Apple May Replace 3.5mm Headphone Jack on iPhone 7 With All-in-One Lightning Connector

[MacHiavelli]

1. Old headphones will still work with your old audio equipment. No problem.

2. Old headphones will work with your new iPhone (Mac, iPod, etc) through an adapter. No problem.

3. In time, you'll replace your old headphones, just as you've replaced your old VHS machines, TVs, floppy drives, enormous mobiles, etc. Nothing lasts forever. No problem.

4. Apple will replace the 3.5mm jack to improve the quality and experience of the phone/audio. No problem.

5. If you're an audiophile, you're unlikely to consider the audio from a phone to be worth listening to anyway. No problem.

6. If you're an audiophile spending thousands on cables, speakers, etc, buying a new set of headphones isn't even going to register. No problem.

7. If you're worried about charging and battery life, see the link below. No problem.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...will-charge-your-Apple-iPhone-for-a-week.html

So, all round, no problem.

 

[fpnc]

We'll get the USB-C connector on the iPhone before we see one with a Lightning connector and NO headphone jack. This means the latter is never going to happen. They won't change the configuration of the i/o ports twice within a period of two years or less.

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

Reminder that it's the 3.5 mm headphone jack that's the sole reason the iPhone is so thick.

Nope. I present iPod Touch and iPod Nano as evidence.

 

[nigerson]

As long as they have TWO connectors so we can charge and listen to music at the same time.

Wireless headphones (earbud style) are never as loud or clear as wired.

Would be cool if they had some sort of rapid/quick charge function if you use both ports for charging your device. Would also be super cool if you could have something like an SD card reader dongle, or a HDMI dongle in one port and charging your device with the other. But knowing apple they would release a device with 0 ports and wireless charging before giving a device more ports.

 

[Rogifan]

It depends upon the purpose and source of the rumor. If it was a trial balloon by Apple, then the feedback posted here is helpful. Otherwise it is pointless because for all of the posturing and footstomping, in the end everyone who has an iPhone 6 will be upgrading to the 7 regardless of the ports/jacks it has or doesn't.

Sorry I find it highly implausible that Apple would leak a "trial ballon" to some Asian media source. If they want to dump the standard headphone jack they're going to do it. But doing it to make the iPhone thinner doesn't make sense to me because Apple currently sells products thinner than the iPhone 6 that use the standard jack.

Nope. I present iPod Touch and iPod Nano as evidence.

And iPads...

 

[nigerson]

Since this thread will be amazing soon, any suggestions for wireless earbuds?

My personal favorite are the jaybird X2. They are a little pricey, but they last long, sound great, and have a lifetime warranty against sweat damage which makes them perfect for running and really all outdoor activities.

 

[DevNull0]

1. Old headphones will still work with your old audio equipment. No problem.

2. Old headphones will work with your new iPhone (Mac, iPod, etc) through an adapter. No problem.

3. In time, you'll replace your old headphones, just as you've replaced your old VHS machines, TVs, floppy drives, enormous mobiles, etc. Nothing lasts forever. No problem.

4. Apple will replace the 3.5mm jack to improve the quality and experience of the phone/audio. No problem.

5. If you're an audiophile, you're unlikely to consider the audio from a phone to be worth listening to anyway. No problem.

6. If you're an audiophile spending thousands on cables, speakers, etc, buying a new set of headphones isn't even going to register. No problem.

7. If you're worried about charging and battery life, see the link below. No problem.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...will-charge-your-Apple-iPhone-for-a-week.html

So, all round, no problem.

It's a asinine rumour on a rumour site. There is almost not chance Apple is actually considering doing something to stupid. Yet your efforts to warp reality to make it sound okay if they do is just funny.

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

....thinner? any thinner and i'll lose it into the time-space continuum forever

Or slice off your fingers and / or ear.

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

A proprietary connector... for EARPHONES. What about if I wanted to use my earphones on another device or a non-Apple device?

Utter stupidity.

The world revolves around Apple, duh. What other device could you possibly own that would require a non-Apple earphone? It certainly must be legacy and therefore destroyed and forgotten.

So most normal people will be stuck using another stupid dongle.

 

[emailnotebox]

This seems crazy. They're really going to make everyone's headphones obsolete to make something that's already too thin even thinner?

The camera already sticks out because there isn't enough room.

Cook is planning to sell adapters to millions of iPhone users in near future. Feels like foreshadowing the downfall of Sony in 90s and early 2000s. Sony forced its customers to buy non-universal, in house products for everything.

 

[nigerson]

The world revolves around Apple, duh. What other device could you possibly own that would require a non-Apple earphone? It certainly must be legacy and therefore destroyed and forgotten.

So most normal people will be stuck using another stupid dongle.

The main problem that I see with a dongle is that I doubt it's properly insulated/durable to prevent all interference that a more expensive audio cable would do. But I may be wrong and Apple could make a high quality dongle and charge us something like $80 for it like they do with the usb-c to usb-a adapter on the macbook.

 

[nigerson]

Cook is planning to sell adapters to millions of iPhone users in near future. Feels like foreshadowing the downfall of Sony in 90s and early 2000s. Sony forced its customers to buy non-universal, in house products for everything.

Reminds me of the memory stick pro duo on the psp and the m2 memory on the psvita.

 

[bruno7]

Well, to be honest, I feel less and less excited about any new product that's announced.

Why on earth do we need a thinner phone? What about the same thickness but stronger battery?

Don't tell me that there is an enormous demand for a phone that's thinner than iP6.

The more news and rumours I read the more I want to stick with my iP5S as long as I can. I still think that it's the best phone Apple has ever made. At least design-wise.

