Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Introduces Lightning Cable MFi Specifications for Headphones
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Something tells me that the headphones that come with the iPhone 6 will have a lightning connector on the end...not a 3.5mm jack. The iPhone 6 will not have a headphone port. I don't honestly think it needs one. Run audio through the lightning port and provide an adapter for those that need it...just like when the Lightning port replaced the 30 pin dock connector. People will whine but they will get over it and it will be the new normal. And just like that, Apple kills off the 3.5 headphone jack.
If I leave the stats out of it and listen to what my ears are telling me here is what I get. If I play downgraded-for-iPhone HDTunes hi-def file through my Bose headphones on my iPhone 5c, 2012 mini, 2012 15" MBP and 2010 MP here is what I get;
The audio subsystems, DAC and audio amp, on my iPhone produce substantially worse sound than my mini does. The MBP sounds very close to the mini, maybe a little better. The MP sounds even better.
One of the reasons I got a 5c instead of a 5s is that my iPhone is mainly for phoning and listening to music. Both current models of iPhone seem to have about the same phone and music listening capabilities.
Apple really needs an iPhone with a quality DAC and an excellent audio amp. I would gladly sacrifice battery power longevity for that.
Apple should have included optical combo jack on their iPhone and iPad, just like most of Mac computers. That way I could just plug a mini TOSLINK port from the device directly to DAC or AV receiver.
Well yes there is no TOSLINK headphones on the market yet, but mini TOSLINK jack is cheap and awesome for digital audio reproduction. Especially if you already have an external DAC with optical input.
It is already PCM signal with capability of AC3 (Dolby digital) bitstream. How beautiful is that?
Well yes there is no TOSLINK headphones on the market yet, but mini TOSLINK jack is cheap and awesome for digital audio reproduction. Especially if you already have an external DAC with optical input.
It is already PCM signal with capability of AC3 (Dolby digital) bitstream. How beautiful is that?
Lightning DAC
Apogee makes a super high end Lighting DAC that charges iOS for something like the 598's http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/one-dac.
Apogee makes a super high end Lighting DAC that charges iOS for something like the 598's http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/one-dac.
Apple should have included optical combo jack on their iPhone and iPad, just like most of Mac computers. That way I could just plug a mini TOSLINK port from the device directly to DAC or AV receiver.
Well yes there is no TOSLINK headphones on the market yet, but mini TOSLINK jack is cheap and awesome for digital audio reproduction. Especially if you already have an external DAC with optical input.
It is already PCM signal with capability of AC3 (Dolby digital) bitstream. How beautiful is that?
It's already been discussed in this thread. Optical requires too much work, too much power, too much weight compared to using lightning (or USB, which most receivers have, now) directly.
Apple Jacks The Headphone Port
Source: http://www.npr.org/2014/06/09/320368529/apple-jacks-the-headphone-port
Source: http://www.npr.org/2014/06/09/320368529/apple-jacks-the-headphone-port
Apple: Lets make a standard to give companies an option to use the Lightning connector for digital audio
World: Oh no Apple is killing the 3.5mm jack!! We are all going to die!
World: Oh no Apple is killing the 3.5mm jack!! We are all going to die!
I know your comment was made with a little sarcasm, but take into consideration that most of the industry has a standard of using a 3.5mm jack.
I'm not being all that sacastic actually, perhaps a little snarky.
Check out the main thread on this and look at how 75% of the comments are Chicken Little "Apple is killing the 3.5mm jack".
Could Apple remove it? Sure. Will they do it anytime in the near future? Most likely not, it's not in their best interest to do so.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1741134/
Yes they do, and there is no indication that Apple is moving away from it. Just a few "journalists" who know little about tech and even less about audio, and think that drawing up a scaremongering rumor would be great click bait.
The lightning port specification is intended to address the HiFi nerds who feel that iOS device audio output is substandard, and want to directly pump high bitrate, lossless audio directly into whatever audio output they choose. It MIGHT be special headphones, or it MIGHT be a HiFi home or car audio system. But none of this means that they will be doing away with a regular headphone jack. It's just another option.
Regarding the original post - First reaction = horrible idea
If Apple creates audio in/out functionality on the lightning port thats one thing. That theoretically could provide some headphone and microphone opportunities
If apple gets rid of the standard audio jack when they do this...Well thats a freaking horrible idea. I use standard talk headsets frequently because they keep me handsfree at work. They're cheap and can be purchased for under $7 anywhere. Im making phone calls, not recording my voice. So the cheapies are sufficient. I don't use bluetooth devices often because I have a habit of losing them.
Honestly, if apple implements lightning only input/ouput for audio, i might not purchase the phone. We all know there headphones are going to be outrageously expensive as they are now.
And Beats equipment isn't that good anyway. For music, id prefer different headphones and you know theyre not coming with the standard jack
Oh, and forget about charging... Im not sure how thats gonna work while plugged into headphones. You're definitely not charging headphones with the iPhone. No way, I charge my phone 3 times a day as it is. And charging the phone from the headphones, get outta here. Its likely going to be one or the other. Or, you're stuck with some dumb y adapter or chain connection
This is a ploy for apple to make money with proprietary equipment.. and its a BAD one
From the quote above from the Apple interview... Apple is not always ahead of the curve with technology... They're phones are actually quite behind right now
If Apple creates audio in/out functionality on the lightning port thats one thing. That theoretically could provide some headphone and microphone opportunities
If apple gets rid of the standard audio jack when they do this...Well thats a freaking horrible idea. I use standard talk headsets frequently because they keep me handsfree at work. They're cheap and can be purchased for under $7 anywhere. Im making phone calls, not recording my voice. So the cheapies are sufficient. I don't use bluetooth devices often because I have a habit of losing them.
