First, let's talk about the history of Apple a little bit. Apple was the first to drop Floppy disks from their computers starting in 1998 and replace it with optical drives. Apple was also one of the first computers to help with the emergence of USB. There are no debates about those two items. Eh, let's throw out one more. Apple helped killed Flash by not allowing it on there mobile phones. We can all agree, that no one wants to use Floppy Disks anymore, or parallel / serial cables instead of USB. Now, let's talk about the headphone jack. I can't find specifically when the 3.5mm mini one was invented, but the original 1⁄4 in (6.35 mm) version dates from 1878. Now that's old. I, for one, welcome the new technological advancements that Apple will bring to this space. I hear audio will go threw the lightning port, or via bluetooth. Sounds good to me. I know I know, but what about my car? Or my headphones? Or what not? I'm sure there will be an adapter for the time being. Let's do this and get rid of another piece of archaic technology.
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Am I the only one happy that they will remove the headphone jack in iPhone 7? (possibly, just rumor)
- Thread starter melman101
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Well. I'd put it this way. I'm not exactly happy that they remove it but it doesn't really matter either.
I ocassionally plug wired earbuds to my iPhone but most of the time I use my Bluetooth speakers and headphones. I haven't used wired headphones reguralry for a long time.
I ocassionally plug wired earbuds to my iPhone but most of the time I use my Bluetooth speakers and headphones. I haven't used wired headphones reguralry for a long time.
What is wrong with charging them? I have the Beat Studio Wireless headphones and I only have to charge them ever week or so. The sound is outstanding and they cancel outside noise . . . once you do wireless headphones you will never go back.
I do not want Apple to get rid of the outlet but it makes no difference to me.
What if you could have the same experience with the Lightning port as the 3.5mm jack? Meaning when plugged in no power required. My beats wireless can be plugged in via 3.5mm. My guess is they'll change that to lightning.
As said earlier, whatever it will be...it has to run off the phone.
If Apple switches the existing 3.5 connector to a Lightning port that would be acceptable...wonder if my favorite headphones will follow suit.
How much space does the Lightning port save over the current...is it really that significant?
The problem is that from floppy to optical, there was a clear advantage. Likewise with USB, and while the ecosystem changed over to serial and parallel to USB, most computers maintained both, so consumers had the option. Notice that Apple didn't force the pace as hard on firewire....
There is no such clear advantage here. Wired headphones through a normal jack have advantages over wireless. There is no overhead in charging them. They can be expensive or cheap, depending on your taste (or budget). Wireless will never get to the point of being as cheap as there will always be various licences to pay for, or as convenient. Consumers end up being forced into buying a more expensive product that requires extra attention over and above the alternative.
Some people make that choice consciously as for them the advantages of wireless outweigh the disadvantages.
There is no such clear advantage here. Wired headphones through a normal jack have advantages over wireless. There is no overhead in charging them. They can be expensive or cheap, depending on your taste (or budget). Wireless will never get to the point of being as cheap as there will always be various licences to pay for, or as convenient. Consumers end up being forced into buying a more expensive product that requires extra attention over and above the alternative.
Some people make that choice consciously as for them the advantages of wireless outweigh the disadvantages.
The issue is that unless Apple changes something, those headphones will also need a DAC and an amp which is bulky and redundant considering that those components also exist right inside the phone.
Whatever happens, I'll adapt one way or another, but I see the previous changes that Apple made 'ahead of their time' as fundamentally different than this one. Every one of those technologies had something superior waiting in the wings to take its place. I don't see that with the analog audio port. Maybe some people think that's wireless. I disagree. Wireless is great in the car and at home. On my headphones it means another thing for me to charge. Untethering me from the wall is fundamentally different than untethering me from something in my pocket.
I think that is the major question. How are existing corded headphones going to be part of the future? If headphones lose signature quality, be it from tones, noise cancelling, etc. how is it going to be made up?
I routinely have 10+hr flights and don't need something added drawing from the battery. So at first look, this doesn't seem to acceptable.
