- Apple's Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 have been confirmed for 2025
- The headphones are rumored to get heart rate monitoring technology
- A hidden line of code in iOS 18 allegedly reveals that the Powerbeats Pro 2 can be used in conjunction with gym equipment to measure heart rate
Apple’s Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 are reportedly coming soon. The originals were a roaring success and lived on our best workout headphones list for an incredibly long time. Now, not only will the Powerbeats Pro 2 arrive in 2025, but the rumor mill is claiming they’ll be beating Apple’s own AirPods to the punch and cracking in-ear heart rate monitoring.
Spotted by MacRumors, one writer dug into iOS 18’s code and reportedly found that Powerbeats Pro 2 will be able to connect to exercise equipment, like the best treadmills and exercise bikes, harvest heart rate data, and display it in the Health app on your iPhone.
At this stage, it’s unknown how this feature will work when the user is also using an Apple Watch, whether one supersedes the other. The report also doesn’t mention whether the feature can be used without gym equipment and whether the information can be beamed straight from the earbuds to an iPhone without a go-between piece of kit like a treadmill.
In-ear heart rate monitoring isn’t entirely new technology: Polar, makers of the best heart rate monitors, previously collaborated with Sennheiser to create a set of Sennheiser Momentum Sport buds ‘powered by Polar’ with heart rate monitoring tech included.
Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 have been rumored to feature heart rate monitoring, but it looks like Apple will first include the technology in its new Powerbeats headphones before delivering it to the AirPods.
Analysis: Can earbuds really measure your heart rate?
Earbuds might seem like an odd place to pick up your heart rate when compared to the best fitness trackers or even an Apple Watch, which collects information from your wrist.
However, in an exclusive interview with TechRadar, Polar CEO Sander Werring said: “a hearable is actually quite a good place through your ears to measure your heart rate, measure fitness and body temperature.” Just like a watch, this information is collected using tiny pulses of light, used to read the levels of light absorption caused by differences in blood flow.
We’re excited to see what this new technology means for the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 – and the Apple AirPods Pro 3.
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