The original Beats Pill was a wireless Bluetooth speaker introduced in 2012, prior to Apple's acquisition of Beats. The speaker received a few updates in its first several years on the market, with the final revision being a redesigned Beats Pill+ with a Lightning charging port, introduced under Apple's ownership in 2015. Apple discontinued the Beats Pill+ in early 2022, but a new version now appears to be on the horizon.
The new Beats Pill speaker
The new Beats Pill is likely to feature a USB-C charging port, upgraded Bluetooth, and more. Leaked images revealed a built-in lanyard, which was not available on previous models, along with red, black, and gold color options.
Beats is releasing new Solo Buds earbuds in June, so perhaps the new Beats Pill will launch next month too, but Apple has yet to formally announce the speaker. The previous Beats Pill+ was originally priced at $229.95 in the U.S. when it launched in 2015, but it had been available for $179.95 prior to being discontinued.
The listing on Apple's regulatory website was spotted by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris.
Saturday April 11, 2026 9:14 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly a year later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon.
In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
CarPlay Ultra...
As we wait for WWDC to kick off next Monday, Apple today announced the winners of its annual Apple Design Awards, recognizing apps and games for their innovation, ingenuity, and technical achievement.
The 2025 Apple Design Award winners are listed below, with one app and one game selected per category:
Delight and Fun - CapWords (App) and Balatro (Game)
Innovation - Play (App) and PBJ -...
Saturday April 11, 2026 9:07 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
While the AirPods Max 2 received more attention, Apple also released a second pair of headphones last month: Nike Powerbeats Pro 2.
Nike Powerbeats Pro 2 are the same as the regular Powerbeats Pro 2, except they have a two-tone design consisting of black and Nike's signature Volt neon green-yellow color. The headphones were released on March 20 in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K., and a ...
Apple's Beats brand is launching its first hardware collaboration with Nike today, debuting a new special-edition Nike-branded version of the Powerbeats Pro 2. Featuring Nike's "Volt" color palette with a matte black and Volt-speckled charging case with Nike's "Just Do It" slogan printed inside the lid, the buds themselves sport the Nike Swoosh logo on the right ear bud and the Beats "b" logo on...
The special-edition Nike Powerbeats Pro 2 are now available to order on Apple.com in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K., and a handful of other countries. These headphones are the same as the regular Powerbeats Pro 2, except they have a two-tone design consisting of black and Nike's signature Volt neon green-yellow color.
Aside from the Nike-focused design, these are the same...
Saturday April 11, 2026 9:14 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly a year later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon.
In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
CarPlay Ultra...
I’m not sure who these are for. Who is buying these?
People who can't handle silence and think you want to listen to their music at places like the beach or in the forest. They are very effective for that purpose.
That’s why it’s frustrating. They market it as a fashion accessory. They could spend a little effort and make it actually sound better than the competition and be a fashion accessory but instead they cut costs on the transducers and tuning, “fix” the shortcomings in software and hype it as a cool accessory that comes in a lot of colors.
Dislike.
These things usually work well enough for people who buy them. They're usually not audiophiles, they just want some bass from the sound and the thing to look cool. Which is exactly how most of us choose clothes (many people I know never check the inner tag of a sweater to check how much synthetic materials it's made of). And a higher-than-usual price tag is not a bad thing for them. It makes it exclusive and even cooler to have. Again, I don't like these kind of logic but I totally understand it and it's almost impossible to escape. And since I fall for it in many other ways, I'd call myself a hypocrite if I felt superior to people who buy Beats or stuff like that.
The new Beats Pill speaker
The new Beats Pill speaker
