Apple is launching Beats Studio Pro headphones – but where are the AirPods Max 2?
We’ve been waiting years for Beats to upgrade its over-ears headphones and it looks like it’s finally going to happen
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The rumored Beats Studio Pro look to be really happening, after the headphones were spotted in a US FCC filing – the regulatory paperwork that tends to get done just before a product launch – byMacRumorson June 20.
The headphones first turned up in aleak in iOS betalast month, which was a pleasant surprise for us as we were beginning to think thatApplewas more interested in making one of thebest earbudsthan one of thebest over-ear headphones.
After all, six years is a mighty long time in the world of high-end headphones to wait for a new model, but that’s how long it’s been since Beats launched theBeats Studio 3headphones. Since they first appeared in 2017, Apple has tweaked them a little bit, but the core product hasn’t really changed and feels very old compared to thebest headphonesfrom rivals.
The same applies toAirPods Max. I’ve got a pair and love them dearly, butApple’s AirPods Max snub in iOS 17appears to suggest that they have lost interest in them – some of the fancy headphone features announced in iOS 17 aren’t coming to its most expensive headphones.
What do we know about Beats Studio Pro?
There’s no details of the specifications, but previous leaks have strongly suggested that the Beats Studio Pro will be a more affordable alternative to the aging AirPods Max.
Code spotted in the iOS 17 beta strongly suggests that these headphones will have personalized spatial audio and improved noise canceling, which indicates that they’ll probably have the same H2 chip that’s in theAirPods Pro 2or a Beats-flavored equivalent. That means a massive upgrade from the Beats Studio 3, in particular, because this older tech doesn’t support transparency mode let alone anything more fancy.
Beats Studio 3 launched with a price tag of $349 / £349 / AU$499 and I’d expect the Beats Studio Pro to be priced similarly. That makes them considerably more affordable than Apple’s $550 / £550 / AU$899 AirPods Max, which are starting to look even more overpriced than when they first came out.
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Rivals such asSony’s WH-1000XM5are objectively better, and – despite a price hike over their predecessors – they’re considerably cheaper too. The WH-100XM5 retails for $399 / £380 / AU$649 and we’re seeing deals that take the price down significantly. If the price is right, these headphones could put Beats back in the game again.
Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir,Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock bandUnquiet Mind.
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