Apple is ready to expand its audio portfolio seeing as how people have been lapping up its AirPods and loving the sound of the HomePod. Now, the company could be planning for a high-end over-the-ear noise canceling headphones to take on the likes of Bose and even its own Beats by Dre brand. As per a Bloomberg report, people familiar with the product’s development say that Apple could launch its own premium headphones by the end of 2018.
In addition to them being noise canceling, the headphones will also support wireless pairing similar to the AirPods. This makes sense since Apple has been all about going wireless by ditching the traditional 3.5mm headphone jack since the iPhone 7. The AirPods offer a quick and seamless pairing with the iPhone by simply opening the case next to it and tapping on Connect. Of course, with the over-the-ear headphone, pairing may be slightly different, but the report does not go into much detail on that.
Bloomberg’s report adds that development challenges could push back the launch of the headphones even further, but nothing is sure as of now. Apple had to delay the launch of the HomePod as well due to similar issues that also included multiple redesigns. The HomePod was scheduled to start shipping in December during the holiday season. However, Apple had to push back the shipments to early 2018 as the company needed a little more time. The upcoming headphones could possibly see some redesigns as well before it is ready for unveiling or the project could be scrapped altogether, people familiar with the matter said. The report also notes that Apple may look to a different supplier for the headphones and will not go with Inventec Corp. that manufactures the HomePod.
It is quite interesting to hear about Apples plans of developing its own noise canceling headphones considering it purchased audio product maker Beats by Dre for around $3 billion a few years ago. An Apple headphone would directly take on the company’s own subsidiary and could potentially cannabalize it, which begs one to question about the future of Beats. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Apple’s headphones will look to offer better sound quality than what Beats products provide. Beats also makes low-end wireless headphones and earphones that will not necessarily have to face-off against Apples headphones or the AirPods for that matter. So essentially what we could be looking at is Beats targeting the lower-end of the market while Apple will price its own headphones much higher.
Apple in recent years has been focussing quite a lot on delivering high-quality sound. The HomePod – Apples first bid in the smart speaker game – has been widely regarding as probably the best sounding smart speaker in the market right now, but lacks the smarts of the Google Home or Amazon Echo. Meanwhile, as per a report last month, Apple is also working on a successor to the AirPods which will come with water-resistance and Hey, Siri voice support thanks to a new wireless chip.
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