product.

The Apple headphones should be extremely profitable (the R&D costs are fixed, while the production costs should be fairly low), so it’s fairly low-hanging fruit for Apple.

Compared to this, the Mac actually has very little integration with the iPhone. The Mac Pro, monitor and Mac mini are very niche products and sales revenue likely won’t even cover the R&D costs.
Apple should just rename the company to iPhone, Inc.
 
  • Like
Reactions: pratikindia
I always laugh when I see the words "high end" and "earphones" being used together. If you want to feel music, you have to listen loud and you have to have a pair of good floor speakers. Listening to music through headphones is a joke imo.
 
So these are going to be Apple branded headphones and not Beats? What exactly is the purpose of Apple developing its own audio accessories separate from Beats? :confused:

Beats has alot of young fans spread across all kinds of devices outside of the apple world, thanks to some clever marketing and they are making good money. I think they won't touch them as long as it still works.

But there are also people who hate Beats.

And they also want to make headphones that keep you in their ecosystem, which is probably the main reason.
[doublepost=1519556562][/doublepost]
I always laugh when I see the words "high end" and "earphones" being used together. If you want to feel music, you have to listen loud and you have to have a pair of good floor speakers. Listening to music through headphones is a joke imo.

I guess you don't know what high end means..
 
They recently came out with new MacBooks, new iMac, new iMac Pro, and are working on the new Mac Pro. Other than Mac mini, what exactly would you consider "focusing" on the Mac?

Not creating garbage and gimmicks Macs.
 
Rtings.com is a website that objectively tests frequency response, soundstage, imaging, and loads of other critical criteria that affect sound quality. Here’s there review of the m50x: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/audio-technica/ath-m50x-professional-monitor . Now here’s the highest rated headphone on their site: https://www.rtings.com/headphones/reviews/sennheiser/hd-800-s-reference-hd800s . One of those costs $1400 and the other costs $150. According to their review, the sennheisers have worse bass and mid reproduction, and more harmonic distortion than the m50x! Where they win is in soundstage, imaging, and treble. The m50x’s are not just an incredible value, they’re an incredible set of headphones outright.

I've had them, they're average.

Beyer Dynamics low end range wipes the floor with them - and just about everything Sennheiser makes sound much better, even the cheap HD 598 CS. But you can pick up a rebranded pair of the legendary 650's from Massdrop for a ridiculous $250, which will kill anything up to about $500 (which is their original price).
 
Apple, can you focus little bit more back on Macintosh?

There are much better profit margins in these sorts of products then the traditional laptop and desktop market. Apple is just following the money. With iDevices, Watch, Audio products, etc. the margins are so good that the Mac doesn’t even matter anymore. Oh Tim Cook will tell you they just love the Mac and are ever so focused on it... their actions tell me different.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bernuli
I always laugh when I see the words "high end" and "earphones" being used together. If you want to feel music, you have to listen loud and you have to have a pair of good floor speakers. Listening to music through headphones is a joke imo.

Well a pair of Sennheiser HD800's with a Subpac and a decent amp setup is going to blow away the best floor standing speakers you could buy in your life time.
 
Obvious move after AirPods and HomePod. But what I don’t get is, why haven’t they just rebranded Beats?

Beats are the low end product. I agree with Lemmy's view on them, like listening through a wet towel. Needs a new product to sit in the high end area.

And yes, I've tried them, I'm going through the dilemma of what exactly to buy just now, I use speakers and headphones in roughly equal proportions, so can't decide between the two. I guess Apple headphones that get sound reviews as good as the home pod would push me that way, especially with good noise cancelling, so I better wait until they get released.

I'd like airPods, but they just don't stay in my ears, any movement, such as breathing, makes them fall out.
 
Last edited:
This has peaked my interest, but I would be more interested if a wired option was developed. I'll patiently wait and see.
 
interesting to say the least.. I wonder what they will do with beats, and how they will position it against beat headphones. Any chance they will discontinue them? Or just never update them and let them die off like they do with products Tim doesn't want to focus on.... Mac Mini, Mac Pro (cheap shot I know),....

Before Apple bought beats, Beats was heavily advertising, especially with pro athletes. I don't see them doing that anymore since Apple's acquisition. I wonder if their sales are down or if the acquisition was just a bridge to enter a market, and remove a powerful competitor in Apple's quest for world dominance.
Apple bought Beats to acquire their streaming service which became Apple Music. The headphone hardware is purely coincidental and not a priority and will be left to die or become a step child. Which, in all fairness, is not a bad thing as Beats headphones are garbage.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Eduardo75890
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.