Technologies
Sony, Beats, Bose and Apple: All the Rumored New 2023 Headphones and Earbuds I’m Looking Forward To
Waiting for the next-generation models to hit the market? Here’s a look at the top brands expected or rumored to arrive in stores later this year.

Sure, there are plenty of excellent headphones and earbuds you can pick up right now, but like many of you, I’m always on the lookout for the next great set of cans and buds. Though it’s hard to predict exactly when the most-anticipated models will be released, recent image leaks of Beats and Sony earbuds could mean we may see some as early as this spring, with others arriving this summer. Here’s a look at some of the top new earbuds and headphones I’m looking forward to testing based on the recent rumors and expectations online.
Note that representatives for Bose, Sony and Beats had no comment on the rumors, and Apple didn’t respond to our request for comment.
Read more: Best wireless earbuds for 2023


Walkman Blog
Sony WF-1000XM5
One of the most anticipated new wireless earbuds of 2023 is the Sony WF-1000XM5. It’s the successor to the XM4, which earned a CNET Editors’ Choice award when it was released in 2021. The Walkman Blog uncovered an image of the new buds in their preproduction state as they make their way through the FCC certification process. According to the Walkman Blog’s report, the XM5s are smaller than the XM4s and are shaped differently, which may help them fit more ears comfortably (the XM4s could be a little big for some ears).
The buds are equipped with Bluetooth 5.3 and should support Bluetooth LE Audio, according to the Walkman Blog. Bluetooth LE Audio supports such features as Auracast (broadcast audio) and the LC3 audio codec.
The XM4 carries a list price of $280, but if the WF-1000XM5 follows the same path as the full-size WH-10000XM5, we could very well see a price hike to $300 or more.
The XM4 earbuds were released on June 8, 2021, so I expect the XM5 to have a similar release date. Typically, Sony updates its flagship headphones every two years.
Separately, reports suggest Sony will also soon bow the WF-700CN, but that’s a more entry-level model.


9to5Mac
Beats Studio Buds Plus
9to5Mac makes a habit of discovering what new Beats earbuds and headphones are coming by digging «under the hood» of Apple’s beta iOS software releases. Recently, support for Beats’ upcoming Studio Bud Plus buds showed up in the iOS 16.4 RC («release candidate»). The full version of iOS 16.4 became available to the public in late March.
The new buds look very similar to the standard Studio Buds. It’s unclear what this new Plus version brings to the table, but some folks complained that the originals didn’t have strong enough noise canceling. According to 9to5Mac’s sources, the Studio Buds Plus won’t be powered by Apple’s H1 or H2 chips (the H2 is in the AirPods Pro 2) and will instead use a custom Beats chip.
The originals were designed to appeal to both Apple and Android users, and the new buds appear to be sticking to that approach. We should see them announced fairly soon since they’re already showing up in Apple’s software.


Screenshot by David Carnoy/CNET
Bose QuietComfort Ultra
A few weeks back, Twitter user Kuba Wojciechowski posted what he said was a leaked render image of Bose’s new flagship headphones, the QuietComfort Ultra (code-named Lone Starr), which were purportedly in «early stages of development.»
It’s hard to know how much credence to give to the purported leak, but the image has since been removed from the Twitter post «in response to a report from the copyright holder.» Though Bose doesn’t comment on leaks, the company clearly seemed upset the image was out there.
Bose is due to replace its flagship Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, which came out in June of 2019, so it wouldn’t surprise me if the Ultra — or whatever the new flagship model is called — ships later this year in time for the holiday buying season. At the time of the 700’s release, many people couldn’t understand why Bose moved away from using its well-known QuietComfort brand name, and Bose has subsequently shipped the QuietComfort 45, an improved version of the QuietComfort 35.
There’s chatter about this new model featuring higher-end sound and improved performance all around. The question is whether it’ll carry a similar list price ($380) as the Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 or cost even more, perhaps heading into the $500 pricing territory of Apple’s AirPods Max.


David Carnoy/CNET
Beats Studio 4
Beats is still selling its Beats Studio 3 headphones, and you’ll often see them priced at a healthy discount. But they were released in October 2017, which makes them pretty darn ancient and in need of a serious upgrade — they still have a Micro-USB connector, for instance. Other publications, like Android Authority, have talked about their potential arrival in 2023, and it seems quite plausible we’ll see the Beats Studio 4 turn up sometime this year with upgraded Apple components (newer chips), better all-around performance and maybe even USB-C charging. But I was expecting them to turn up last year and they never did, so don’t bet the house on it.


