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

[simonTheDiver]

It's kinda crazy but not that crazy if you think about it. I lersonally usually use wireless headphones. I own the powerbeats which are wireless and can't remember the last time I plugged in any headphones.

however you are probably part of a very small minority

 

[trekkie604]

however you are probably part of a very small minority

yep. I do plenty of airline travel and wireless headphones are banned on flights so that won't work heh.

 

[ninethirty]

If this is true, it'll be the final nail that drives me away from Apple for good. Sad, because I've really loved them all these years, but my headphones are worth more than my iPhone, and I'm not upgrading to some piece of crap beats headphones so Apple can make the phone a mm thinner.

 

[Jakexb]

There is no way. Not going to happen. The phone wouldn't even get that much thinner.

Now, they might start including lightning based EarPods and start selling lightning based Beats. Or even including bluetooth EarPods.

 

[Aston441]

One day phones will be completely sealed with no ports or buttons.

 

[ninethirty]

Are you guys still holding a grudge because he didn't love the Apple Watch, which totally went on to be a hit for Apple?

Nilay Patel is going to whine like a school girl.

 

[webbuzz]

Are you guys still holding a grudge because he didn't love the Apple Watch, which totally went on to be a hit for Apple?

Nope. I just think he's a tool.

 

[keatth]

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.

good point. there could be a lighting port on the headphones so it charges the phone at the same time, good call.

 

[chromite]

I'm not one for staying in the past when it comes to technology - things should always be changing and getting better. But... the thinning of phones needs to stop. They used to be bricks in the 80s and 90s, and now I can slip it into a tight pair of jeans. Companies, stop. Just stop. You won. You beat it. Congratulations. Now stop making it thinner.

Any thinner, and I'll need one of those sticky thumbs that secretaries use just to get it off the table. I already struggle sometimes getting my 6s off a flat surface when it's out of its case.

They need retain current thickness and concentrate on improving battery life. Design changes are welcome, just don't make stupid changes like making 3.5mm obsolete just for the sake of making it thinner.

3.5mm headphone has been obsolete for years, though. It's like MP3. The only reason it's even still here is because it was the de facto standard when in reality it should've been replaced 15 years ago.

 

[QquegChristian]

good point. there could be a lighting port on the headphones so it charges the phone at the same time, good call.

Let's get the power source as CLOSE to the audio signal as possible. Move the DAC to a tiny adaptor and then run power right through it with very little room for shielding.

 

[zhenya]

3.5mm headphone has been obsolete for years, though. It's like MP3. The only reason it's even still here is because it was the de facto standard when in reality it should've been replaced 15 years ago.

Why should it have been replaced and with what?

 

[QquegChristian]

3.5mm headphone has been obsolete for years, though. It's like MP3. The only reason it's even still here is because it was the de facto standard when in reality it should've been replaced 15 years ago.

What makes TRS obsolete? The fact that it can transfer audio without any bandwidth or quality limits?

 

[chromite]

There is no way. Not going to happen. The phone wouldn't even get that much thinner.

Now, they might start including lightning based EarPods and start selling lightning based Beats. Or even including bluetooth EarPods.

This sounds exactly like something Apple would do, though.

 

[Abazigal]

good point. there could be a lighting port on the headphones so it charges the phone at the same time, good call.

Which defeats the whole point of doing away with the audio jack in the first place - to free up internal space.

The current vga and hdmi adaptors have built in lighting ports so you can charge your ios device while mirroring it to a display. Makes more sense that Apple will sooner do this than introduce another duplicate port.

 

[dazz87]

doesnt apple have enough money? Another $100 adaptor...Thanks Apple

 

[chromite]

Why should it have been replaced and with what?

Main reason is it's analog. Most people don't use red/white rca cables anymore except for legacy stuff. Even optical audio is pretty much dead. For replacement, it would be great if Apple ditched the Lightning port and replaced it with usb c so there's an all around standard. Usb c would also replace the headphone jack just like Apple wants lightning to do.

 

[netdoc66]

They're bumming me out as a company. Incremental improvements, quicker product releases. I wish I wouldn't have gotten the 6S Plus. I barely see it as better than the 6 Plus I had before upgrading.

 

[netdoc66]

They're bumming me out as a company. Incremental improvements, quicker product releases. I wish I wouldn't have gotten the 6S Plus. I barely see it as better than the 6 Plus I had before upgrading.

 

[zhenya]

Main reason is it's analog. Most people don't use red/white rca cables anymore except for legacy stuff. Even optical audio is pretty much dead. For replacement, it would be great if Apple ditched the Lightning port and replaced it with usb c so there's an all around standard. Usb c would also replace the headphone jack just like Apple wants lightning to do.

Then you don't understand how audio works. In order for you to hear the sound the digital bits must be converted into an analogue stream in order for your ears to hear anything. As someone said earlier - your ears are analogue. At best this would just move the conversion outboard of the phone. But why? There is no advantage there.

What you are suggesting is the equivalent of replacing your speaker cables in your living room hi-fi with a digital cable. It makes no sense.

 

[Gudi]

There is no way. Not going to happen. The phone wouldn't even get that much thinner.

It doesn't need to be much thinner. Every bit thinner makes the device a lot lighter, until it feels like holding just a screen. The iPhones 5, 6 and 6+ would have been horrible with the thickness of the iPhone 4 and the added weight of their bigger screens. You get away with increasing the X and Y axis by shrinking the Z dimension. Thinness is a means to an end. If you don't think the iPhone 6/6+ weigh too much, that's because they're also a little thinner.

 

[Rigby]

Main reason is it's analog. Most people don't use red/white rca cables anymore except for legacy stuff.

You are thinking of interconnects from digital sources to an amp. But the headphone connector is much more comparable with the connection from an amp to the speakers. They are of course analog as well (yes, even in speakers that have integrated amps like Sonos). There is no reason whatsoever to connect speakers or headphones (which are analog by nature as long as people don't grow digital ears) using a digital interconnect.

 

[Schnort]

If apple put any effort into better bluetooth audio(e.g. APT-X), I might not be totally put off by the idea of wireless audio only. God knows the stereo jack on my 6 is a flimsy piece of poo waiting to break.

 

[trifid]

Anyone remember ADC for monitor connectors? Apple monitors used to have proprietary ADC connector which meant expensive adapters and lack of compatibility. Good riddance right?

After mid 2000s or so, Apple started pushing for open standards both in software and hardware. That was a good move.

Now it seems Apple is going back to neanderthal times with propietary stuff. Why? Investors are bored and demand more profits?

 

[PCMA]

I have never had a 3.5mm headphone jack break on me. Never.

I'm not looking forward to throwing out headphones every six months when the lightning connector breaks.

 

[smulji]

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.

nothing that an adaptor can't solve.