 

[dysamoria]

Dear Apple: please see a psychologist to work out your obsession with "thin". It's clearly a pathological issue. The iPhone is too thin already. It's awkward to hold. Knock it off with the thin BS.

 

[recklesslife85]

Won't happen and if it does... I'll stick with my 6S until Apple sort themselves out. Stupidest move they'll ever make.

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

I'll go against the grain and say this is awesome.

Everyone complained about the lightning connector, now people have moved on, upgraded their old crappy stuff, and life is good. Look how terrible a 30 pin connector looks now!? This is technology, it changes, and that means you need to upgrade every so often. Pay to play. So get on board, get with the new stuff or keep your 6S as long as humanly possible. Either way, it won't matter - Apple will get you, and if not, tech in general will and someday you'll have to move on no matter what, so may as well just get it over with and embrace it. Especially if you are playing in the expensive Apple ecosystem, why are you complaining? They are already saying there will be an adapter (oh the outcry of a $20 adapter for your $800 phone!!) and could you imagine the pissing and moaning if Apple said F you and there wasn't going to be an adapter? People here are never happy with anything.

Also I'm holding my iPod touch 6G in my hand (which most people have never probably held since it's a dead product) and while I've never been one to care too much about thinness, I have to admit the iPod touch 6G thickness is absolutely sublime. This is the sweet spot for the thickness of the iPhone of the future. Think how chunky/clunky the 6/6S will look when people get used to a 6mm thick phone. Don't believe me? Pick up a touch 6G and see for yourself.

To be quite frank, if it were up to the denizens of macrumors and how they complain year in year out about the phones getting any thinner, the iPhone 7 would be as thick as an iPhone 3G. People complained the 4 was too thin FFS. How many of those people today could go back to that thick brick? Battery in the 6/6S is better than the battery in the 4 too. Technology moves on, and I'm on board. You guys had to see this coming 4-5 years ago.

Because it offers no improvement and only makes things more difficult. The 3.5mm jack is universally compatible. No one wants to be limited to Apple compatible headphones, or alternatively have to deal with a stupid dongle.

Imagine if your household outlets became obsolete every ten years. And each appliance manufacturer was designing their own. You'd have to either buy all same brand appliances of the same vintage or buy adapters for each outlet that did not match with what you wanted to plug in.

 

[Alex 88]

How 'bout NO

 

[6836838]

This will be the day I say goodbye to Apple.

 

[malexandria]

I really despise this push towards wireless headphones. They are becoming "harder and harder" to find. The last thing I want is yet ONE MORE device that I have to worry about trying to keep charged. Especially headphones.

 

[6836838]

I'll go against the grain and say this is awesome.

Everyone complained about the lightning connector, now people have moved on, upgraded their old crappy stuff, and life is good. Look how terrible a 30 pin connector looks now!? This is technology, it changes, and that means you need to upgrade every so often. Pay to play. So get on board, get with the new stuff or keep your 6S as long as humanly possible. Either way, it won't matter - Apple will get you, and if not, tech in general will and someday you'll have to move on no matter what, so may as well just get it over with and embrace it. Especially if you are playing in the expensive Apple ecosystem, why are you complaining? They are already saying there will be an adapter (oh the outcry of a $20 adapter for your $800 phone!!) and could you imagine the pissing and moaning if Apple said F you and there wasn't going to be an adapter? People here are never happy with anything.

Also I'm holding my iPod touch 6G in my hand (which most people have never probably held since it's a dead product) and while I've never been one to care too much about thinness, I have to admit the iPod touch 6G thickness is absolutely sublime. This is the sweet spot for the thickness of the iPhone of the future. Think how chunky/clunky the 6/6S will look when people get used to a 6mm thick phone. Don't believe me? Pick up a touch 6G and see for yourself.

To be quite frank, if it were up to the denizens of macrumors and how they complain year in year out about the phones getting any thinner, the iPhone 7 would be as thick as an iPhone 3G. People complained the 4 was too thin FFS. How many of those people today could go back to that thick brick? Battery in the 6/6S is better than the battery in the 4 too. Technology moves on, and I'm on board. You guys had to see this coming 4-5 years ago.

You are a complete plonker. This isn't technology moving on. Headphones should be universal to every electronic device. Period. The lighting connection is NOT and will NEVER be a universal connector. You want musicians to ditch all their instruments, or have separate headphones for Apple devices? STUPID.

 

[6836838]

This is all about DRM and forcing us to buy even more into Apple. I don't want this!

 

[6836838]

I smell a petition in the air...

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

That's a limitation of how Apple chooses to deal with the DAC inside the phone. It has absolutely nothing to do with any limitation of the 3.5mm jack.



How, exactly, does this lead to improved audio quality?

At least some here have some sense.

Also, I can almost guarantee the included ear buds will simply pass analog and not pass a digital signal for processing in the earphones themselves. So you only loose the 3.5mm jack and gain absolutely nothing.

 

[Toltepeceno]

Jump to a thicker, uglier, and lower user experience platform so you can keep the headphone jack? Or am I missing something?

Typical, apple loves you. I just dumped iphone for android and I think the phone looks better plus android is a FAR higher user experience. Ios is just a bleak os for apps blindingly white, android is highly customizable and adds much to the user experience. Lollipop is FAR better than the android I left for apple and no comparison in the user experience. Smooth, fluid and the os IS part of the user experience where ios is not.

For everyone saying it's a stupid move, the real stupid thing I see is everyone literally freaking out over a RUMOR.

This is, UH, a rumors site. Macrumors is the name even. People discuss and freak out over rumers, that's how it works.

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

Sounds great to me. A ton of advantages. Also nice seeing so many here get all frothed up.

What are the advantages?