It might be hard to believe, but Powerbeats Pro was introduced in May 2019. Except for a few new colors, they remained unchanged within the Beats lineup for over five years until they were removed from purchase in October of this year.
That’s a long run for a pair of earbuds, but if you’re still using Powerbeats Pro or upset to know they’re discontinued, fear not. Back in September, we got our first look at Powerbeats Pro 2 courtesy of a photo of LA Dodgers baseball star Shohei Ohtani and a confirmation of a 2025 launch.
When they launch next year, hopefully barring any further delays, it will be closer to six years since the original. We have many features we were hoping to see, another shot of the earbuds courtesy of Beats, and more rumors to unpack, so ahead, we’re sharing everything we know about Beats Powerbeats Pro 2.
While Beats has yet to formally unveil the Powerbeats Pro 2, the initial teaser in September of 2024 did confirm two things. We know that a successor to Powerbeats Pro exists, and even got a first look at them, but we also know they’ll launch at some point next year in 2025.
Considering that Powerbeats Pro originally cost $249 / £219 / AU$349 and stayed at that MSRP throughout their offering, we’d have to imagine that Beats sticks with a similar price point. However, the expected upgrades of active noise cancellation and transparency modes, alongside hopefully better battery life and a new chip inside, could drive that price higher.
We’ve even seen rumors of some health features arriving with Powerbeats Pro, which could increase the price. However, considering Beats in the past has trickled down features that first premiered on AirPods Pro at a lower price point – see Beats Fit Pro – that could be a recipe for success.
Powerbeats Pro 2 will join a considerably packed Beats earbuds family —Solo Buds, Studio Buds, Studio Buds Plus, and Fit Pro are all currently in the lineup.
Beats have been teasing the Powerbeats Pro 2 mainly on social media, especially Instagram, so we recommend keeping your eyes there and on this guide for when more information is officially confirmed about availability.
Let’s start with the official tease from Beats – an Instagram post showing a quick video of baseball star Shohei Ohtani at home plate batting while wearing Powerbeats Pro 2 in white. It was only a quick glimpse, but effectively revealed Beats’ evolution of its ear hook design as the Powerbeats Pro 2 has more rounded edges, and a more modern overall build.
The main hull of the Powerbeats Pro is slimmer and slightly more angled. It connects to the ear hook, which wraps around the top portion of the ear. At the other end is the portion with the ear tips that stick into the ear. A slimmer build could prove to be a winning combination that reduces the overall weight and increases the comfortability.
But for those who don’t like the pressure created by wingtips or just fear they’ll fall out, the ear hook once again provides some extra reassurance and a more comfortable fit for those who prefer it.
Just days ago, on November 12, 2024, Beats released the first still image of the Powerbeats Pro 2, again in white, as worn by Shedeur Sanders, a quarterback for the Colorado Buffaloes. It’s another look sporting the upgraded design language, but nothing else was revealed.
Considering the evolution of Beats’ earbuds lineup, the next generation of Powerbeats should bring some pretty stellar improvements. As a refresher, since it’s been more than a couple of years, the Powerbeats Pro was powered by Apple’s H1 processor and supported Spatial Audio. There was no support for active noise cancellation, but the earbuds did last for nine hours on a full charge. You might recall they had a large, clunky charging case with a Lightning port – it wasn’t very pocketable.
So, for starters, we’d expected Beats to opt for an in-house chip that offers some parity of features – including fast pairing – across iOS and Android. Of course, as with the Fit Pro, Powerbeats Pro 2 could also use an Apple-made processor like the H2. Aside from speeding things up and delivering Beats’ signature soundscape – likely with strong bass – we expect to see active noise cancellation alongside a transparency listening mode. It would also have them better represent what we expect to see for a pair of earbuds that cost $249 / £219 / AU$349.
Battery life could be stretched further even with additional modes, and we’re hoping to see a slimmer case with a USB-C port and support for wireless charging for easy refueling. It’ll be interesting to see where Beats puts any buttons – they could be hiding behind the “B” for Beats logo as seen on the Powerbeats Pro 2.
It’s likely that for playback, we’ll see a new Beats-built or -tuned driver powering a rich and powerful playback here. Considering these are being teased by athletes – a nod to the brand’s roots – and will likely carry an IPX rating for sweat and water resistance, they will need to bring some oomph.
It seems that Apple’s continued push into health might also trickle down to Beats. It doesn’t seem like the new hearing health features from AirPods Pro 2 will arrive, but according to a report from MacRumors, Powerbeats Pro 2 might offer heart-rate tracking. The site discovered in code for iOS that the forthcoming earbuds from Beats will be able to track heart rate when both the left and right are in-ear during a workout and deliver the stats to the Health app on the iPhone.
MacRumors also showed off additional colors for Powerbeats Pro 2, and noted that the earbuds should support Spatial Audio, active noise cancellation, and Adaptive Audio. The latter is currently found on AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2, intelligently mixing transparency and noise cancellation into one mode. If heart rate tracking comes to fruition, these would be the first Beats earbuds to offer the functionality and the first made by Apple to offer this in-ear. The Apple Watch can track heart rate and deliver notifications for irregularities.
The good news is that soon enough, we’ll know the full story on Powerbeats Pro 2 and be able to go hands-on – err, ears-on – with the earbuds. It’s rare for Beats to confirm a product this far in advance, but seeing that the original was well-loved, it seems like they are building up the hype.