Apple may be slowly phasing out its Beats product line to give way to new over-ear headphones and the rumored “AirPods X.”
Tech analyst Jon Prosser in a tweet on April 7, showed the code name, price range, and supposed launch of the two new headsets from Apple.
You ready for this? ????
Apple Over-Ear Headphones
Codename: B515
(Think Beats 700)
$350
Aimed for WWDCAirPods X
Codename: B517
For sports/running
(think Beats X)
~$200
Aimed for Sept/Oct☝️ Probably what DigiTimes thought was “AirsPods Pro Lite”
End goal: phase out Beats ????
— Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) April 7, 2020
In his tweet, Prosser hinted of the “AirProds X” which he said are made “for sports/running.”
Interestingly, Prosser tweet also hinted that Apple might be ready to phase out products out of Beats, a company that Apple acquired for US$3 billion in 2014.
Prosser has been accurate on his information about Apple’s releases. He also earlier tweeted about the iPhone 9.
Successor to the AirPods
According to Prosser, the next model for the Airpods series will be dubbed as “AirPods X,” adding that this product was earlier rumored to be the “AirPods Pro Lite.”
Right now, the code name for the headset device is “B517,” according to Prosser. He hinted that the AirPods X will likely look like Beats X.
If that’s the case, then this would be a first for an AirPod flagship to have cables, which makes perfect sense since these new products are reportedly designed for sports and running.
Prosser said that Apple might be eyeing this device to be released between September and October. It is likely to be sold for a price tag of US$200.
Bose-like headphones
Another device tipped is the Apple over-ear headphones that is likely to be introduced during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2020 this June.
The over-ear headphones is accordingly going to look similar to that of Bose 700, which is a bit slimmer compared to the Beats’ signature look. The Bose-like headphones will be set for US$350, according to Prosser’s tweet.
Prosser, on another tweet, answered his followers’ curiosity about Apple looking like it is competing with a brand it already owns.
Prosser said the AirPods brand is “more meaningful and valuable” to Apple than Beat. “They wanna make everything in-house and ship with an Apple logo instead,” Prosser tweeted.
Apple has also been selling Beats products at 40% for employees only to try to clear out inventory pic.twitter.com/L1R6nULv1Q
— Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) April 7, 2020
The well-known Apple tipster further noted that Apple will try to slowly phase out the Beats brand. In fact, the audio products are being sold to its employees on big discounts to clear out the inventory.
In addition, Forbes reported that the “mythical headphones” were noticed in the iOS 14 code. This further strengthens the rumors of supposed AirPods X and the over-ear headphones.
Featured image courtesy of Flickr/Kārlis Dambrāns