Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Beats headphones + lightning connector for HD music?

P

pogoyoyo

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 17, 2010
162
10
Toronto, Canada
Just thought of this... what if apple bought beats which is probably the largest headphone manufacturer for the same crowd that buys iPhones, because they want a headphone maker onboard with a new lightning connector standard for headphones for HD music (among other reasons I'm sure) when they announce it this year or next year? And maybe Apple will one day get rid of the 3.5mm headphone jack?
They are after all known for their crazy moves like that...
 
pogoyoyo said:
Just thought of this... what if apple bought beats which is probably the largest headphone manufacturer for the same crowd that buys iPhones, because they want a headphone maker onboard with a new lightning connector standard for headphones for HD music (among other reasons I'm sure) when they announce it this year or next year? And maybe Apple will one day get rid of the 3.5mm headphone jack?
They are after all known for their crazy moves like that...
Click to expand...
I like the idea and I'm sure apple has some crazy ideas but I doubt they would get rid of the headphone jack and just use the lightning connector for earphones because then u couldn't charger your iPhone and listen to music at the same time...
Or u couldnt charge your iphone and have headphones in while watching a movie or playing a game.
 
iPodJedi said:
I like the idea and I'm sure apple has some crazy ideas but I doubt they would get rid of the headphone jack and just use the lightning connector for earphones because then u couldn't charger your iPhone and listen to music at the same time...
Or u couldnt charge your iphone and have headphones in while watching a movie or playing a game.
Click to expand...

2x lightning connectors? Or maybe a push for a different, even smaller connector?
 
The 3.5 mm jack is perfectly fine and dandy for HD-audio. No need for any new connectors for that reason.
 
zipa said:
The 3.5 mm jack is perfectly fine and dandy for HD-audio. No need for any new connectors for that reason.
Click to expand...
Jack may be fine but the headphone amp has always been noisy which is people use dock and/or lightning connector for clean audio.
 
takeshi74 said:
Jack may be fine but the headphone amp has always been noisy which is people use dock and/or lightning connector for clean audio.
Click to expand...

You think the cheap amp in the headphones will be any better?

Will they include a 3.5mm also so we can use our own amp?
 
Yeah, I read about the article today and came back here and saw this. That would be pretty bad. I run every day, so I depend on my 3.5mm jack. I don't want to buy bad $300 headphones for running.
 
I doubt they will get rid of the 3.5mm connector in the next 7 years and peoples reaction to the news is mostly just Chicken Little. They are just adding another option, that yes, they will probably use on new Beats headphones.
 
stuffradio said:
Yeah, I read about the article today and came back here and saw this. That would be pretty bad. I run every day, so I depend on my 3.5mm jack. I don't want to buy bad $300 headphones for running.
Click to expand...

If Apple did remove the 3.5mm jack, I'm sure there would be a small inline Lightning to 3.5mm adapter.
 
chabig said:
If Apple did remove the 3.5mm jack, I'm sure there would be a small inline Lightning to 3.5mm adapter.
Click to expand...

But the Lightning port has no support for analog audio, so you can't have an adapter. You'll need a DAC.
 
I know "we" will probably spend months (or more) trying to rationalize $3B for Beats but to the OPs rationalization of buying Beats to build them with lightning connectors, the fall back question of "But why Beats" applies. Conceptually Apple could have purchased ANY headphone-making company if the driver of the purchase was to build headphones with lightning connectors. Or they could have built their own Apple-branded headphones with lightning connectors.

Personally, I think the Beats purchase was about trying to "buy cool", buying a company mostly because of it's high profit margins, and maybe buying some shortcut to a subscription music service. I'm less inclined to buy that it's about getting the leader(s) as it seems like Apple could have done that for a lot less than $3B.

Also personally, I think this push toward lightning connector headphones is good and bad. The good is in it's implication that there's probably going to be a significant upgrade in the quality of music files made available via iTunes. If iTunes Match allows local music replacement with THOSE files, anyone's library could get a significant upgrade (perhaps even better than CD). The bad: adapters to go from lightning to the 3.5" standard (even iDevice to Macbook inconveniences, airplane jacks, all other audio equipment). There's also the local storage challenge of these larger-to-much-larger music files else it's "stream everything from iCloud" which probably makes AT&T, Verizon, etc happier.

Here's Forbes take: http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonk...enly-beats-deal-makes-sense/?partner=yahootix which seems to mostly revolve around the profits at the expense of consumer utility.
 
Last edited:
Almost all the posts are saying "OR". The iDevice must have 3.5mm OR the ability to use Lightning headphones. Why not "AND"? There is absolutely nothing holding Apple back from having Beats headphones with an 3.5mm plug AND a lightning plug. Think about having the cord disconnect at the headphone itself, and shipping with both a Lightning cord and a 3.5mm jack. :rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back