New Apple headphone project possibly hampered by multiple re-designs, coming no earlier than holiday 2018

Another report claims that high-end over-the-ear headphones are expected from Apple — not Beats — before the end of 2018, but the data escaping Apple's manufacturing chain remains nebulous and ill-defined.

A new report from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg on Monday morning reiterates earlier rumors that Apple is planning on extending its wearables market with new headphones. Allegedly, the noise-canceling headphones could be released "as early as the end of this year" but there are "development challenges" that could delay the release.

Gurman claims that work on the Apple earphones has been sporadic over the course of the last year, comparing it to HomePod development. According to unnamed Bloomberg sources, Apple has forced multiple redesigns, and may be doing it yet again — or may scrap the project entirely.

While there are concerns in the Bloomberg report that some Beats sales might be cannibalized by the new headset, much of the Beats product line are lower-priced than what the new headphones are expected to command — but the account falls short of naming a price range.

KGI's Ming-Chi Kuo first reported the presence of the high-end headphones on Feb. 24. Kuo suggested that Apple supplier SZS, a metal injection molding specialist, is expected to be part of the project.

Kuo also predicts Apple will introduce an updated version of AirPods in the second half of 2018.