Apple on Wednesday unveiled the new Beats Studio Pro, which is the first major overhaul of the Beats Studio since 2017. And while Beats’ products have been co-existing with AirPods, Beats Studio Pro competes directly with AirPods Max – Apple’s super expensive headphones. And interestingly, the new Beats tease two new features that could come to the next-generation AirPods Max: USB-C and Lossless support.
What’s new with Beats Studio Pro
At first glance, Beats Studio Pro feels extremely familiar, that’s because it has kept the fundamental design aspects of Beats’ headphones. There are only a few discreet changes, such as the removal of the “Beats” logo from the top headband. But inside, the Beats Studio Pro are closer to Apple’s AirPods Max than ever before.
The hardware has been vastly improved compared to the previous Beats Studio. There’s a new chip that enables Spatial Audio with Dynamic Head Tracking and Personalization, just like AirPods Pro and AirPods Max. It also has a USB-C port instead of Lightning, and that changes everything.
USB-C and Lossless audio
Apple has been slowly transitioning from Lightning to USB-C. At this point, the iPhone is pretty much the only Apple device that still relies on Lightning – and as a consequence, accessories like AirPods. USB-C has a lot of advantages over Lightning, like being an industry standard for charging. But on the Beats Studio Pro, the USB-C port does more than that.
Beats Studio Pro is Apple’s first headphone certified for Lossless audio. Yes, previous Beats headphones already have a 3.5mm analog audio output, but Beats Studio Pro is the first to have a built-in digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that enables lossless audio playback up to 24bit/48kHz via USB-C.
When Apple launched the $549 AirPods Max, many customers criticized the lack of Lossless support, since Apple’s headphones don’t have a 3.5mm jack for audio output. At the same time, because of the Lightning port, AirPods Max converts any analog audio signals to digital audio, which results in some loss of audio quality.
Not everyone is able to distinguish Lossless audio from lossy audio, but for those who are able to do so, having Lossless support in such an expensive product is certainly a requirement. And it’s interesting to see that the first headphones from Apple to support Lossless are Beats, not AirPods.
Another benefit of the USB-C port is that it can transmit audio and power at the same time. This means you can recharge Beats Studio Pro on your iPad and Mac while listening to music on the headphones. The Lightning port on the AirPods Max, on the other hand, is not capable of this.
AirPods Max will get USB-C… eventually
According to recent rumors, Apple has plans to bring USB-C to its entire AirPods lineup, as iPhone is also rumored to ditch Lightning in favor of USB-C this year. Unfortunately, it’s unclear when exactly we’ll see an updated version of the AirPods Max with these improvements. And until that happens, recommending AirPods Max is even harder than before.
The new Beats Studio Pro headphones are now available for purchase at $349. As for the AirPods Max, you can find them for discounted prices on Amazon.
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