Signs Point to New Beats Pill Speaker, Google and Magic Leap Form Partnership, First Up-Close Shots of Apple’s Immersive Video Cameras
Happy Friday.
We will conclude this week’s updates with three stories that caught my interest. The discussion begins with a new Beats speaker. We then turn to AR land and news of Google and Magic Leap forming a partnership. The update concludes with Apple Immersive Video.
Let’s jump right in.
Signs Point to New Beats Pill Speaker
We purposely don’t spend too much time talking Apple product rumors, partially because such rumors never end. However, there is one particular rumor that relates to a few recent discussion topics.
“Apple is preparing to launch its second Beats Pill product since acquiring the audio brand nearly a decade ago. After being bought by Apple in 2014, Beats introduced the Beats Pill+ that sold from 2015 to 2020. While it was discontinued without a replacement in sight, the forthcoming Beats Pill has been showing up everywhere from celebrity sightings to regulatory listings…
While good sound is key to great Bluetooth speakers, features and compatibility are equally important for creating standout products. 9to5Mac can report that the 2024 Beats Pill will bring a number of tricks and benefits over the discontinued Beats Pill+.
The new Beats Pill doubles battery life from up to 12 hours to up to 24 hours.
An IP67 rating adds dust and water resistance that previous hardware lacked.
The Bluetooth speaker will be compatible with both iOS and Android for one-touch pairing and auto pairing to compatible devices.
The 2024 Beats Pill adds Apple Find My and Google’s Find My Device compatibility for tracking down lost hardware."
One of those celebrity sightings included Lebron James (shown below with the rumored new Beats Pill speaker).
An Above Avalon membership is required to continue reading this update. Members can read the full update here. (Members: Daily Updates are accessible via the archive. If you haven’t logged into the archive before, fill out this form to receive an invite.)
Choose either a monthly or annual membership. Payment is hosted by MoonClerk and secured by Stripe. Apple Pay and other mobile payment options are accepted. After signup, use this link to update your payment information and membership status at any time. Contact me with any questions.
Contact me directly if you would like to purchase multiple subscriptions (five or more) for your team or company.
An audio version of the newsletter is available to members who have the podcast add-on attached to their membership. More information about the podcast add-on is found here. Special Inside Orchard bundle pricing is available for Above Avalon members. Additional membership customization is available via the Financial Models add-ons.
Apple & Beats: Ten Years Later, Grading the Beats Acquisition, Apple / Beats Lessons
Hello everyone. It’s good to be back after a long weekend.
Today’s update will be a bit different as we look back at Apple’s largest acquisition to date: Beats.
Let’s jump right in.
Apple & Beats: Ten Years Later
Today marks the tenth anniversary of Apple announcing its Beats acquisition. Rumors of the acquisition began to leak a few weeks prior in early May 2014. Some of you may have remembered the now infamous YouTube video of Dr. Dre prematurely celebrating the deal.
Things were made official on May 28th, 2024 with Apple paying $3B for Beats (down from the rumored $3.2B).
No subsequent Apple M&A deal has come close to that $3B price tag – the closest was $1B for a majority of Intel's smartphone modem business. It’s safe to say no other deal has been as controversial as Beats either.
An Above Avalon membership is required to continue reading this update. Members can read the full update here. (Members: Daily Updates are accessible via the archive. If you haven’t logged into the archive before, fill out this form to receive an invite.)
Choose either a monthly or annual membership. Payment is hosted by MoonClerk and secured by Stripe. Apple Pay and other mobile payment options are accepted. After signup, use this link to update your payment information and membership status at any time. Contact me with any questions.
Contact me directly if you would like to purchase multiple subscriptions (five or more) for your team or company.
An audio version of the newsletter is available to members who have the podcast add-on attached to their membership. More information about the podcast add-on is found here. Special Inside Orchard bundle pricing is available for Above Avalon members. Additional membership customization is available via the Financial Models add-ons.