Apple’s black AirPods leak out, but they are from Beats and don’t look ridiculous

It had been rumored that Apple’s new AirPods would be coming in black color for the first time. While that hasn’t materialized to date, it is possible that the rumor mill confused these for the just uncovered PowerBeats Pro. 9to5 Mac had a dig around the code of the fresh release of iOS 12.2 and discovered the name as well as short video and still images of a pair in both black and white colors.

Beats is, of course, a fully owned subsidiary of Apple. So, by default, if you were after a set of black, truly wireless earphones from Apple you will soon be able to buy them. As an added bonus, they don’t look quite as ridiculous as Apple’s AirPods, which although extremely popular for their sound quality and ease of use, leave a lot to be desired from the standpoint of aesthetics. The PowerBeats Pro, by contrast, retain the signature over-ear loop to keep them in place when active, but ditch the cords and don’t jut out too far beyond the ear canal.

At this stage it is not clear whether the companion charging case supports wireless charging like Apple’s new AirPods, but it would certainly make sense for them to have the feature. Apple is selling a wireless charging case for the new AirPods as an optional purchase, and includes a standard, non-wireless charging case, at the previous US$159 starting point. The model with the wireless charging case retails for US$199. Expect the PowerBeats Pro to land somewhere similar from a pricing standpoint and loaded with the same H1 custom-chip.