System icon leak hints at incoming over-ear Apple headphones
A leaked system icon from iOS 14 strongly hints that Apple is readying the release of its own over-ear headphones (via9to5Mac). It has long been rumoured that Apple would produce its own bigger audio product after the success of the AirPods, the first generation of which was released in 2016.
The icon looks to show quite substantial, studio-style over ear headphones that could be larger than the existing Beats headphones line. The latest wireless Beats headphones including thePowerbeats Prohave Apple’s quick pairing Bluetooth chip inside ported over from the AirPods.
Powerbeats Pro actually display their own icon within iOS when connected, so although this new leak could well be Apple over-ear headphones, it might end up being a new pair of over-ear Beats seeing as the model icons are also included in current iOS versions.
With a black and white icon leaked, there should be at least two colours of these mystery ‘phones.
The recentBeats Solo Proare the closest thing to high-end Apple-branded headphones yet with the same noise cancellation and Transparency mode found in Apple’sAirPods Pro.
9to5Mac said that the icons they found were in code from a December 2019 iOS 14 build, so it’s unclear when we might see the headphones. There’s still an Apple event rumoured for later this month, but with the coronavirus outbreak it could mean that it, and June’s WWDC, will be cancelled. It’s unclear if this will affect Apple’s product release schedule.
Author: Henry Burrell, Contributor
Previously Tech Advisor’s Phones Editor, Henry covers and reviews every smartphone worth knowing about. He spends a lot of time moving between different handsets and shouting at WhatsApp to support multiple devices at once.
