Apple's next wireless earbuds will look a lot like the Beats Powerbeats Pro
Beats Powerbeats Pro
Icon most likely depicting Powerbeats4 design
These bad boys have been a long time coming, following in the footsteps of the $200 Beats Powerbeats3 unveiled all the way back in 2016. While we don't know a great deal about the features of these no doubt impending wireless earphones, the folks over at MacRumors discovered a few icons in Apple's latest iOS update that seem to coincide with what we expect from the Beats Powerbeats4 in terms of design.
Namely, we see an earbud very similar to the Powerbeats Pro depicted here that just so happens to come with a cord attached to the bottom of its sporty earhook. Don't worry, that doesn't mean these are traditionally wired headphones you're looking at here, but much like the Powerbeats3, the Powerbeats4 probably won't be "true wireless" earphones either. Instead, a presumably flexible cable will once again be in charge of keeping the earbuds together at all times while their actual connection with your iPhone or Android handset will be made using no wires whatsoever.
Powerbeats Pro (left), Powerbeats4 (middle), Powerbeats3 (right)
As you can see in the image above showing the presumed Powerbeats4 flanked by the Powerbeats Pro on the left and Powerbeats3 on the right, the hot new wireless earphones will be fairly easy to distinguish from their non-Pro forerunners. All in all, we expect these babies to be marketed as a slightly cheaper alternative to the $250 Powerbeats Pro with similarly impressive battery life and "modern" features like Hey Siri support and Apple H1 power in tow.
There are no words on a release schedule yet, but knowing Apple, there's a very good chance the Beats Powerbeats4 will see daylight at around the same time as the budget-friendly iPhone 9 this spring.
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