Beats Electronics

Apple appears to have officially discontinued the Beats Pill+ portable Bluetooth speaker that was first announced in 2015. The speaker was actually the first totally new product to come from Apple under the Beats brand following its $3 billion acquisition of the company in 2014. The product has now been discontinued without a clear replacement.

Beats announced this week a new special edition of its Beats Flex earbuds in partnership with Japanese musician and designer Hiroshi Fujiwara and fashion retailer SSENSE. Based on the same hardware as the original Beats Flex, the special edition features a “minimalist, tonal black design.”

Beats earlier today introduced new truly wireless Beats Fit Pro earbuds after they were leaked last month. However, the company has also quietly discontinued three other headphones in the Beats family, which are the Powerbeats, Beats Solo Pro, and Beats EP.

Apple’s Beats brand is expanding its lineup of truly wireless earbuds today with the official introduction of the Beats Fit Pro. After leaking last month in Apple’s release of iOS 15.1, the Beats Fit Pro pack a flexible wingtip design, Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency mode, and more for a compelling $199.99 price point. Head below for the full details.

Apple today announced multiple new products at its “Unleashed” special event, such as the new redesigned MacBook Pro, AirPods 3, HomePod mini in new colors, and a new Siri-based plan for Apple Music. However, 9to5Mac also found out that the company is about to launch new Beats Fit Pro earbuds.

Apple is rolling out a new firmware version for headphones powered by the W1 or H1 chip. This includes AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, AirPods (second-generation), Beats Solo Pro, and Powerbeats 4. Head below for details on how to check your firmware version.

Apple introduced the Beats Flex wireless earphones last year, which came as a better and cheaper replacement to the BeatsX. While the Beats Flex earphones were available for $49 until a few days ago, Apple mysteriously raised the price to $69 this week.

Beats is expanding its lineup of truly wireless earbuds today with the new Beats Studio Buds. After several weeks of rumors, the new Beats Studio Buds are available to order starting today in the US and Canada for $149.99 with Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency Mode, USB-C charging, and more.

Head below for all of the details on Beats Studio Buds.

After we uncovered the upcoming Beats Studio Buds in iOS 14.6, we’ve seen them out in the wild with LeBron James sporting the earbuds on social media. Now US soccer star Alex Morgan has done the same with the white variant of the Beats Studio Buds.

We reported earlier this month that Apple is working on new truly wireless earbuds under the Beats brand called “Beats Studio Buds.” Although the earbuds had already been approved by the FCC, the company has yet to announce the product. However, it seems that LeBron James already has a pair of the new Beats Studio Buds.

The iOS 14.6 RC released to developers and public beta users last week revealed an unannounced new pair of Beats Studio Buds earbuds. Now, those earbuds have officially received FCC approval, further suggesting that an official announcement could be imminent.

With the release of iOS 14.6 RC today for developers, Apple is preparing to release Apple Music Lossless. At the same time, 9to5Mac found something that hasn’t been announced by the company until now: a new Beats Studio earbuds.

This finding comes after 9to5Mac exclusively reported last week that Apple has hired Scott Croyle to oversee Beats product design.

There was a wild rumor making the rounds last year that Apple planned to phase out its successful Beats hardware brand and go all in with Apple-branded audio hardware. 9to5Mac reported at the time that burying Beats was “not a strategy that Apple plans to pursue” or even consider.

We’ve since learned more about was happening behind the scenes in California. Rather than discontinuing the Beats brand, Apple was hiring its first in-house designer to oversee Beats product design.

Last October, Beats expanded its lineup of wireless earbuds with the new $49 Beats Flex. Packing Apple’s W1 chip for seamless connectivity to Apple devices, the Beats Flex have proven to be a popular choice for budget shoppers. Today, Beats is further expanding the Flex lineup with two new color options: Flame Blue and Smoke Gray.

Beats introduced last month the new Beats Flex headphones replacing BeatsX as the cheapest headphones sold under the Beats brand — which belongs to Apple. The company is today launching a new advertising campaign to promote its new headphones while also sharing messages against racial inequality.

Beats is out with a new variant of its popular Powerbeats headphones today in an all-new glow-in-the-dark design. The new Powerbeats were designed in collaboration with the lifestyle brand AMBUSH, making this release the first official collaboration between AMBUSH and Beats, and the first glow-in-the-dark Beats product.