Apple Working On Own, High-Quality Headphones Without Beats Branding?
Apple looks to be planning to branch out from their AirPods and Beats brand audio wearables. The company is reportedly developing a new line of over-the-ear, high-quality headphones with an "all-new" design.
The report was from a new note to investors left by KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who's known for his relatively accurate predictions on what the company is doing next. According to Apple Insider, Kuo is predicting that Apple will be building on the surprising demand for their AirPods last year by bringing out a whole new line of over-the-ear headphones.
These new headphones, which are likely to be Apple branded instead of the Apple Beats brand that the company uses for their headsets, could also come out as soon as this year 2018.
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The headphones will supposedly feature an "all-new" design, Kuo notes, something that is believed to pack all the features of the AirPod merged with the better acoustic qualities of the bigger headphone drivers of an over-the-ear design.
The new headphones, when they come out, will likely be wireless, with the newer Bluetooth chips that Apple could also be putting into the next generation of AirPods later this year. Parts and components could come from SZS, a supplier specialized in metal injection molded parts, perhaps indicating that the ear cups at least could be made of metal.
With Apple still not announcing anything in the way of new AirPods or headsets, the details remain unclear. The company, as it looks right now, is branching out into several audio applications at once, starting with the newer AirPods, the new HomePod, and now, what looks like a new focus on high-end audio devices developed in-house, as Engadget noted.
The new device, when it comes out, is likely to launch not earlier than the last quarter of 2018, as Kuo noted.
