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KGI: Apple Developing High-End Over-Ear Headphones, Launching Late 2018 at the Earliest
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Because AirPods only work with Apple products? Oh wait...
You bet they'll be wireless only. Otherwise they'd brand them Beats Pro.
I still dig the hd650's
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More low end! The beats philosophy.
You mean like the AirPods that only work with Apple products. Not.
Apple’s not a very hard company to read. Their revenue comes from hardware, and so they will not support a product line which isn’t profitable in its own right.
I do believe that Apple is passionate about the Mac (you need one to develop ios apps in the very least), but the challenge comes in ensuring it remains mass-market and lucrative.
Hence their reticence in updating the Mac mini and Mac Pro, which are likely very niche products that hardly earn enough revenue to pay for themselves.
I suspect that moving forward, we may see the Mac line shrink to the MacBook Pro (both 13” and 15”) and iMac (normal and iMac Pro), with the iPad taking the place of the general-purpose computer for the masses. I know that Apple has promised us a new Mac Pro sometime next year, and I guess we will just have to see what they can pull out of that hat of theirs.
Damn, I'm deciding which headphones to buy and now I see this!
Just bought a pair of B&W PX yesterday and see this. Don't get me wrong, they sound great, but I've been spoiled by the convenience of the W1 in my AirPods. If this rumour is true, could be the best of both worlds.
I’m confused with that space when it comes to Apple. They have Beats, but I guess they are looking to expand their own branding?? AirPods, HomePod, and now ... AirPhones??
Right now, I’m in love with my Bose QC35 headphones, not just for the sound, but also for the noise canceling that truly works. A godsend when traveling by plane. Apple would have to at minimum have that feature for me to consider them. Not sure about their sound though and the price point will surely be at a premium.
Right now, I’m in love with my Bose QC35 headphones, not just for the sound, but also for the noise canceling that truly works. A godsend when traveling by plane. Apple would have to at minimum have that feature for me to consider them. Not sure about their sound though and the price point will surely be at a premium.
I think they are going to push Beats as the "cheaper" option, and market the Apple branded headphones as a Pro product, and charge a ridiculous amount of money for them.
That is the best guess I have, but I feel it is pretty solid.
You can get much better sound quality for the price with headphones. If you spend $800 on headphones, you'll get some of the best stuff on the market. If you spend $800 on a 2.1 setup you won't end up with much in the way of quality gear. Additionally, with headphones you can completely isolate left and right channels, which you cannot do with loudspeakers.
I say this as someone with floorstanding speakers and someone who much prefers listening to my loudspeakers rather than through headphones. If someone is looking for sound quality, without regard to method though, headphones are the way to go, especially once you factor in what you can get for the same money.
Oh, please. Stop being melodramatic. Audiophiles are pretty brand specific with a brand's 'house sound. And amplifiers matter. They will do well but won't bust it up. I could be wrong, though.
I think they are going to push Beats as the "cheaper" option, and market the Apple branded headphones as a Pro product, and charge a ridiculous amount of money for them.
That is the best guess I have, but I feel it is pretty solid.
I agree with this. It’s my guess as well. Beats has been mid-range for a while. Many consumers are very familiar with them and most likely wouldn’t pay a premium for that branding. They seem to go on sale regularly these days. If Apple wants to play in that space and get top dollar, it would make sense to go under their own label. A premium price is expected when Apple’s name is on the product.
I believe that. But audio technica ath m50x and all the other random names are the competition. They don't know how to name their products. I'll never understand why they shoot themselves in the foot.
If the Airpods weren't like the Earpods, where they are limited in fitting, I would give them a 14 day test drive. For the price, you would think Apple could come up with some ear accessories so that people with different size ear canals could wear the pods.
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I am guessing its the price that determines whether one opens the door to a purchase or not.
Yep. Except, like I mentioned above, I have a pair of Beats Studio 2's and I really like them. I think they are pretty damn good for the price. I also have AirPods, which I love but obviously the AirPods and Beats Studio's have different use cases.
Apple will definitely market these as "Pro Series" headphones, and they will discount all Beats products and the new Apple "Pro Series" headphones will cost an arm and a leg. They will market them towards audiophiles I bet. I am also sure they will adopt some of the technology from the AirPods, like instead of how Beats have a physical volume up/down button on the left side ear cup, these new "Pro Series" headphones will probably just have tap/touch controls like on the AirPods. They might even have their own special edition W series chip in them or something?
Bottom line = $
$$$$$Haha.
I don't think you're wrong. If these were going to be headphones for anyone, maybe, but even then unlikely. Let's not forget Apple's worldwide smartphone market share is 14% and these headphones would be designed as Apple device accessories, like AirPods and HomePod. If Apple wanted to disrupt the headphone market they'd design these for everyone, not just Apple customers. Apple's simply looking to grab a chunk of revenue from what is a large market and give people an option from the Apple ecosystem, rather than only third-parties.
The era of smartphone growth is over, everybody has one now. That's what drove Apple's growth for the last decade. If Cook wants to keep Apple growing, they have to look into a variety of new products, which is what we've seen with Apple Watch, AirPods, and HomePods. Everyone 'needs' a smartphone, but not everyone needs a watch or a HomePod, so Apple needs to put multiple potential options out there that customers may be interested in.
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IMHO not as much for the quality of the product than the marketshare and access to Jimmy who has relationships w Music Industry heads and most major recording artists. All to build iTunes
Since none of the music sources supplied by Apple are hi fi, what would be the point of "hi end" earphones? So you can detect the compression and distortion
better?
better?
I do not think it would be hard for Apple to roll out hi-fi albums across iTunes. So if they are going in the "Pro Series" direction, I bet iTunes gets hi-fi music.