Irked by AirPods Max 2's 6-year-old design? Apple's cheaper Beats arm has
just the thing, as new over-ears are spotted at the FIFA World Cup training camp

Date:
Mon, 01 Jun 2026 10:31:35 +0000

Description:
New Apple Beats headphones have been spotted in a World Cup training camp,
and they'll please all those AirPods Max 2 haters

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter New Beats headphones spotted in the wild, on soccer star Lamine Yamal They seem to show more interesting design changes than AirPods Max 2 It's not the first celeb headphone leak we've seen recently, either It's been a minute since we've seen new Beats over-ear headphones actually two years since the Beats Solo 4 released (pictured above), and three since the Beats Studio Pro but it looks like the Apple sub-brand is finally ready to adorn our ears.

New Beats headphones have been pictured in the wild, and they look like they could be the Beats Solo 5 given their lack of resemblance to the Studio Pro (although to me, they look a fair bit like the CMF Headphone Pro ). Where
have they been pictured? In an odd place: on the head (and gracing the bag)
of FC Barelona soccer player Lamine Yamal, in a series of Instagram pictures taken to celebrate his checking into the Spanish soccer team's training camp for the 2026 World Cup . Latest Videos From You may like AirPods Max 2
review: battery life is the only minor bugbear in an otherwise phenomenal set of headphones for iPhone-owners 'Only limited by the physics': inside Apples AirPods Max 2 and the H2 chip upgrade Get a clear look at Sony's new secret high-end headphones in these photos

A post shared by @lamineyamal

A photo posted by on The new Beats headphones are given pride of place in
some of the pictures; they're hard to miss. We can see them in enough detail to easily tell they're not the existing options from the company (and would you really put them around your bag like that, if a company hadn't specifically asked you to show them off?).

Handing headphones to celebrities seems to be the promotional strategy of choice these days. Shortly before the release of Sony 1000X The Collexion , British actor Damson Idris was thoroughly photographed wearing them on the streets of New York City , and it looked no less fabricated than Yamal's photoshoot.

Will endorsement from a soccer star really sell the Beats Solo 5 to audiophiles? I doubt it, but it doesn't matter; as Apple's cheaper headphone brand, Beats isn't aiming for audiophiles anyway. A nice design change (Image credit: Future) We recently tested the Apple AirPods Max 2 , which saw no design changes whatsoever from the original AirPods Max , originally released in 2020. So it's a six-year-old design, and once that looked a little dated even then. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

People irked that Apple hadn't updated its looks will probably be happy that the new Beats headphones offer a more refined design than the older models. I guess that's what all of Apple's designers were beavering away on.

Judging by the pictures, the Beats Solo 5 (if that's what they are) have a more curvy design than the Solo 4, with no rigid plastic tiers and, by the looks of it, a mesh headband akin to the AirPods Max. I wasn't being hyperbolic when I compared them to the playful CMF headphones.

Now, non-sports fans might not know this, but Yamal isn't alone at the
Spanish training camp in Chattanooga, or in the United States. There are actually a fair few footballers across 48 teams, and there's a good chance we'll see more of them tote these new Beats cans across the event.

If that's the case, then the World Cup could be the big pre-launch for the
new Beats headphones, building awareness before they're officially shown off. It seems very likely, then, that we could see an official launch relatively soon. The best noise cancelling headphones for all budgets Our top picks, based on real-world testing and comparisons

Read our full guide to the best noise cancelling headphones 1. Best overall: Sony WH-1000XM6 2. Best mid-range: Bose QuietComfort Headphones 3. Best under $100/100: 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51 4. Best under $60/50: Soundcore Q30 Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/audio/irked-by-airpods-max-2s-6-year-old-design-appl es-cheaper-beats-arm-has-just-the-thing-as-new-over-ears-are-spotted-at-the-fi fa-world-cup-training-camp


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