Back in January 2022, Apple discontinued the years-old Beats Pill+ without announcing a replacement of any sort. It looks like that could be about to change, at least based on a teaser this week.
In an Instagram Reel posted over the weekend, Lakers star LeBron James can be seen walking into the arena carrying what appears to be an unreleased Beats Pill speaker. The speaker also has a lanyard attached, which wasn’t offered on previous models of the product.
The Beats Pill+ debuted in 2015, three years after the original model launched in 2012. The Beats Pill+ used a Lightning port for charging and deep integration with the Beats application for iOS and Android. At the time, we reviewed it as a “solid portable speaker and a better product than the Beats Pill 2.0 that it replaces.”
In 2018, a sketchy rumor indicated that Apple was planning a $199 AirPlay-enabled smart speaker with Beats branding – this has yet to come to fruition, and it’s unclear if the product is still in development.
The Beats Pill+ originally retailed for $229, but Apple cut the price to $179.95 in the months leading up to its discontinuation.
9to5Mac’s Take
Sign me up for a refreshed Beats Pill – especially if it integrates some of Apple’s AirPlay or H2 wireless chip magic. Oh, and USB-C for charging.
For now, we’ll have to wait for Beats to share more details before getting too excited.
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