Beats Electronics was created in 2006 by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine. They focused on premium speakers and headphones. In 2011, it was estimated they had over 60% of the $100+ speaker market. On August 1, 2014, Apple acquired the company for $3 billion in cash and stock. It was the largest acquisition in Apple’s history.
After being acquired by Apple, Beats Music (a Spotify competitor) was shut down and many of its features found their way into Apple Music. Apple continues to release products under the brand today.
Apple currently makes two sets of earphones that include their new W1 chip: AirPods and Powerbeats3. The W1 chip enables instant pairing over Bluetooth and automatic pairing to iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch over iCloud. Beats Solo3 also have the Apple-designed chip but are on-ear headphones, and BeatsX earphones will have the W1 chip but won’t be available until February.
AirPods and Powerbeats3 include the same benefits of Apple’s W1 chip, but their specs and form factors are very different. Check out our hands-on comparison below:
Here at 9to5Mac readers have a few different ways to stay up to date on our latest news. We strive to push out breaking news as fast as possible to make sure our readers are informed on the latest changes in the Apple environment, but there are some additional steps you can take to get that extra edge in the moments that matter. You may have missed your chance to get the Apple AirPods earlier, but read on to see how you can make sure you won’t miss out on any other future events…
So there’s good news and bad news. Apple’s new wireless AirPods are now available to order with deliveries scheduled for as soon as December 19, but Apple’s new BeatsX models won’t be released until later next year as recently rumored.
Apple and its Beats subsidiary don’t seem to be having much luck with wireless in-ear headphone production. Following the continuing delay in bringing AirPods to market, an email from Apple authorized reseller B&H suggests that the BeatsX earphones will also be significantly delayed.
I’m a pretty big fan of Apple’s recently-launched Beats Solo3 Wireless headphones. The on-ear headphones, which we reviewed back in September, have a high upside for convenience, sound and style. Now that the headphones are widely available in stores, Apple has issued a new advertisement to highlight the advantages of the Beats-branded cans…and Amazon might have another pricing mistake on their hands dropping the price by a whopping $80, something Apple never does with just released products.
As we approach World AIDS Day in December, Apple today has unveiled new (PRODUCT)RED color variants for the Beats Pill+ and Beats Solo3 headphones. Specifically, Apple is calling the red color “Citrus Red.” The new color options aren’t available just yet, but are currently listed as “coming soon” on Apple’s website.
Following the launch of the W1-equipped Beats Solo3 on-ear headphones, Beats has now launched the latest iteration of its Powerbeats wireless earphones, the Powerbeats 3, making it the second audio peripheral to ship with the Apple W1 chip, which enables easy instantaneous pairing between Apple devices.
The Powerbeats 3 feature up to 12 hour battery life on a single charge, with a ‘Fast Fuel’ 5 minute top up charge providing an hour of playtime in a hurry. You can order the Powerbeats 3 from Apple today, priced at $199.95.
The transition to using an iPhone without a headphone jack is one that is taking some people awhile to get used to, but Beats is taking advantage of the situation. In a new ad released today, Beats touts its latest lineup of wireless products, including the Beats Solo3, Powerbeats3, and BeatsX.
The Beats brand has become one of the most well-known ones in recent times, but one of the minds behind the rise of Beats is departing from the company. According to a new report from Fast Company, Beats By Dre’s chief marketing officer Omar Johnson is leaving the company effective next month.
Alongside the iPhone 7 earlier this month, Apple introduced a new lineup of Beats products, including the Solo3, Powerbeats 3, Beats X, and Beats Ep. Noticeably missing from the refresh, though, were the Beats Studio Wireless. Coming in near the top of the Beats lineup, the Studio Wireless offer an over-ear design and improved noise-canceling compared to the company’s other offerings.
If you were holding out for a refresh of the Beats Studio Wireless, perhaps for the holiday season, you’re going to be waiting for a while, according to a new report from CNET.
Apple made a big, polarizing splash when it announced its new wireless AirPods during last week’s iPhone 7 keynote. The AirPods, which are completely devoid of any wires, were met with plenty of mixed reactions online. Whether or not you agree with the design of the AirPods is one thing, but the new W1 wireless chip, Apple’s first, is promising to bring a better overall wireless audio experience to the masses.
Unfortunately, the AirPods don’t ship until late October, so unless you’re among the few who received early review units, you’ll have to wait until the fall before you can experience the $159 wireless earphones for yourself. That said, you can still take Apple’s new wireless W1 chip for a spin, arguably the most important component of its AirPods, anyway.
The W1 wireless chip is not only embedded in Apple’s AirPods, you’ll find the same chip tucked away in several pairs of new Beats-branded headphones as well. The just-released Beats Solo3 On-Ear Wireless Headphones, for instance, have the distinction of being the first product to hit the market with a W1 chip nestled inside. As such, we felt that it was only right to provide you with a hands-on look at this compelling new wireless headphone option.
