Hands-on with Apple's newly-announced Beats Solo Pro headphones, its first on-ears with active noise cancellation and “Hey Siri”, shipping October 30 for $300
Think of them as the Solo 4 Wireless — Sorry to interrupt, Google, but Apple decided to announce a product …
Context & Ripple Effects
Beats' headphone line has been waiting for this upgrade since 2016, when Apple put its W1 chip into the $299 Solo3 without noise cancellation. April's Powerbeats Pro brought the H1 chip and "Hey Siri" to earbuds; Solo Pro now extends both to on-ears for the first time.
The timing matters as much as the hardware: Solo Pro ships October 30 — the same day Apple launches its $249 AirPods Pro with ANC, giving Apple a same-day ANC lineup spanning in-ear and on-ear form factors under two brand names.
First-order effects
- Shoppers choosing between Apple's new ANC options face a direct comparison on day one: $249 silicone-tipped AirPods Pro in-ears versus $300 on-ear Beats with the same voice-assistant trigger.
- Solo Pro gives Apple's H1 ecosystem — instant pairing, "Hey Siri" — an on-ear option it previously lacked, completing the chip rollout Powerbeats Pro started.
Second-order effects
- The $300 on-ear price sitting above the $249 AirPods Pro forces Beats to justify a premium on style and fit rather than the feature list, sharpening how Apple tiers its two audio brands.
- Rivals selling ANC headphones at the $250-$350 mark now compete against an Apple ladder where entry-level ANC starts at $249, pressuring their mid-tier pricing.
Third-order effects
- The pattern holds in later coverage: Apple layered over-ear ANC above it with the $549 AirPods Max, while the 2024 Solo 4 shipped without ANC at $200 — suggesting ANC becomes the premium divider inside the portfolio, with non-ANC Beats persisting as the value tier.
The trend: Apple is consolidating its audio strategy around a shared H-series chip platform, using Beats and AirPods as separate price-and-style tiers over the same ANC and assistant features.