Beats seems to be about to have a fairly busy spring. We already know that Studio Buds Plus earbuds are on the way (and probably soon), thanks to a premature Amazon listing. And now 9to5Mac reports that a refreshed set of Studio Pro noise-cancelling headphones are also in the works after being spotted in the iOS 16.5 release candidate that went to developers yesterday.
Referring to sources familiar with the headphones, 9to5Mac says we can expect more powerful noise reduction and an improved transparency mode. The $350 Studio 3 Headphones — still sold by Apple as of now — don’t offer any passthrough/transparency mode. But Beats has done a pretty good job with the feature on the Solo Pro headphones released in 2019 and the more recent earbuds. So it makes sense to bring transparency to the flagship over-ear cans. The report says we can also expect features such as personalized spatial audio.
The Studio 3 headphones are very long in the tooth at this point, having been introduced way back in 2017.
The new Studio Pro will come in four colors, according to 9to5Mac, including black, brown, dark blue and white. The design is very similar to the Studio 3 headphones, although Beats is expected to upgrade them to USB-C; yes, the Studio 3 is old enough to charge via Micro USB.
I have to imagine the Studio Pro headphones will replace them. But if these new headphones hit an asking price of over $300 again, they’ll face some fantastic high-end competition from Sony, Bose, Sennheiser, Bowers and Wilkins, and other brands. And you’ve got Apple’s AirPods Max even higher up the price ladder. Will Beats be able to properly argue why the Studio Pros stand out from the field? We should have a better idea in the not too distant future.