Beats, the audio brand owned by Apple in the United States, may launch a new headphone product, whose appearance was recently exposed for the first time through a set of photos and videos posted by Spanish football star Ramin Yamal on social media. On May 23, a U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) document showed that an unannounced new headset from Apple had passed certification, sparking speculation. A week later, Yamal was spotted wearing a pair of eye-catching pink headphones multiple times in content posted on his official Instagram account, basically confirming that this new product comes from the Beats brand.
Judging from the four photos and a video posted by Yamal, this pink headset is sometimes hung around his neck, sometimes hanging on the handle of his bag. The overall design is an over-ear earmuff, with a striking "b" logo printed on the outside of the earmuff, consistent with Beats' consistent brand identity. Multiple close-up photos clearly show the overall outline of the headset, which closely matches the simple line drawing that appeared in the FCC filing. Although the social media post did not provide any description of the headset, nor did it disclose the specific model and specifications, it is widely speculated in the industry that it is most likely an updated iteration of the Beats Studio Pro, which will be launched in July 2023.
At present, the detailed information about this new product is still blank, including noise reduction capabilities, battery life, connection methods, and whether it supports Apple’s latest audio features, etc., which have not been officially disclosed. However, considering that Beats chose to reveal its products in advance on the accounts of top athletes with a huge fan base, its exposure rhythm is highly consistent with the marketing methods of many previous Beats headphones and speakers, which usually means that the official release is approaching, and the outside world expects that new products are expected to be officially released within a few weeks.
Lamine Yamal currently plays for La Liga giants Barcelona and is also a member of the Spanish national team. He is one of the most watched young football players in recent years. In this exposure, he was photographed traveling with the team to a World Cup-related training camp, with scenes from the journey in the background. As of the time of the report, Yamal has about 43 million followers on Instagram. About an hour after his post containing the new Beats headphones went online, it had more than one million likes and more than 5,100 comments, which has a significant spread effect.
Using sports stars to "spoiler" unreleased products on social media is a promotional strategy Beats has repeatedly used in recent years. The brand has repeatedly relied on top athletes to wear or use its headphones, earbuds and portable speakers in advance to build momentum for new products, creating buzz and recognition before the official release. This time, the use of Ramin Yamal’s global influence to pre-heat pink headphones once again confirms that Beats continues the “celebrity first” market strategy. Industry observers believe that with the emergence of relevant certification documents and celebrity exposures, this mysterious pink Beats headset is not far away from its official debut.