Angela Lang/CNET
New AirPods
Apple seems to be releasing a new pair of AirPods every year. The original AirPods Pro were released in October 2019, the AirPods Max in December 2020, the AirPods 3rd Gen in October of 2021 and the AirPods Pro 2 in September 2022. So the question is: Will we get a new set of AirPods in 2023?
The rumor mill keeps talking about «cheaper AirPods Pro Lite» earbuds that would carry a lower price tag and might be a stripped down version of the AirPods Pro sans noise canceling. Though it’s a product that makes some sense, Apple has always positioned the AirPods as more premium earbuds and simply lowered the price on earlier models like the AirPods 2 to target more budget-conscious consumers.
Could Apple upgrade the AirPods Max, introducing a 2nd gen version? Sure, it’s possible — but probably less likely.
In the same post where 9to5Mac talked about the discovery of the Beats Studio Buds Plus in that iOS 16 RC (see above), it also pointed out that there was a reference to an «unreleased AirPods model number A3048 and AirPods case model number of A2968.» The site noted it could be «a revision of the current regular AirPods or the rumored AirPods Lite.»
Other AirPods mysteries: Some models — but not all — are reported to be moving to USB-C (from Lightning) to match the same transition on the new iPhone 15 models. And MacRumors has noted that Apple has filed a patent for an AirPods case with a built-in screen. That’s something we likely wouldn’t see anytime soon, but also not totally novel: JBL has a similar model, the Tour Pro 2, slated for a mid-2023 debut.
Technologies
Tariffs Explained: Latest on Trump’s Shifting Import Tax Plan, and What It Means
Technologies
Apple, I’m (Sky) Blue About Your iPhone 17 Air Color
Commentary: The rumored new hue of the iPhone 17 Air is more sky blah than sky blue.

I can’t help but feel blue about the latest rumor that Apple’s forthcoming iPhone 17 Air will take flight in a subtle, light-hued color called sky blue.
Sky blue isn’t a new color for Apple. It’s the featured shade of the current M4 MacBook Air, a shimmer of cerulean so subtle as to almost be missed. It’s silver left too close to an aquarium; silver that secretly likes to think it’s blue but doesn’t want everyone else to notice.
Do Apple employees get to go outside and see a real blue sky? It’s actually vivid, you can check for yourself. Perhaps the muted sky blue color reflects a Bay Area late winter/early spring frequent layer of clouds like we typically see here in Seattle.
«Who cares?» you might find yourself saying. «Everyone gets a case anyway.» I hear you and everyone else who’s told me that. But design-focused Apple is as obsessive about colors as they are about making their devices thinner. And I wonder if their heads are in the clouds about which hues adorn their pro products.
Making the case for a caseless color iPhone
I’m more invested in this conversation than most — I’m one of those freaks who doesn’t wrap my phone in a case. I find cases bulky and superfluous, and I like to be able to see Apple’s design work. Also, true story, I’ve broken my iPhone screen only twice: First when it was in a «bumper» that Apple sent free in response to the iPhone 4 you’re-holding-it-wrong Antennagate fiasco, and second when trying to take long exposure starry night photos using what I didn’t realize was a broken tripod mount. My one-week-old iPhone 13 Pro slipped sideways and landed screen-first on a pointy rock. A case wouldn’t have saved it.
My current model is an iPhone 16 Pro in black titanium — which I know seems like avoiding color entirely — but previously I’ve gone for colors like blue titanium and deep purple. I wanted to like deep purple the most but it came across as, in the words of Patrick Holland in his iPhone 14 Pro review, «a drab shade of gray or like Grimace purple,» depending on the light.
Pros can be bold, too
Maybe the issue is too many soft blues. Since the iPhone Pro age began with the iPhone 11 Pro, we’ve seen variations like blue titanium (iPhone 15 Pro), sierra blue (iPhone 13 Pro) and pacific blue (iPhone 12 Pro).
Pacific blue is the boldest of the bunch, if by bold you mean dark enough to discern from silver, but it’s also close enough to that year’s graphite color that seeing blue depends on the surrounding lighting. By comparison, the blue (just «blue») color of the iPhone 12 was unmistakably bright blue.
In fact, the non-Pro lines have embraced vibrant colors. It’s as if Apple is equating «pro» with «sophisticated,» as in «A real pro would never brandish something this garish.» I see this in the camera world all the time: If it’s not all-black, it’s not a «serious» camera.
And yet I know lots of pros who are not sophisticated — proudly so. People choose colors to express themselves, so forcing that idea of professionalism through color feels needlessly restrictive. A bright pink iPhone 16 might make you smile every time you pick it up but then frown because it doesn’t have a telephoto camera.
Color is also important because it can sway a purchase decision. «I would buy a sky blue iPhone yesterday,» my colleague Gael Cooper texted after the first rumor popped online. When each new generation of iPhones arrive, less technically different than the one before, a color you fall in love with can push you into trading in your perfectly-capable model for a new one.
And lest you think Apple should just stick with black and white for its professional phones: Do you mean black, jet black, space black, midnight black, black titanium, graphite or space gray? At least the lighter end of the spectrum has stuck to just white, white titanium and silver over the years.
Apple never got ahead by being beige
I’m sure Apple has reams of studies and customer feedback that support which colors make it to production each year. Like I said, Apple’s designers are obsessive (in a good way). And I must remind myself that a sky blue iPhone 17 Air is a rumored color on a rumored product so all the usual caveats apply.
But we’re talking about Apple here. The scrappy startup that spent more than any other company on business cards at the time because each one included the old six-color Apple logo. The company that not only shaped the first iMac like a tipped-over gumdrop, that not only made the case partially see-through but then made that cover brilliant Bondi blue.
Embrace the iPhone colors, Apple.
If that makes you nervous, don’t worry: Most people will put a case on it anyway.
Technologies
Astronomers Say There’s an Increased Possibility of Life on This Distant Planet
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers are working to confirm potential evidence of life on a distant exoplanet dubbed K2-18b.

