Apple Set To Enter Over Ear Premium Headphone Market

Apple who are looking to expand into the Hi Fi and home entertainment market is close to launching a pair of over ear noise cancelling headphones which will be a first for the iPhone maker according to analysts.

The move could create problems for brands such as Bose and Sennheiser who have benefitted from Apple not having an over ear headphone offering.

Unlike the firm’s AirPods the new headphones are designed to integrate with Apple music content and are tipped to cost over $600.

This would place them in the same price bracket as the Sony WH-1000XM3 and Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless.

Hints of the pending release have come from people such as analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s who last month predicted that we would see the first pair of Apple over-ear headphones at the start of this year.

Then US retailer Target listed a pair of ‘Apple AirPods (X Generation)’ headphones in its inventory.

Kuo has a track record when it comes to predicting Apple launches, he predicted the Apple AirPods Pro, and the 16-inch MacBook Pro.

The new headphones are believed to have been set for a March launch which is when Apple often releases new products however some are predicting that due to the Coronavirus Apple could resort to an online launch of new products subject to availability.

The event could also see the launch of a new budget iPhone.

As for a name some are tipping ‘AirPods Studio’ or ‘AirPods X’ to emphasise that these offer a more rounded sound than the AirPods Pro claims one observer.

Hints of the new cans have appeared in several places, Apple’s latest iOS 14 update includes a new glyph, which 9to5Mac identified it appears to show Apple’s new wireless over-ear headphones.

Then there was a recent FCC filing for the Powerbeats4, as well as the appearance of two sets of over-ears, wireless headphones in different colourways: black (or space grey) and white. The cans have sizable earcups with generous grey padding on the inside, and no apparent wires.

The US Company already owns the Beats range of headphones.

About Post Author

David Richards

David Richards has been writing about technology for more than 30 years. A former Fleet Street journalist, he wrote the Award Winning Series on the Federated Ships Painters + Dockers Union for the Bulletin that led to a Royal Commission. He is also a Logie Winner for Outstanding Contribution To TV Journalism with a story called The Werribee Affair. In 1997, he built the largest Australian technology media company and prior to that the third largest PR company that became the foundation company for Ogilvy PR. Today he writes about technology and the impact on both business and consumers.