Apple and Beats by Dre have finally confirmed a new Beats Pill speaker with a teaser video shared on X. The teaser lists a June 25 date, which we'll have to assume is when the Beats Pill speaker will arrive.
Rumors surrounding the previously discontinued Bluetooth speaker started gaining steam in the last couple of months. It was all sparked by the appearance of a new Beats speaker carried by LeBron James before a playoff game back in April. Later, the speaker was seen with F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo.
6/25. @KingJames @LilTunechi pic.twitter.com/NkpLlTeVhJJune 17, 2024
The first images of the speaker were actually spotted hidden in the iOS 17.5 beta. That leak suggested that new speaker will come in red, gold or black.
The latest teaser from Beats didn't feature any specs but a number of details were found in FCC listings on the regulatory body's website.
We haven't seen a Beats Pill speaker since 2022 when the Beats Pill+ was released. The 2024 version is supposed to feature double the battery life of that speaker at an estimated 24 hours.
Despite a lighter weight of 1.5 pounds, the newer Pill should be bigger than the 2022 version at 8.6 x 2.8 x 2.8 inches. Beats Pill 2024 replaces the old USB-A and Apple lightning ports with at least one USB-C charging in and out port. It should also feature Find My Device integration. The last two upgrades are ones that Apple has been integrating into most of the company's devices.
One small feature that wasn't shown in the teaser but that we saw in LeBron James' earlier leak is the addition of a lanyard, something the Pill+ did not have. It's honestly a nice feature for a portable speaker and kind of surprising that one wasn't featured in previous models.
Since 2022, competitors like Sony and Bose have released cheaper, excellent portable Bluetooth speakers in the ULT Field 1 and the SoundLink Flex. It'll be interesting if Beats lowers the $230 release price of the Pill+ to meet its competitors. Otherwise, it'll be in the range of the recently announced SoundLink Max from Bose which costs $399 but sounds great and looks great.
