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

[beanbaguk]

Fine with me.

This is going to be an awesome thread to read in a few days. The amount of "I'll switch to Android!!!" Always cracks me up.

But why allow Apple to force feed you upgrades?

- Many people have wired headphones. Does this mean we have to throw them away?
- People like me have spent $400+ on a set of headphones. I'm not ditching them any time soon.
- How do I charge and listen to music at the same time?
- Do I have to carry yet another sodding adapter?
- If I then buy a set of headphones, I then have to charge another device. More cables, more ****.
- It's the same for the Apple Watch.

And for the greens:
- Environmental impact with having to throw away and buy more crap.

I love my Apple devices, but I am not going to be forced into buying crap I don't want. Period. Any person with any intelligence and sanity will believe the same. It's just consumerism crap.

Yes I will switch to Android or another OS if Apple forces me down this route and I'll also serve them a very British two-fingered salute at Tim Cook while I'm at it.

 

[shanson27]

Apple Likely to use Lightning Audio Connector for iPhone 7 Patent

http://www.patentlyapple.com/patent...e-lightning-audio-connector-for-iphone-7.html

 

[d0nK]

slow news day, what stupid rumour site dredged this old fake news from?

considering every apple product has and needs the jack for so many thing, to remove it would be a very stupid move. even i would consider apple to have lost the plot if such a thing were true.

with the camera bump why are we even trying to get thinner. i think we are at the point of severely diminishing returns, cases add more bulk too. the strength of the phone also limiting too.

i call fake on this one

I considered Apple to lose the plot when they made the iMac thinner and put in 5400rpm laptop hard drives!
To this day I cannot believe they still put in such measly small SSD's in the macbook pro's and charge a fortune for BTO. Don't get me started on the Fusion drive downgrade from 128GB SSD to 24GB SSD recently!!! Now THAT really is unbelievable. Just wow...
I have a late 2011 15" mbp with a 500GB SSD and a 1TB spinner. Constantly carrying around a portable HD with my mbp would do my head in.
It's so funny reading comments here on Macrumours... you can so easily weed out the Apple shareholders that will excuse Apple for every idiotic move they make.

 

[zhenya]

you keep saying that but you don't provide any reasoning or evidence why

Then you aren't reading the thread. The reason has been posted multiple times. The 3.5mm jack is no bottleneck to sound quality.

Sure, but I let someone else explain it for you: http://www.techradar.com/reviews/au...headphones/philips-fidelio-m2l-1292276/review

That's a bunch of marketing mumbo-jumbo written by someone who only half understands what he's talking about. Sure, as the iPhone currently stands, the lightning jack provides a way to get high resolution audio out, but that's only because Apple is choosing not to support high resolution via the internal DAC. Using those headphones in your link is no different than connecting a high-end DAC directly to the lightning port and then connecting a pair of headphones to your external amp. The 3.5mm jack IS NOT THE LIMITATION TO SOUND QUALITY.

 

[jonnysods]

Seriously? Another adapter?

 

[lympero]

If they give me a wireless beats headset instead of the crap Apple EarPods then I don't care

 

[dgdosen]

Stop thinking, you're not very good at it. Size is the matter with USB-C and three years ago, when Apple introduced the Lightning port, they said they plan to use it for at least a decade. Not to mention the iPad Pro, this year saw no less than five new Lightning powered accessories: Apple Pencil, Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad 2, Magic Mouse 2, iPhone Lightning Dock and Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Dock.

So if you didn't get the message: The Lightning port is here to stay!

I was specific in my choice of words - out of date versus obsolete. Sure the lighting connector will be "supported", but it probably won't be the primary connector in the near future. Apple will need to move to USB C by 2017 for the iPhone to be in compliance with EU rules and they are a co-inventor of that technology. The new Apple TV is already using USB-C. It's coming. Apple will probably move to it in a revision to all those devices you mention (if not completely wireless).

I don't like the idea of using an intermediary connector between lightning and USB-C, but that will probably be what you'll need to reduce the number of cables you'll want to hang onto in the future.

Instead of encouraging others to stop thinking, maybe you should just start...

 

[springsup]

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

If you're looking for earbuds, the Beats ones are quite good (albeit pricey). You have more choice if you're willing to go full-headphone though.

 

[springsup]

This is a stupid move, especially since it is only iOS devices that ship with a Lightning port. Not even OSX devices ship with one.

Maybe they need to remove the 3.5mm port; I don't care, ship a dongle. I do care if they start making headphones with their own proprietary connector which won't work with other devices. It's bad for customers on both sides.

Headphones should either be wireless (using a standard technology such as Bluetooth) or use a single standard connector (the 3.5mm jack).

 

[springsup]

Stop thinking, you're not very good at it. Size is the matter with USB-C and three years ago, when Apple introduced the Lightning port, they said they plan to use it for at least a decade. Not to mention the iPad Pro, this year saw no less than five new Lightning powered accessories: Apple Pencil, Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad 2, Magic Mouse 2, iPhone Lightning Dock and Apple Watch Magnetic Charging Dock.

So if you didn't get the message: The Lightning port is here to stay!

