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MagyarApple's unreleased Beats Pill speaker seen carried by Daniel Ricciardo, Lebron James; expected to launch soon
Apple’s audio brand Beats recently released two new products – the Beats Solo 4 on-ear headphones and the Solo Buds wireless earbuds – but, increasingly, it seems that that launch spree may not be over yet. F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo has just been photographed carrying what is clearly an unreleased Beats Pill speaker, only two weeks after the same device was spotted in the hands of NBA player LeBron James.
The first device of the lineup, called simply the Beats Pill, was released in 2012. After Apple bought the company, it launched the slightly larger Beats Pill+ in 2015. That model was discontinued in January 2022, marking the end of the series. It also has the distinct honour of being the only true portable speaker ever made by Apple, albeit under the Beats brand. It’s no surprise, then, that these sightings generated some excitement.
The speaker, seen with an attached lanyard, retains the same characteristic pill shape and size (about 8 inches long and 2.5 inches in diameter) as the Pill+ and the original Pill, and is unadorned other than a simple Beats logo on the front grille. A continuous rubberised strip runs along the sides, separating the front and rear grilles, with rubber feet on the bottom to prevent it from rolling.
For some reference, the discontinued Pill+ was well received, thanks to a major internal redesign that addressed prior criticisms of the sound quality. It also had a Lightning port for charging, which we can safely assume will not be making a comeback. Battery life was rated at 12 hours.
A big contributor to the Pill’s popularity was some major celebrity endorsements and product placements in popular music videos and movies (remember the shape-shifting cube in Transformers: Age of Extinction?), which quickly brought it to public attention. That marketing approach certainly seems to be at play with this new model.
The freshly launched Beats Solo 4 is now available on Amazon, and if you're on the lookout for a compact portable speaker, you can buy the Bose SoundLink Flex, or JBL's Flip 5 and Charge 5.
