With March already in full swing, we’re just starting to see a slight uptick in iOS 14 rumors leak out. To this point, 9to5Mac recently unearthed two new icons which could very well depict a new pair of high-end over the ear headphones that, rumor has it, will incorporate a number of AirPods features.
The new icons don’t provide us with a whole a lot of information, but they do seem to corroborate previous reports regarding the rumored product. Recall, reputed analyst Ming-Chi Kuo as far back as 2018 published an investor note claiming that Apple engineers have been hard at work developing a new pair of advanced headphones that, from what we can gather, will exist independently of the Beats brand.
That said, the unearthed icons point to a design that is seemingly similar to what you’d find on a pair of Beats headphones. 9to5Mac further speculates that the headphones — based on the color of the newly discovered icons — will be available in both black and white.
Incidentally, we’ve seen rumblings that the new pair of headphones might retail for $399. A concept design for the rumored headphones can be seen below.
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
That Apple would be working on a new pair of advanced headphones certainly isn’t surprising given the massive popularity the company has enjoyed with its line of AirPods. Indeed, the success Apple has enjoyed across its accessories and wearables line is part of the reason the company has been able to survive a downturn in iPhone sales.
As a final point, and speaking of iOS 14, there’s a strong possibility that Apple might cancel WWDC this year on account of the coronavirus. We’ve already seen a number of high-profile conference cancellations and it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see Apple do the same. So while Apple will clearly introduce iOS 14 this summer, it’s possible that the unveiling will go down in front of a very small and select group of attendees.