Honestly, if apple implements lightning only input/ouput for audio, i might not purchase the phone. We all know there headphones are going to be outrageously expensive as they are now.
And Beats equipment isn't that good anyway. For music, id prefer different headphones and you know theyre not coming with the standard jack
Oh, and forget about charging... Im not sure how thats gonna work while plugged into headphones. You're definitely not charging headphones with the iPhone. No way, I charge my phone 3 times a day as it is. And charging the phone from the headphones, get outta here. Its likely going to be one or the other. Or, you're stuck with some dumb y adapter or chain connection
This is a ploy for apple to make money with proprietary equipment.. and its a BAD one
From the quote above from the Apple interview... Apple is not always ahead of the curve with technology... They're phones are actually quite behind right now
Nice meandering soapbox rant about something that has no indication or hint of happening.
But how do you figure on this last part? No one is anywhere close to Apple currently...
Small and low res screens, only dual core, low ram, no NFC, no wireless charging, no waterproof/rugged models, good-but-not-great camera, poor to no stylus support...
I'm sure there are more, those were just off the top of my head.
1. "Small screens" There is a product called iPad. It has a very large 9.7" screen. Take a look here: http://www.apple.com/ipad/ it's very cool.
2. "Low res" you probably mean low pixel density. Apparently Retina quality isnt enough for you, you'd like Apple to play the spec sheet game where the pixels shrink further than humanly discernible, and drain the batter exponentially more to drive light through the increasingly tiny apertures. That's a design decision, not a technology limitation... Especially considering the higher DPI displays that other handset makers use share suppliers with Apple.
3. "Only dual core". Apple's dual core with less clock speed out paces other's quad core with higher clock speed, and also has 64bit tech. I don't see how this is a relevant gripe, and actually proves their technology superiority.
4. "NFC" Is a well researched, published, open standard, with many third party controllers on the market. It is a design choice to ignore the flailing tech that is still,in search of a purpose in mobile devices.
5. ... Never mind, I grow bored.
Quite small and low-res for a tablet, actually. 12-13" with 2560 x 1440 seems to be the norm today.
No, I mean giving people proper hires screens instead of spouting that marketing BS, since basically everyone can easily discern detail up to 500 DPI or so, and most people can tell the difference up to around 1000 DPI.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jsid.186/abstract
Irrelevant, as we are discussing technology for the sake of technology. Quad core is more modern than dual core, not to mention the octo-cores that are used in some flagships for quite some time now. Also, you asked for examples where Apple is trailing, not where they are ahead.
Which makes Apple considerably weaker, technologically speaking, when it comes to NFC technology.
Somehow, everyone seems to have missed my point: we may be seeing Apple allowing third-party portable headphone amps to use the Lightning port to transfer audio in digital form to an external portable headphone amplifier box, where this device will decode the audio and control the audio playback along with providing amplification for the headphone.
And that could mean the portable headphone amp will decode Apple's new 24-bit Apple Lossless format and drive almost headphone you can imagine that can plug into a 3.5 mm connector to decent volume. That means everything from low-cost "bud" headphones to high-end in-ear headphones (e.g., Shure SE846) to even big over-ear headphones from AKG and Sennheiser will sound great in such a setup.
I can see iOS 8.0 adding this functionality for all iOS devices with the Lightning port; Apple will also update the software on the 7th generation iPod nano to add this functionality, too.
And that could mean the portable headphone amp will decode Apple's new 24-bit Apple Lossless format and drive almost headphone you can imagine that can plug into a 3.5 mm connector to decent volume. That means everything from low-cost "bud" headphones to high-end in-ear headphones (e.g., Shure SE846) to even big over-ear headphones from AKG and Sennheiser will sound great in such a setup.
I can see iOS 8.0 adding this functionality for all iOS devices with the Lightning port; Apple will also update the software on the 7th generation iPod nano to add this functionality, too.
whats all the hub-bub about? any additional option provided that improves the sound quality of our music is always a plus. This possible move sniffs of Jimmy and Dre, apple never seemed to have high quality sound high on their priority list. heck maybe Dr Dre can convince apple to give us a special Dre edition high fidelity ipod classic.
Well when I said theyre quite behind, not only did i mean technologically speaking. But also what the market is demanding.
As Samsung out paces Apple in phone sales, we are seeing the market trend towards the new devices and for a number of good reasons.
Its been covered by several people that responded since my original post. Larger screens with great pixel density, faster processors, more memory, more features, camera improvements, rugged and water proof technology, extended batteries etc etc
Apple may have been the "first" to do a lot of things. But that doesn't matter any more
My rant was about what was speculated in the original article: that Apple may ditch the 3.5mm jack altogether for a proprietary lightning set of headphones.
Lightning connector, like many other items are proprietary equipment that apple sells and this actually fits with apples business model lately. I could actually see apple doing it, and the backlash would be huge.
Apple has moved completely away from user adjustable/upgradeable devices in there mobile/pc lineup. They want everything purchased from Apple, and they even make special cables and adapters to make sure you keep purchasing things from apple.
A set of headphones (they don't fit my ears either) would totally fit their current trend.
I highly doubt theyre gonna ditch the 3.5mm tho. That would be really bad
I am sure that is in the mix if they phase out the 3.5-mm connector in the iPhone 7. Can see why they are going this way as the real estate for this connector can be used for other components such as touch sensing to the left and right of the home button.
There will be the usual "connector switch" complaints and drama similar to transitioning to the Lighting connector from the 30-pin connector. Those with money upgrades to buy the new stuff. The cheap ones will complain with anyone of value not caring about the complaints.