Actually you could have better experience if Apple open up lightning port digital audio certification, so we could see lightning input D/A headphone amp or D/A convertor for home audio, and of course lightning port input digital headphone, with D/A converter right next to each headphone speaker for minimum power requirement and minimum noise in D/A conversion circuitry.
With elimination of D/A convertor inside iPhone, Apple could create a cleaner digital audio output with less power use from battery.
I never used my 3.5 mm jack. But I sure wish the market had time or the incentive to support audio over Lightning.
inb4 Apple has to force the market to change.
What a joke, the marketplace is extremely reactive already and this will only continue. Apple doesn't need to strong arm things anymore. Look at USB-C, HDR, 4K. CES is happening right now and its insane how fast products have appeared to meet industry breakthroughs.
inb4 Apple has to force the market to change.
What a joke, the marketplace is extremely reactive already and this will only continue. Apple doesn't need to strong arm things anymore. Look at USB-C, HDR, 4K. CES is happening right now and its insane how fast products have appeared to meet industry breakthroughs.
Apple could not strong arm by himself, people buy Apple product allow them to.
So stop buying Apple product, and convince other people to do that also, but good luck with that.
Not me, sorry.
Myself, I have no problem with change of any HW/SW format. Format change drive more innovation and more opportunity for small 3rd party maker to come up with new idea and new design. Staying with same format will continue domination of few big company who controls market, since very little innovation come out of existing technology, specially old century old technology like 3.5mm audio jack, and big company dominate exiting technology.
What's stopping accessory makers from doing this now? I know when I bought my aftermarket head unit I specifically bought one that will bypass the internal DAC to use the higher quality DAC of the head unit, when plugged in via Lightning/USB of course.
I'm absolutely fine with the port going away. I've not used it for years. My headphones and car both do blue tooth. I can't imagine going wired again.
I'm not sure what your definition of "cheap" is, but I'm currently listening to music on blue tooth headphones I picked up for $30. I'm quite sure the quality isn't the greatest, but for sitting at my desk at work, they're perfectly adequate (and frankly, better than I'd hoped for the price).
As for charging, if I'm using them daily, I need to charge roughly once a week. But I don't typically listen all day, every day. So it might be weeks or months before I need to charge them again. But I'd say with 6-8 hours per day, I'd probably get somewhere around a week out of them.
I'm not sure what your definition of "cheap" is, but I'm currently listening to music on blue tooth headphones I picked up for $30. I'm quite sure the quality isn't the greatest, but for sitting at my desk at work, they're perfectly adequate (and frankly, better than I'd hoped for the price).
As for charging, if I'm using them daily, I need to charge roughly once a week. But I don't typically listen all day, every day. So it might be weeks or months before I need to charge them again. But I'd say with 6-8 hours per day, I'd probably get somewhere around a week out of them.
Remove internal DAC will allow Apple to design a cleaner digital output with less jitter. It will also get new iPhone user interested on external DAC, hence more company develop external DAC because market just become bigger.
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No getting rid of the 3.5mm jack is a stupid idea. Even when you consider it will let them use the space more efficiently for battery storage, because rather then increase capacity they will keep capacity the same and make the phone thinner again.
I mean really, does anyone complain the iPhone 6S is to thick? I haven't heard that ever, (inb4 someone pretends to actually want it thinner) in fact what I have heard multiple times is, "the phone is to thin and slippery, Im gonna grab a case". In fact thats one of the reasons I have a case, the phone is to thin and hard to hold.
But thats not the only reason I want to keep the 3.5mm jack. I also sit at a desk all day at work, I listen to music or podcasts constantly, having a cheap set of headphones that do not need charged is a killer feature. I have broken head phones or worn them out, when I do, I run to Best Buy and grab a $12 pair of skull candy headphones. Not the greatest audio quality but they are cheap and work for when I am at work.
Also, my car is older, no bluetooth connection, but it has an Aux in jack. Thats what I use in the car, no audio jack means no music in the car.
