Secret ‘Beats Studio Buds’ headphones revealed in Apple’s lossless music iPhone update

The headphones are rumoured to have instant-pairing, noise cancellation, and Siri support

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Apple is working on a new pair of Beats in-ear headphones, according to internal files in the company’s operating system update.

The Beats Studio Buds, they are referred to in iOS 14.6, will apparently feature an Apple chip that would allow instant pairing and control via the company’s voice assistant Siri.

The headphones are small, and look more similar to competitors from Sony and Samsung than the iconic shape of the AirPods or AirPods Pro.

The codes also suggest there will be noise cancellation support and, compared to the currently-available Powerbeats Pro, the headphones will be more compact, as reported by 9to5Mac.

It is unclear when Apple could launch these new headphones, but iOS 14.6 is expected to be released later this month or in early June, so it is possible that they could make an appearance alongside that update.

Apple declined to comment when asked by The Independent.

The new iOS update also brings with it new options that will allow people to listen to songs in “spatial audio” via Apple Music, as well as lossless versions of songs, which play them in higher quality.

Until now, both Apple Music and Spotify have only offered their songs in “lossy” versions, so that they save bandwidth and storage space by compressing songs down, but also reduces their quality.

Unfortunately, no Bluetooth headphones currently support lossless music, nor do Apple’s HomePod Mini or now-discontinued HomePod speakers.