Astronomers are nearing a statistically significant finding that could confirm the potential signs of life detected on the distant exoplanet K2-18b are no accident.
The team of astronomers, led by the University of Cambridge, used data from the James Webb Space Telescope (which has only been in use since the end of 2021) to detect chemical traces of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), which they say can only be produced by life such as phytoplankton in the sea.
According to the university, «the results are the strongest evidence yet that life may exist on a planet outside our solar system.»
The findings were published this week in the Astrophysical Journal Letters and point to the possibility of an ocean on this planet’s surface, which scientists have been hoping to discover for years. In the abstract for the paper, the team says, «The possibility of hycean worlds, with planet-wide oceans and H2-rich atmospheres, significantly expands and accelerates the search for habitable environments elsewhere.»
Not everyone agrees, however, that what the team found proves there’s life on the exoplanet.
Science writer and OpenMind Magazine founder Corey S. Powell posted about the findings on Bluesky, writing, «The potential discovery of alien life is so enticing that it drags even reputable outlets into running naive or outright misleading stories.» He added, «Here we go again with planet K2-18b.Um….there’s strong evidence of non-biological sources of the molecule DMS.»
K2-18b is 124 light-years away and much larger than Earth (more than eight times our mass), but smaller than Neptune. The search for signs of even basic life on a planet like this increases the chances that there are more planets like Earth that may be inhabitable, with temperatures and atmospheres that could sustain human-like lifeforms. The team behind the paper hopes that more study with the James Webb Space Telescope will help confirm their initial findings.
More research to do on finding life on K2-18b
The exoplanet K2-18b is not the only place where scientists are exploring the possibility of life, and this research is still an early step in the process, said Christopher Glein, a geochemist, planetary researcher and lead scientist at San Antonio’s Southwest Research Institute. Excitement over the significance of the research, he said, should be tempered.
«We need to be careful here,» Glein said. «It appears that there is something in the data that can’t be explained, and DMS/DMDS can provide an explanation. But this detection is stretching the limits of JWST’s capabilities.»
Glein added, «Further work is needed to test whether these molecules are actually present. We also need complementary research assessing the abiotic background on K2-18b and similar planets. That is, the chemistry that can occur in the absence of life in this potentially exotic environment. We might be seeing evidence of some cool chemistry rather than life.»
The TRAPPIST-1 planets, he said, are being researched as potentially habitable, as is LHS 1140b, which he said «is another astrobiologically significant exoplanet, which might be a massive ocean world.»
As for K2-18b, Glein said many more tests need to be performed before there’s consensus on life existing on it.
«Finding evidence of life is like prosecuting a case in the courtroom,» Glein said. «Multiple independent lines of evidence are needed to convince the jury, in this case the worldwide scientific community.» He added, «If this finding holds up, then that’s Step 1.»
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