New Apple headphones: the competition has to say goodbye
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The next Apple event may be coming up soon and with it, perhaps new AirPods. Another hint for the upcoming introduction of new headphones comes from the Apple Stores.
Currently, Apple's fan community is expecting another event on October 13th, 2020; however, an official announcement is still pending. With the approaching iPhone event, however, rumors are growing that there will be new accessories alongside the new smartphones.
A new reference to the long-suspected headphones, currently known as AirPods Studio, is a recent report from Bloomberg. As Mark Gurman writes, Apple has stopped offering speakers or headphones from competing manufacturers in its own Apple Store.
This is how the AirPods Studio are supposed to look according to current rumors:
More images 👇 pic.twitter.com/kRI0M5eSF4
— Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) September 16, 2020
A glance at the German online store reveals the red pencil that has been applied. In addition to the in-house offerings from Apple itself and Beats by Dr. Dre, only Pioneer is represented. On closer inspection, however, the Pioneer accessories are a conference hands-free system for the Lightning port. In other words, a category in which Apple does not have its own offerings that directly compete with it.
Apple Store: Sonos, Bose & Co no longer on offer
According to Bloomberg, it has specifically affected Sonos, Bose, and Logitech devices, among others, which have recently left the stores. This not only affects the online store, but also the regular Apple Store. In the past few days, the employees are said to have been instructed to remove corresponding devices from the showrooms.
Apple said that it "regularly makes changes to the products it sells as new third-party accessories are released and the needs of customers change". The stores continue to sell "a curated group of third-party accessories to help customers get the most out of Apple devices".
Among the manufacturers concerned, Bose confirmed that its own products are no longer sold by Apple. Ultimate Ears said that Apple had informed them that they would no longer sell third-party speakers as of September.
Such a sales stop could indicate that Apple might introduce new speakers in the coming weeks or months in addition to the new AirPods Studio. Currently, the Apple Store is only listing two products in this category, in addition to the above-mentioned speakerphone: Apple's HomePod and the Beats Pill+, a portable speaker. A HomePod mini could possibly round off the lower end of the range in the future.
Source: Bloomberg
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