The Beats Studio 3 were, at their time of release, some pretty impressive headphones. They sounded remarkably restrained for Beats headphones, with a more neutral sound signature, and the ANC was pretty good for the time. The problem was that the time was six years ago, in 2017. Since then, things have moved along a great deal in the headphone space, with countless contenders to the over-ear noise-canceling space joining the ring – not least of all Apple's AirPods Max.
Now Beats seem to be rejoining the fray, with an updated model of the Beats Studio named the Beats Studio Pro. In that naming convention where Pro now just means newer or more expensive, these aren't going to be reference headphones for a studio – but they might just be a great pair to wear on the bus.
New Beats Features
Exclusive: macOS 13.4 RC hints at a new "Beats Headset" with the A model A2924It will be called Beats Studio ProMay 9, 2023
Spotted by aaronp613 on Twitter, there is a 'hint at a new Beats Headset' in the macOS 13.4 release candidate. Aaron has also managed to get his hands on some images of the new headphones, and there are a couple of things of note.
Here are the Beats Studio Pros https://t.co/0fRrhqss5m pic.twitter.com/jRWeCSVBQDMay 9, 2023
There's a USB-C port clearly visible on the bottom of the right ear cup for example, and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the other – something that the AirPods Max don't have. 9to5Mac reports that the headphones will have improved noise canceling, as well as a new transparency mode, and Personalised Spatial Audio. Of course, until the headphones have actually materialized none of this can be said for sure, but they are some exciting additions that bring the headphones up to the level of their competitors.
This news comes after the leaking of the Beats Studio Buds +, another new update to an older pair of Beats headphones. Unfortunately, it looks like there won't be a transparent version of the Studio Pro like the Studio Buds +, but images reveal there will be black, white, dark blue, and brown color options. We'll be keeping our ears to the ground for this one – until the AirPods Max 2 are announced, these will be Apple's newest over-ear headphones.
