It’s being said that the high-end headphones would be designed to compete with similar offerings from Bose, Sony, and Sennheiser. (Image credit: Patently Apple)

If there’s one Apple device that most consumers are anxiously waiting for it, then it has to be a pair of studio-quality over-ear headphones. It’s rumoured that they will launch sometime in the first half of 2020, but we know little about them. Thankfully, Apple has been granted a patent by the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), which sheds light on one critical feature of the upcoming over-ear headphones.

So essentially, Apple’s rumoured over-ear headphones can register touch gestures and detect rotation. The headphones basically feature a touch interface integrated into the earpieces. Instead of mechanical buttons, there is a touch interface on each side of the earpiece that can sense gestures.

However, in addition to touch gestures, the patent suggests that the headphones could also detect rotation. This means that a wearer can choose to have the headband over the top of the head or around the back of the neck. Simply put, the same gesture would work regardless of how you wear your headphones.

But here the thing: the technologies and features based in patents don’t always materialise. Even though Apple’s vision of creating a pair of premium over-ear headphones may seem interesting, we need to remember that patents aren’t always an indication that the company is working on a particular product.

But in the case of studio-quality over-ear headphones, we have been hearing a lot about them through various reports. Both Ming-Chi Kuo and Bloomberg have claimed that Apple is working on a pair of premium over-ear headphones. It’s being said that the high-end headphones would be designed to compete with similar offerings from Bose, Sony, and Sennheiser. Let’s not forget, Apple already sells over-ear headphones under the Beats brand.