The Powerbeats 4 were suspected to be in development by Apple-owned Beats, and now we have proof.
The latest earbuds from Beats were leaked by German site WinFuture and replace the Powerbeats 3, which are coming up to their fourth birthday this year. If the rumors are true, the Powerbeats 4 could offer three times the battery life of the AirPods Pro.
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The Powerbeats series sells itself on its charging prowess, and the Powerbeats 4 are no different. They apparently get 1 hour of playback time from just five minutes of charging (this time via Lightning cable, not micro-USB like the Powerbeats 3), and a full battery will last you 15 hours of Bluetooth wireless playback.
By comparison, the AirPods Pro offer 5 hours of battery life standard and 4.5 hours of juice with noise cancellation enabled.
The exterior design has changed a little too, although the Powerbeats 4 remain sweat- and water-resistant like their predecessors. On the new model, the cable connecting the two earbuds now forms part of the flexible wing that helps affix them over the top of your ears, making for a neater design. As for colors, the images WinFuture has published show the buds in black, white and red.
Also new on the Powerbeats 4 is Apple’s H1 chip, the little piece of silicon that drives other wearables like the Powerbeats Pro and the AirPods Pro. It allows the devices it’s installed on to automatically activate Siri when it hears a voice command, and read out your notifications and messages to you.
We had suspicions that these new earbuds were on their way. A recent FCC filing revealed the existence of the Powerbeats 4, plus the earbuds’ icon appeared in a beta update for iOS 13.4.
With such detailed leaks, we are probably not too far away from an announcement date. We were initially expecting a big Apple event to take place this month, where we would also see the iPhone 9 make an appearance.
However, with the continuing fears around coronavirus infection, and rumors of the iPhone 9 and iPhone 12 being delayed due to the epidemic, there’s a chance the Powerbeats 4 could get delayed.
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