FCC Filling A3577 might not be Apple's next AirPods Max

A new FCC filing for an unreleased Apple over the ear headphone has set off the predictable round of speculation, with much of the attention landing on AirPods Max.

Eleanor Pace·May 27, 2026·5 min read

A new FCC filing for an unreleased Apple over the ear headphone has set off the predictable round of speculation, with much of the attention landing on AirPods Max. The temptation is understandable. Apple makes over the ear headphones called AirPods Max. The FCC paperwork describes the product simply as "Bluetooth over the ear headphones." The math seems straightforward.

The reality is more complicated, and a closer look at what Apple has actually done with the line over the last eighteen months makes a Beats product the far more credible reading.

What the filing actually says

The documents, spotted last week and dated May 5, identify an Apple product with the model number A3577. The product is described as a Bluetooth over the ear headphone with an integral battery, microphone, and antenna. A single image in the filing shows a generic ear cup with the location of the regulatory label marked. Most of the supporting documentation is under a confidentiality hold, which is standard Apple practice with the FCC.

That is essentially the complete public record. No design details, no spec sheet, no marketing name.

Why the AirPods Max reading does not hold up

Apple released the second generation AirPods Max in April 2026. That model carries the internal designation A3454. The original Lightning AirPods Max was A2096. The 2024 USB-C refresh was A3184. None of those numbers are particularly close to A3577, and more importantly, Apple has just refreshed the product. Shipping a third AirPods Max less than two months after the second would be a strange way for the company to manage a flagship line that already commands a premium price.

It is worth saying plainly that Apple does not behave this way with its over the ear product. AirPods Max sits at the top of the AirPods lineup and gets updated on long cycles. The Lightning model launched in December 2020. The USB-C refresh came nearly four years later, in September 2024. The H2 chip update arrived this April. Another AirPods Max launch this calendar year would break a pattern Apple has maintained since the product first shipped.

The Beats theory makes more sense

Apple's audio business has two over the ear identities, and they are starting to look more distinct from each other than they did a few years ago. AirPods Max is the premium Apple first offering. Beats is the more colorful, more fashion forward, more cross platform alternative.

The Beats over the ear lineup is also overdue for attention. The Beats Studio Pro launched in July 2023 and has not been refreshed since. The Beats Solo 4 followed in April 2024 and is the more recent product. Beats Studio Pro turning three this summer is exactly the kind of timeline that produces a successor, and Beats products historically arrive with quieter rollouts and shorter marketing runways than AirPods. A regulatory filing surfacing months before launch, with little fanfare and no Apple commentary, fits Beats more naturally than it fits AirPods Max.

The internal numbering does not rule this out either. Apple uses the same A#### format across AirPods and Beats filings. Beats Studio Pro was A2924. The Powerbeats Pro 2 used A3157, A3158, and A3160. The number A3577 sits comfortably within the range of recent Apple audio products, including ones with a Beats badge.

What this would mean for Apple's audio lineup

If A3577 is a Beats Studio Pro successor, the strategic picture is fairly tidy. AirPods Max already got its modernization, with USB-C charging, lossless audio over the wired connection, the H2 chip, and the upgrades that pushed the headphones into more credible territory for pro adjacent users. A Beats Studio Pro 2 would address a separate audience: buyers who want the cross platform compatibility, the broader color palette, and the lower price that Beats has always represented.

Reasonable people will disagree about whether Beats still needs to exist as a separate brand inside Apple. The answer Apple has given, repeatedly, is yes. The Beats Pill returned. The Powerbeats Pro 2 shipped with the H2 chip from AirPods Pro. The brand has been treated less like a legacy acquisition and more like a parallel channel for products that do not fit cleanly under the AirPods name.

A third generation Studio Pro, possibly with the H2 chip and USB-C audio support, would extend that pattern.

What to watch for

The confidentiality period on the FCC documents will lift on its own schedule, and Apple does not usually wait for that before announcing a product it is ready to sell. If history is any guide, the first real confirmation will come from a press release, a quiet update to the Beats site, or a Mark Gurman item in Power On. The Bloomberg reporter has been the most reliable name on Apple's audio roadmap for some time, and a Beats product launching later this year would be well within the window he has covered before.

For now, A3577 is something. It is not, in any reading the available evidence supports, the next AirPods Max.

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