iPhone 7 Launch: Apple Unveils New Wireless Beats Headphones
Apple has also announced a new set of earbuds, called AirPods that connect wirelessly. "We believe in a wireless future," cooed Chief Design Officer Jony Ive in a video for the device, which covers the company's first wireless chip, the W1, plus dual optical sensors, an antenna, two microphones and five-hour battery life. A new line of wireless Beats headphones, titled Beats X that will use the same W1 chip as the AirPods.
Apart from the AirPods, on Wednesday Apple has also announced a new range of Beats wireless headphones to be used with the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The Beats Solo3, BeatsX, and Powerbeats 3 headphones are all run by the same W1 chip that powers the AirPods, and this permits the new headphones to pair fast and easily with the new iPhones.
On Wednesday the tech giant announced its latest mobile device, the iPhone 7, during its annual product event in San Francisco. As was predictable, the new phone is missing one normal feature: the headphone jack. Instead, owners of the new iPhone will require connecting to the lightning connector, the similar port where the iPhone's charger plugs in.
"Some people have asked why we would remove the analog headphone jack from the iPhone," said Phil Schiller, Apple's svp of worldwide marketing. "It comes down to one word -- courage. The courage to move on." Apple has moved on before -- from floppy discs, CDs, to name two technologies the company was among the first to delete from its memory bank. The world was slow to adapt to those hardware pivots, and that will likely be the same here.
Schiller added that there was basically no room for the outdated jack. "Our smartphones are packed with technologies, and we all want more," he said. "Maintaining an ancient, single-purpose connector doesn't make sense... that space is at a premium."
All three new Beats headphones models are Bluetooth-powered, so apart from the new iPhones, they will work with other media sources as well. The BeatsX headset charges using the Lightning cable, while Powerbeats 3 and the Solo 3 charge with a Micro-USB cable. The BeatsX has a battery life of eight hours on a full charge, whereas the Powerbeats 3 and Solo3 claim to run for 12 hours and 40 hours respectively.
The headphones are priced at $299 for the Solo3, $149 for the BeatsX and $199 for the Powerbeats 3. The Solo3 is already presented to buy on Apple.com, while the other two models will be made accessible later this year.
The Beats brand is retained by Apple and was always likely to be among the first manufacturers to declare support for the new iPhone 7 with its headphones. Other manufacturers are likely to follow suit in declaring wireless headphones and Lightning-powered headphones to use with the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.