Apple Reportedly Planning to Manufacture AirPods Studio Headphones in Vietnam

Apple appears to be diversifying production outside mainland China as a new report claims the company will be manufacturing its long-rumoured over-the-ear headphones in Vietnam as well as China.

Beats Studio 3 Headphones

Rumours of an Apple-branded over-ear headphone project have circulated for months with recent rumours claiming the company has gone with the AirPods Studio branding. Now, a new report from The Information claims that Apple has two manufacturers ready to get production underway in Vietnam.

The report noted that the AirPods maker is working with a contract manufacturer in Vietnam for the said project. The suppliers Cupertino tapped include Goertek and Luxshare, both of which will work on assembling at least a portion of the headphones in Vietnam, explains the report. The company will then ship these to Apple in June or July.

This is the first time that the AirPods maker has used Vietnam-based factories to manufacture an entirely new product — previously, it relied on China-based firms to produce new products, and tapped Vietnam-based companies to supplement the production of older products that are already made in China.

The Information also reports that the AirPods Studio will feature Apple’s Active Noise Cancellation similar to what we’ve experienced on the AirPods Pro, as well as head and neck detection, coupled with equalizer settings.

According to a previous leak, the AirPods Studio sport the codename B515, with its price tag set at $349 USD. Also, the AirPods Studio are rumoured to be modular, allowing wearers to remove magnetic cups, and use a color combination that either fits a fitness aesthetic, or something else, depending on their preference.

According to Bloomberg, which has seen the device, it will feature a “retro-look with oval-shaped ear cups that swivel like a headband connected by thin, metal arms.” What’s more, it will come in two variants: a premium model that uses leather-like fabrics and a sporty model that uses “lighter, breathable materials with small perforations.”