How Beats Designed The Beats 360 Headphones

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Beats has just unveiled its new Beats 360 headphones, which sit above the established Beats Studio Pro as an even more premium alternative. I had the chance to check out the new Beats 360 before the official launch, and the product is definitely appealing. It looks quite different from that classic Beats design, but still keeps key elements loved by the brand’s most loyal fans. To better understand this launch, I sat down with Oliver Schusser — vice president of Apple Music and Beats. We talked about how this model differs from other Beats and Apple products, and even what to expect in the future.

We already have a full review of the new Beats 360 if you’d like to take a closer look at what they can do. But to sum it up, Beats is going for a more modular and fun design. The ear cushions and headband are easily interchangeable, and you can mix and match different colors. I personally loved this approach, but I had to ask Schusser who exactly they’re targeting with the new headphones.

It turns out that Schusser says these headphones are for everyone. “It’s female, male, it’s younger people, older people. It’s pretty actually broad,” he said. But of course, he sees that the mix-and-match trend plays better with young people. The idea is like having different pairs of sneakers, but this time with headphone ear cushions. “It almost feels like you have multiple headphones,” he added.

This customization goes beyond colors. Beats is offering two different versions of the ear cushions: one is made of fabric and is perfect for working out, while the other is made of eco-friendly leather for a more stylish look. Think of it as changing your iPhone case depending on where you’re going. Not everyone will care about this, but it’s nice to have that option.

When Beats was designing the new headphones, it wanted to try something new without losing the brand’s identity. Schusser told me that he still sees Beats’ identity in the new product, from the fun colors to the iconic “b” logo on the sides. 

“It still feels very Beats to me, even though it’s a very new, innovative, sort of lighter sort of look,” he said. In fact, the Beats 360 matches well with other products in the lineup, such as the Powerbeats Pro 2 and the company’s iPhone cases — even though Beats isn’t making cases for the iPhone 18 this year, which is a shame.

Beats is an Apple brand, and while they pride themselves on their autonomy, you can clearly see Apple’s influence in Beats products. It’s no surprise that the Beats 360 looks similar to the AirPods Max in some ways. But interestingly, the Beats 360 headphones don’t have an Apple audio chip like the AirPods Max. Instead, Beats is betting on a new generation of its own custom chip. Why? Schusser says it’s because some Beats products take a very different approach from the AirPods — even though they work very closely with Apple.

“The engineering, the operations and the manufacturing is fully integrated to Apple. And we don’t ever really question this,” Schusser told me. “We think everyone at Beats is very proud to be a part of Apple, and everyone at Apple is very proud to have Beats as a sort of a team. It allows us to have sort of two different approaches.” He then explained that Beats headphones can support Apple features like Find My and auto-switching between devices even without Apple’s proprietary chip. At the same time, they’re also fully compatible with Android. “We’ve optimized the chip for both iOS and Android,” he added. “And the chip, by the way, has no relevance to this.”

Also in this context, Schusser doesn’t see Beats products as competitors to Apple. In fact, he argues that some people might choose to have both for different uses — such as AirPods for everyday use and Beats for the gym — which is my case, by the way. 

“The great thing for the customer is that the customer has more choice,” he said. “They’re both premium products.”

Beats is known for being a company with music at its core. Its headphones are very popular, and there’s also the Beats Pill, one of my favorite portable speakers. But Beats has also been exploring accessories lately, such as USB cables and iPhone cases. I asked Schusser what’s next for Beats, and whether their customers still see the company as “just an audio brand.”

He told me that many Beats users love the brand and are loyal to it. They love the fun, sporty vibe that Beats embodies. “And we have for the longest time thought about, well, what else can we do with that,” he said. When it comes to cables, for example, Schusser says that Beats has become “really good at making cables” because they’ve been designing their own custom cables for Beats headphones for a long time. “And they’ve been a huge success for us,” he said.

Looking ahead, Schusser suggests that we can expect even more Beats accessories, though it’s not as if they’re just throwing things out left and right. The idea is to figure out what makes sense for Beats users and under the Beats brand. “We want to be careful with it, though,” he explained. “We don’t want to go into, like, too many things.” There have been rumors that Beats is working on a new game controller for iPhones, so perhaps that will be the next big product from them.

For now, Beats’ next big thing is the Beats 360 headphones, which back up everything Schusser told me. It’s a bold new product — and a really good one — that still has that unmistakable Beats identity.