You’ll Be Able to Order Apple’s New Powerbeats Pro This Friday

Last month, Apple announced Powerbeats Pro, its more premium, Beats-branded version of the now-iconic AirPods true wireless earbuds. While the original announcement didn’t include a release date other than “May,” if you’ve been eagerly waiting for the new earbuds you’ll be happy to know that Apple plans to make them available sooner next month rather than later.

Although the Powerbeats Pro product and Apple Store pages still only say “coming soon” according to 9to5Mac, Apple plans to open pre-orders this Friday, May 3, at 7 a.m. in both the United States and Canada.

As is often the case with Apple pre-orders, Powerbeats Pro will hit retail stores one week later, on Friday, May 10th.

As we’ve already heard previously, Powerbeats Pro headphones are expected to be available in four colors, however only the black version will be available this month. Ivory, navy, and moss are expected to arrive this summer.

Powerbeats Pro represents Apple’s second foray into true wireless headphones, essentially offering a sportier alternative to the company’s original AirPods. While the AirPods have proven to be insanely popular — the original AirPods remained a top seller even two years after their initial debut — the fact is that the smaller white wireless earbuds aren’t for everyone, especially workout enthusiasts and those with particularly active lifestyles.

This is where Powerbeats Pro come in. Apple has taken all of the groundbreaking technology from its second-generation AirPods, including its new H1 chip and “Hey Siri” support, and baked it into a truly wireless evolution of the Powerbeats 3, retaining the same design while offering all of the goodness that a life without wires promises.

Even for those who aren’t into the sporty lifestyle may still appreciate the new Powerbeats Pro — we’ve already written about several benefits that the Powerbeats Pro provide over traditional AirPods, including improved sound quality, almost double the battery life, sweat and water resistance, and a more ergonomic fit. This last one will be especially appealing for those who found that the AirPods just didn’t work well inside their particular ear canals.

That said, however, all of this comes with a premium price tag. Powerbeats Pro will sell for $249.95; that’s $50 more than Apple’s AirPods with the wireless charging case, but without the benefit of that feature — you’ll still need to plug in the Powerbeats Pro case with a Lightning cable to charge it back up.

It’s also worth keeping in mind, however, that Apple very likely still has more up its sleeve this year for its wireless earbuds. While the second-generation AirPods were a long-awaited update, rumour has it that a third-generation version may be on the horizon, along with a more premium “AirPods Pro” model. This lines up with many fairly reliable rumours we’ve heard that Apple is working on additional AirPods features that didn’t make it into the second-gen version, and are therefore likely still in the works for another upcoming model. If the rumours are true, Apple’s AirPods 3 are expected to leapfrog Powerbeats Pro by offering features like Active Noise Cancellation, while AirPods Pro are likely to feature a newer design and could even add health monitoring features.