Apple’s Upcoming Beats Studio Pro May Surpass the AirPods Max

Over the past few weeks, we’ve heard several reports that Apple’s Beats division is preparing to release its first new set of over-ear headphones in nearly six years. Now, new information obtained by the folks at 9to5Mac suggests that the new Beats Studio Pro could be a step up from Apple’s flagship AirPods Max.

According to a leaked spec sheet, the Beats Studio Pro will include many of the same features that are exclusive to AirPods Max while offering better battery life, USB-C connectivity, a wired 3.5mm headphone jack, and seamless compatibility with Android devices.

The impending release of Beats’ new headphones marks a significant change for the division that’s had most of its focus on in-ear wireless earbuds over the past few years, with products such as Beats Flex, Beats Studio Buds, Beats Fit Pro, and the recent Beats Studio Buds Plus.

Meanwhile, Beats’ full-sized headphones have languished in relative obscurity. The over-ear Beats Studio3 haven’t even been refreshed since 2017, and while Apple released the Beats Solo Pro as a successor to the on-ear Solo3 in 2019, featuring the same H1 chip found in the second-generation AirPods, it bizarrely discontinued them without a replacement only two years later. Yet, the 2016 Beats Solo3 remained on the market.

The Beats Studio3 and Beats Solo3 both feature the W1 chip used in Apple’s original 2016 AirPods, so they do play nice with Apple devices, but they lack support for Bluetooth 5.0 and advanced features like Spatial Audio and “Hey Siri” powered by Apple’s newer H1 chip.

With the late 2020 release of the AirPods Max, many assumed that Apple had nixed any further full-sized headphone developments within its Beats division. It seemed as if Beats would be directing its efforts toward in-ear wireless earbuds for active lifestyles, while more premium earbuds and headphones were released under the Apple brand as part of the AirPods lineup.

However, the rumored Beats Studio Pro suggests that either this was never the case — or that the powers that be at Apple have had a change of heart.

What’s Coming in Beats Studio Pro

Sources that have spoken with 9to5Mac indicate that the Beats Studio Pro “are set to pack a major improvement in audio quality,” with an 80% increase in audio fidelity compared to Beats Studio3.

They’ll also gain the Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency Mode, and Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos features that have effectively become standard across the entire AirPods and Beats in-ear headphone lineup. No real surprises there.

However, Beats Studio Pro will take that a step further with some AirPods-exclusive features like dynamic head tracking and Personalized Spatial Audio — capabilities that are currently only available on the third-gen AirPods, AirPods Pro, and AirPods Max.

As with other recent Beats products, the Beats Studio Pro won’t include an Apple H-series chip but rather a custom-designed Beats chip that’s built for cross-platform support. This will allow them to pair up equally well with both Android and iOS devices by supporting Google Fast Pair, Audio Switch, and Find My Device on the Android side, along with AirPods-like one-touch pairing, ”Hey Siri,” and “Find My” for iPhone and iPad users.

The AirPods might still have a slight edge, though. Other products that use a custom Beats chip don’t support Apple’s audio sharing, which appears to be limited to devices using at least the original W1 chip. The Beats Flex were the last headphones to pack in that particular piece of Apple silicon. Ditto for automatic switching between Apple devices, which requires at least the H1 chip.

This also makes it unlikely that the new Beats Studio Pro will support the new Adaptive Audio features in iOS 17. As things stand now, this is limited to only the second-generation AirPods Pro released last fall, as it requires Apple’s latest H2 chip, which is only found in those earbuds. The fourth-generation AirPods and (hopefully) second-generation AirPods Max will undoubtedly adopt the same chip, giving them the same features and keeping them a notch ahead of the Beats Studio Pro for Apple fans.

For now, though, it sounds like it will be a tough call between the AirPods Max and the Beats Studio Pro when they arrive in a few weeks. The Beats Studio Pro will almost certainly be lighter while offering audio quality that’s at least as good — if not better — than the AirPods Max. That will be even more true for audio enthusiasts since the USB-C port can be used for digital lossless listening.

Ironically, despite Apple Music’s push into hi-res lossless music, the AirPods Max conspicuously lack any digital lossless audio support via the Lightning port. We can only hope that Apple is also planning to surprise us with a new version of the AirPods Max — and soon.

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]