AirPods Studio arriving 2020

Company has patented "headphones including an adjustable band"...

...as well as "Noise and Wind Cancellation" technology

Features likely to include wireless pairing/charging and Hey Siri, and 'head and neck detection'

Apple over-ear headphones could use touch gestures rather than buttons

StudioPods will cost more than AirPods: £399/$399 is likely price

Sources (and Apple's own patent activity) strongly indicate that we will soon see the launch of Apple's over-ear headphones, to join the popular in-ear AirPods. In this article we look at clues, leaks and rumours related to the so-called AirPods Studio or StudioPods, including their expected price, release date and technical details.

What will Apple's over-ear headphones be called?

Nothing official has been announced, so we don't know for sure, but prolific (and so far accurate) Apple leaker Jon Prosser believes the name will be AirPods Studio.

Looks like Apple is sticking with the "AirPods" branding for their new over-ear headphones.



AirPods Studio

Codename: B515

$349 — Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) May 9, 2020

The term 'StudioPods' also seems to be gaining traction in the media. It's the term we used back in February 2018 when we first started reporting on the rumours, and the name has gained momentum with many reports now using it. Websites have a habit of reporting on each other's rumours, and these things can run out of control.

Apple calls its in-ear headphones AirPods, of course, which is a way of drawing attention to the lack of wires. We expect a similar feature in the over-ear models, so the prefix Air could reappear - AirCans, AirBeats or even OverAirs? But for us the company is more likely to seek consistency by re-using the Pod suffix that unites so many of its music products: the EarPods, AirPods, HomePod and iPod.

We like the names StudioPods, SoundPods, and AudioPods, but the consensus now seems to be that 'AirPods Studio' is the chosen branding.

Release date: When will Apple launch the AirPods Studio?

It was thought that the AirPods Studio would be announced at WWDC 2020 on 22 June but that didn't happen with no hardware at all, apart from Apple saying it would be producing its own silicon for MacBooks.

The Apple over-ear headphones rumour first came from the analyst Ming-Chi Kuo way back in February 2018. At the time he issued a research note saying: "Apple to have own-brand, high-end over-ear headphones with all-new design; to be as convenient as AirPods with better sound quality; shipments to begin 4Q18F at earliest."

If you're thinking he was way off - it's 2020 now and nothing has been announced - then hold your horses for a moment. Apple's interest in developing a set of over-ears was backed up by Bloomberg sources in March 2018 and later in July 2018. Just because we haven't seen them yet doesn't mean they're not on Apple's product roadmap.

The "people familiar with the product's development" cited in the first Bloomberg report claimed Apple "plans to launch the headphones as early as the end of this year [2018], but has faced development challenges that might push back the release", and the second report pushed back the release date to 2019.

Obviously the headphones haven't yet appeared, but that doesn't mean they won't. In February 2020 a placeholder in the Target inventory included a reference to AirPods X Generation at $399. As this price is higher than the AirPods Pro it is anticipated that the placeholder refers to the Apple over-ear headphones.

If you were hoping for AirPods at Apple's 15 September 'Time Flies' event then there's bad news. There were no audio products but there was an iPad 8th-gen, new iPad Air for 2020, Apple Watch Series 6, Apple Watch SE and Apple One.

Multiple Target employees have started reaching out to me about this ?



Showing up in their systems and on UPC scanners is this mysterious "Apple AirPods (X Generation)" listing, priced at $399. ?



Potentially Apple's over-ear "StudioPods" headphones. Launch soon (March)? pic.twitter.com/NVcqH8As47 — Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) February 22, 2020

Price

Kuo has claimed that Apple's new over-ear headphones will cost more than AirPods. Note that his prediction was made before the launch of the AirPods Pro, so he may have had a lower bound of £159/$159 in mind, rather than £249/$249.

However, the Target listing mentioned above suggests that the StudioPods could cost $399 (which using Apple's maths would convert to £399).

Bloomberg also expects that the headphones will target the higher end of the market, as is the case with the HomePod speaker.

The new over-ear headphones are likely to rival headsets from the likes of Bose as well as Apple's own Beats by Dre brand (which Apple bought, along with Beats Radio, for $3bn in 2014).

If you're wondering what the competition costs: the Bose QuietComfort 35 (Series II) wireless headphones cost £249.95. The Sennheiser Momentum 3 wireless noise-cancelling headphones cost £349. There are lots of cheaper options, though.

Design: What will the AirPods Studio look like?

For a very approximate idea of what the AirPods/StudioPods could look like, take a look at these illustration from an Apple patent:

Bear in mind, as ever, that patent illustrations are not required to look much like the finished product, only to illustrate the elements being claimed for protection. But it gives a rough idea of where Apple's thinking is headed.