I really hope this is a bad rumor because this will be a game changer in actually hurting sales. To many people rely on a cheap set of headphones to be able to justify buying a phone that doesn't support a standard.
And yes, I know sometimes we need to kill old tech, but this isn't one of those times. Mostly we kill tech when it is already on its way out. People laud Apple for getting rid of the 3.5in floppy disc, but the reality is, very few people were using it by then anyway. The same thing as the DVD drive, usage was dropping anyway.
But headphone jack usage isn't dropping just because of bluetooth. And I really truly believe that killing the headphone jack will harm sales.
I mean really, does anyone complain the iPhone 6S is to thick? I haven't heard that ever, (inb4 someone pretends to actually want it thinner) in fact what I have heard multiple times is, "the phone is to thin and slippery, Im gonna grab a case". In fact thats one of the reasons I have a case, the phone is to thin and hard to hold.
But thats not the only reason I want to keep the 3.5mm jack. I also sit at a desk all day at work, I listen to music or podcasts constantly, having a cheap set of headphones that do not need charged is a killer feature. I have broken head phones or worn them out, when I do, I run to Best Buy and grab a $12 pair of skull candy headphones. Not the greatest audio quality but they are cheap and work for when I am at work.
Also, my car is older, no bluetooth connection, but it has an Aux in jack. Thats what I use in the car, no audio jack means no music in the car.
I really hope this is a bad rumor because this will be a game changer in actually hurting sales. To many people rely on a cheap set of headphones to be able to justify buying a phone that doesn't support a standard.
And yes, I know sometimes we need to kill old tech, but this isn't one of those times. Mostly we kill tech when it is already on its way out. People laud Apple for getting rid of the 3.5in floppy disc, but the reality is, very few people were using it by then anyway. The same thing as the DVD drive, usage was dropping anyway.
But headphone jack usage isn't dropping just because of bluetooth. And I really truly believe that killing the headphone jack will harm sales.
Market, market, market.
Who NOW today is interesting in external DAC to use with your existing iPhone, included lightning to 3.5mm adapter DAC, please raise you hand?
I don't see too many hand, who is it, please raise you hands?
More people will raise their hand when they are forced to in the future with eliminated 3.5mm on new iPhone.
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So as getting rid of VHS, Beta, 8-tracks, cassette, CD. They all have their benefit, and they all have cult follower, but they all are almost gone.
Like I said, only change is constant.
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This has been discussed extensively this week but I still haven't gotten a straight answer to the question, what is the benefit?
So I'm either going to have to plug my headphones into the lightning port and therefore not be able to charge/sync while using them, or have headphones that require charging? I'll admit, neither of these things is the worst thing in the world, but they are added inconveniences. So someone please tell me what I'll be gaining int return. Every time I ask the only response I get is that headphone jacks are old technology and this is new.
So I'm either going to have to plug my headphones into the lightning port and therefore not be able to charge/sync while using them, or have headphones that require charging? I'll admit, neither of these things is the worst thing in the world, but they are added inconveniences. So someone please tell me what I'll be gaining int return. Every time I ask the only response I get is that headphone jacks are old technology and this is new.
There are times that I still use headphones - like on conference calls. And my son-in-law has his own business where he relies on the Square adapter to accept credit/debit card purchases... so there are still some legit reasons for the headphone jack. I've never been a huge fan of the plethora of adapters that are required when a manufacturer decides to change connection types... I'm also not convinced yet whether it's a good thing or a bad thing... but as with most technological evolution, there's a faction of resistance initially... this will be no different... and in 2-3 years, the whole discussion will most likely turn to "what was THAT all about?".
I suspect that it may be a part of the whole waterproofing thing - one less hole to worry about.
I say to Apple "BRING IT!". We may not all agree now, but we'll figure it all out and survive...
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It might actually increase sales of lighting port > 3.5mm headphone jack adapters... probably to the tune of $29.95 per.
