Beats 360 Turns Your Headphones Into a Mix-and-Match Accessory

Apple has unveiled Beats 360, a new flagship pair of over-ear headphones and the first from the brand to let wearers swap out both ear cup and headband cushions. The launch pairs that customization play with a ground-up acoustic platform, the strongest noise canceling Beats has shipped, and the first sweat and water resistance rating on a Beats over-ear.

The sound starts with hardware built exclusively for this model. Each ear cup houses a custom driver pairing a three-layer diaphragm with dual neodymium magnets, a setup Beats says delivers deep bass and tight control across the frequency range while keeping distortion to a minimum. Adaptive EQ tunes output in real time based on how the headphones sit on your head. A gyroscope and accelerometer tucked into the left cup handle head tracking for personalized spatial audio and Dolby Atmos playback across music, film and podcasts.

Noise canceling gets a significant bump. Beats rates the adaptive ANC system at up to 1.75 times the total noise cancellation of Beats Studio Pro, with Transparency mode available when you need to hear the room. Nine digital MEMS microphones are spread across the frame: eight serve noise canceling and three handle voice pickup, with two pulling double duty. On calls, a beam-forming voice mic works in tandem with the feed-forward mics to isolate speech, and the system pulls in additional mics whenever they deliver a cleaner signal.

The cushion system is where the engineering and the self-expression story meet. Performance knit cushions, which ship standard, layer plush memory foam beneath a breathable diamond knit in which each strand is spun from 36 micro-threads for durability. Beats pitches them squarely at training and active use. UltraPlush cushions swap the knit for seamless engineered leather aimed at long listening sessions, the same material Beats uses on Beats Studio Pro and Beats Solo 4. Both are shaped to seal around the ear for isolation, and both come as kits covering the ear cups and headband. “And with our new interchangeable cushions, our customers can express themselves in a way no other over-ear headphones can,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Music, Sports and Beats.

The headband itself has been rethought as well. Committing to a wireless-first design removed the need to route cables through the band, freeing Beats engineers to focus on weight distribution and clamping tension for a lighter, more stable fit. Durability follows the same active-use logic. An IPX4 rating makes Beats 360 the first Beats over-ears built to handle sweat, rain and heat, which Beats achieved partly through careful engineering of the rear acoustic chamber. The headphones fold flat into an included woven ripstop case.

That fitness-ready positioning marks a notable turn for a brand whose over-ears built their reputation as a lifestyle and studio staple. Beats launched its first Beats Studio headphones in 2008 under Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine before Apple acquired the company in 2014. Schusser leans into that lineage directly. “Beats didn’t just participate in the rise of over-ear headphones – we helped define the category,” he said, framing Beats 360 as the next step in that story.

Under the hood, a custom Beats chip supports both Apple and Android ecosystems over Class 1 Bluetooth 5.3. Apple users get one-touch pairing, hands-free Siri, automatic device switching, audio sharing and Find My. Android users get Fast Pair, audio switch and Find Hub. Physical controls sit on the back of each cup: a volume rocker and play/pause button on the right, and a power button and dedicated listening mode button on the left. Battery life reaches up to 32 hours, and a five-minute Fast Fuel top-up over USB-C adds up to an hour of playback. Sustainability rounds out the spec sheet: the ear cups, speaker enclosure and internal parts use 80% recycled plastic, all magnets use 100% recycled rare earth elements, and the packaging is fully fiber-based.

Beats 360 is available to order now via apple.com in more than 100 countries and regions in Black, Cloud, Pink and Sky, each paired with matching performance knit cushions, with in-store availability beginning September 24. Beats 360 Cushion Kits are also available to order now via apple.com in performance knit (Black, Cloud, Pink, Sky, Navy and Volt) and UltraPlush (Black and Cloud).