The above patent, discovered by Patently Apple, relates to noise and wind cancellation and was granted to Apple in November 2018. More on that below.

Concept designs

We mocked up our own StudioPod design based on a pair of Beats headphones. However, there are designers out there with much better illustration and Photoshop skills than us, and Curved.de has posted some great concept illustrations:

And here's a look at that concept in a video:

Meanwhile, someone at The Apple Post has come up with this possible design.

Patent activity

Apple is clearly thinking about over-ear headphones. A January 2019 patent called simply 'Headphones' describes "A pair of headphones including an adjustable headphone band", which couldn't be more different from the AirPods.

The patent also mentions noise cancellation, at least briefly:

"In some embodiments, headphones can also include a noise cancellation feature. The noise cancellation feature can be substantially improved if a listener's ears are completely covered by the ear cups."

Another patent published in January 2020 outlines a way for users to control music playback without buttons. Most over-ear headphones require users to locate and press buttons on the cups, but Apple describes a means by which users could control the music playback using gestures.

Apple addresses a couple of issues associated with gesture control in the patent. If you can't see the headphones because they are on your ear you need to use touch to locate the right area to touch.

That problem coupled with the fact that people don't always wear headphones in exactly the same way - you might have them over the top of your head, or you might have the band around your neck - means it's a challenge for the headphones to interpret the gesture correctly.

Apple's solution is a number of sensors inside the headphone cup that can identify your ear and determine the orientation of the headphones from it. This means that when you use a gesture to control the music the gesture will be interpreted correctly.

The research work for this patent was done a few years ago - AppleInsider points out that one of the inventors listed on the patent application left Apple in 2017 and now works at Facebook Reality Labs.

(Separately, it's believed the headphones will feature 'head and neck detection' so you can tell them to pause music etc depending on where they are.)

Apple has also been granted a patent for "Noise and Wind Cancellation" as applied to over-ear headphones.

There are in fact two noise and wind cancellation patents that were published by the US Patent and Trademark Office back in November 2018, but one of them was originally filed in 2017, according to a Patently Apple report.

Apple's invention performs spectral mixing of signals from a microphone located inside the ear cup (or ear bud, or phone) that is directed towards the ear canal, with the signals from at least one microphone located on the outside of the ear cup's housing to generate a mixed signal.

Features

The following features are likely:

Noise cancelling

Noise isolation

Wireless pairing functionality like the AirPods

Optional wired connection when superior audio quality is required

Wireless charging

Gesture control (as described by the patent above)

H1 chip, like the 2019 AirPods and PowerBeats Pro, to power Hey Siri.

Beyond that, we've got a few clues about the direction Apple is likely to take. According to Kuo, for example, Apple will be working with Primax and SZS on the project.

Taipei-based Primax is known for making camera modules for mobile devices, including the iPhone, but also makes wireless speaker components. And Kuo says that SZS "is likely to use MIM [Metal Injection Molding] technology advantages as leverage to become the exclusive or main MIM part supplier".

Looking at Beats' range of wireless over-ear headphones could give an insight as to what to expect from Apple's over-ear Pods. For example, the Beats Studio 3 Wireless feature Pure Adaptive Noise Cancelling and the Apple W1 chip, while the PowerBeats Pro offers Hey Siri thanks to the inclusion of the H1 chip.

Responsive noise blocking pinpoints and blocks external sounds.

The Beats Studio 3 Wireless responds automatically to individual fit and music playback.

Soft cushions offer "advanced venting and signature ergonomic pivoting for a customised, flexible fit".

Real-time audio calibration constantly optimises sound output to ensure clarity, range, emotion and a premium listening experience.

Won't StudioPods cannibalise Beats sales?

According to Ming-Chi Kuo's February 2018 report, the new "high-end over-ear headphones" will make Apple's "acoustic accessory lineup more complete". Apple's decision to launch more headphones, despite owning Beats, will build on its 'Pod lineup, which includes EarPods, AirPods, iPods and the HomePod.

In its March 2018 report, Bloomberg noted that the addition to Apple's wearables and accessories segment - a category that includes AirPods, Beats headphones, the Apple Watch, Apple TV and iPad accessories - makes sense as during their February 2018 financial results call the company revealed that they saw a surge of 70 percent in wearable product sales in 2017.

Incidentally, while the new Apple headphones could cannibalise Beats sales, Bloomberg doesn't think that Apple will stop producing that brand of headphones. "Given the strength of the Beats headphone name, the company will likely keep that brand while developing a different new one for the new headphones," the site suggests.

That's all the StudioPods rumours for now. If you'd like to know more about your current buying options, read our guide to the best wireless headphones and our roundup of the best headphone deals. Wondering who the best Apple leaker is? We discuss it here.