Apple Headphones

Back in 2018, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told investors that Apple was producing high-end, over-ear headphones with features similar to AirPods.

Apple Headphones Leaks

Since the original report, we’ve continued to hear information relating to Apple’s over the ear headphones.

In our continued coverage of iOS 14, 9to5Mac exclusively showed the icon devices will show when the Apple Headphones are connected.

The two icons discovered by 9to5Mac give us the clearest picture to date of how high-end, over-ear Apple headphones will look. These glyphs are used in iOS 14 to represent the unreleased headphones throughout the operating system including Apple’s battery and charging status widget.

It’s possible the light and dark icons could represent other colors beyond black and white options. While Beats headphones have multiple color options, the AirPods are still only available in white. Each icon also gives us an idea of the size of each headphone and the amount of padding on the cups/band.

Features

Bloomberg says that the headphones will feature magnetically swappable components, allowing the user to customize the product for their own style and ergonomics.

The ear pads and headband padding attach to the frame of the headphones magnetically so they can be replaced by the user. That approach is similar to some headphones from Master & Dynamic and Bowers & Wilkins, though those models only have magnetic ear pads. Apple’s more modular design will allow users to customize their headphones like they do with the Apple Watch. The design may also mean the same set of headphones would be convertible from comfort to fitness use and back again, the people said.

Apple Headphones Price

The price for the over the ear headphones is unknown at this time, but early rumors expect them to be priced at a premium.

Release Date

The code that we discovered the icons in was from December 2019, so it’s probable that Apple intends to release them sometime in the fall of 2020. Of course, disruptions to the supply chain due to COVID-19 could also impact the actual release date. Apple might be considering holding them back for sale until the economic conditions improve. Bloomberg has also reported the fall release date.