Alongside AirPods, Apple has announced Beats will be launching a range of new headphones with wireless Solo3 and wireless Powerbeats 3. They are also launching a new range called BeatsX, which is a cheaper collection that uses cables. All three use the Apple W1 chip for audio output.
AP reports that an LA judge has dismissed a claim by Monster founder and former Beats shareholder that the company tricked him out of his share of the company prior to its acquisition by Apple. Noel Lee had claimed that double-dealing and misrepresentation by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine cost him a between $30M and $150M.
Lee filed the lawsuit back in January of 2015, making two main claims against Beats. The first alleged that the company entered a ‘sham’ deal with a smartphone maker, selling 51% of the company to HTC before later buying it back. The sale triggered a clause in the contract that ended the partnership between Beats and Monster …
Buzzfeed is provided an almost-Beats-produced behind-the-scenes look at the human curation element of Apple Music, including the surprising facts that the service already has almost three times as many playlists as Spotify, and that it has only around a dozen full-time employees generating them.
Despite Spotify’s nine-year head-start on Apple Music, the long-form piece reveals that it has only around 4,500 playlists, compared to Apple’s 14,000. Apple Music also beats out its rivals when it comes to the types of playlists offered …
A big question up in the air for iPhone 7 is what Apple will do with its bundled headphones. If this is the first year Apple is to remove the headphone jack from the device as rumored, that means one of a few things for the bundled EarPods that usually come with its iPhones…
The Times reports that Apple is signing up UK footballer Raheem Sterling to be its latest celebrity endorser as the company reportedly plans a new ad campaign that will surround Sterling and the European Championship finals this summer. The report claims Sterling will earn a six-figure pay check for the endorsement:
In a new interview with Noisey, Beats 1 head honcho Zane Lowe has sat down to discuss a variety of topics. Lowe touches on he and Apple’s goal with Beats 1 and Apple Music, his musical inspiration, Steve Jobs, and much more.
Apple has rolled out a nice enhancement to the Radio tab in the Music app, further promoting Beats 1 as a live always-on service. As pictured above, rather than displaying the same static image of the Beats 1 logo with a Listen Now subtitle, the Radio tab now updates along with the live schedule … displaying live show titles, host names, description and artwork for the current show. This change allows users to quickly find out what’s on right now and could convert more people into actively listening to the free Beats 1 radio station.
The Radio tab content is largely controlled by server-side data, so Apple has been able to apply this change without an iOS system update; it is appearing on devices running the public iOS 9.2.1 and beta iOS 9.3 seeds.
Apple’s annual Back to School program returns in Australia and New Zealand with a promotion to receive a pair of Beats Solo2 On-Ear Headphones with qualifiying Mac purchases. Customers may also alternatively choose to receive savings on a new iPad (although there is currently an error on both sites not indicating how much can be saved). Last year’s promotion in Australia and New Zealand included an Apple Store gift card up to A$100/NZ$125, so it’s nice to see them promoting the acquired Beats brand and giving away instant credit for the headphones.
While it’s widely rumored that the iPhone 7 will drop the headphone jack when it launches later this year, known Apple audio supplier Cirrus Logic may have hinted about how Apple plans to handle this transition. Speaking to analysts and investors during the company’s latest earnings call (via BI), CEO Jason Rhode made a few interesting comments about what might be planned for later this year.
Apple continues to talk high praise of Apple Music, most recently leaking that the service has 10 million paying subscribers, but it has remained somewhat quiet about its Beats 1 online 24/7 radio station. Beats 1 launched to much fanfare with Zane Lowe leading the effort, and while it seems to be doing decently, it isn’t a sensation in the music business yet. It’s especially timely to talk about Beats 1 now that Apple has retired the iTunes Radio ad-supported stations, leaving Beats 1 as the only way to get free streaming music from Apple. I’m intrigued by the uptake of the station — there’s a poll to find out how often you tune in below the break — as it seems Beats 1 has an awareness issue.
I tend to like the music that is played but I just forget to tune in. I think Beats 1 is good but Apple needs to support it better within iOS and iTunes to make it stickier. Here are some suggestions …
If all the recent reports turn out to be true, it looks like Apple might actually ditch the 3.5mm headphone jack for the next-generation iPhone later this year. It’s been a long-time coming, not just since Apple started preparing for the transition with audio over Lightning for headphone makers a couple years back, but also since wireless Bluetooth headphones have become good enough in recent years to replace wired solutions that rely on the 3.5mm jack we’ve used for the last century or so.
Apple is no stranger to being first to ditch old technologies while ushering in the new (think floppy drive, optical drives, and everything on the new 12-inch MacBook, as a few examples), but how do you feel about this particular transition?