I reported this post, and I encourage others to do so too. Watch your tone.

 

[6836838]

nothing that an adaptor can't solve.

But why!?

 

[gnasher729]

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

The company making my headphones makes headphones from £60 to £2,000. And they all come with a 3.5mm headphone jack. All of them, from the cheapest, improve the user experience in an unbelievable way by providing sound in absolutely excellent quality. Saving a millimetre in thickness doesn't add _anything_ to the user experience, unlike quality speakers.

 

[BruceEBonus]

But why allow Apple to force feed you upgrades?

- Many people have wired headphones. Does this mean we have to throw them away?
- People like me have spent $400+ on a set of headphones. I'm not ditching them any time soon.
- How do I charge and listen to music at the same time?
- Do I have to carry yet another sodding adapter?
- If I then buy a set of headphones, I then have to charge another device. More cables, more ****.
- It's the same for the Apple Watch.

And for the greens:
- Environmental impact with having to throw away and buy more crap.

I love my Apple devices, but I am not going to be forced into buying crap I don't want. Period. Any person with any intelligence and sanity will believe the same. It's just consumerism crap.

Yes I will switch to Android or another OS if Apple forces me down this route and I'll also serve them a very British two-fingered salute at Tim Cook while I'm at it.

Hate to agree but you're 100% correct. I take no pleasure in seeing Apple discontinuing stuff for no real reason (30 pin adaptor/headphone socket/superdrive) for no discernible reason. Degradation isnt innovation

 

[gnasher729]

Total rubbish. In places where BT just won't work then listening to 'stuff' via wired headphones is the only way to go.
The last time I flew from LHR to LAX BT was just impossible. Well, there seemed to be 200+ others trying to use it as well.
Talk about choppy reception so going wired was the only way to go. For a 10 to 11 hr flght being able to charge the device is also pretty well a 'must do' action.

Care to revise tour statement?

Don't know about a flight, but are there any reviews how many bluetooth headphones will work in a train or on the underground?

 

[BruceEBonus]

Deleted

 

[newyorkone]

Please, NO!!! Unless the reason is to make the iPhone 7 waterproof. Then, 2 ports please.

 

[mr.steevo]

But why allow Apple to force feed you upgrades?

- Many people have wired headphones. Does this mean we have to throw them away?
- People like me have spent $400+ on a set of headphones. I'm not ditching them any time soon...

And for the greens:
- Environmental impact with having to throw away and buy more crap.

I love my Apple devices, but I am not going to be forced into buying crap I don't want. Period. Any person with any intelligence and sanity will believe the same. It's just consumerism crap.

Why would you have to throw away your 1/8" headphones?

Specifically, do you throw away your iPhone after a few years or you do what everyone else does and sell it? Is selling your "obsolete " $400 headphones out of the question?

And who's forcing you to buy an iPhone 7 with a different audio port? Buy the 6s and keep your precious $400 headphones for another three or four years. By that time your commercial itch will be ready to consume another iPhone and headphones. Then you can walk around telling to anyone willing to listen about how so much better music is now that you can finally listen to it in 24 bit, with headphones, on the bus/street/park.

 

[Chytin]

Then you aren't reading the thread. The reason has been posted multiple times. The 3.5mm jack is no bottleneck to sound quality.



That's a bunch of marketing mumbo-jumbo written by someone who only half understands what he's talking about.

Oh no, you're right. We should listen to you.

 

[zhenya]

Oh no, you're right. We should listen to you.

Look into it for yourself. All those Philips lighting headphones are is a set of mediocre headphones with a mediocre DAC built into them. You can achieve the same thing using any DAC you like right now with the Apple lightning to usb connector.

 

[gnasher729]

It's unlikely to be a design of the car itself, more likely to be a design of the head unit.

Simple answer if you want to use 2016 technology in a 2006 car? Get a head unit that has bluetooth and a USB socket, so that you can listen over bluetooth and charge at the same time.

Things move on, I can't believe people are upset about this.

I can use 2015 technology in a 2007 car just fine. 3.5mm cable from iPhone to head unit aux input, 30pin cable from cigarette lighter to iPhone. I can listen over the speakers in my car and charge at the same time.

Surely having to pay out for a new head unit, which is different from that I am used to, without actually getting the slightest advantage, isn't going to make me happy, right?

 

[JayMBP]

If they are going to get rid of the 3.5mm headphone jack, why not remove the connectors altogether?

Fast wireless transmission is readily available (WiFi, BT, TransferJet). In the case of Sony/Toshiba TransferJet, it is possible to integrate power transmission as well.

iPhone 7, the first truly wireless phone.

 

[djalice]

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

The article says the iPod Touch is only 6.1mm while still retaining the headphone jack. Surely it's something else which is the reason it's still thicker?

 

[zhenya]

The market isn't anywhere near ready for a completely wireless device yet. Wireless charging is still a niche that is more important as a feature on the box than in practice. Imagine what wireless charging would mean for users today. There is no standard so you'd have to carry a wireless charging pad in addition to the cable to connect it to the outlet. You can't use the phone while charging (our charging station is on the kitchen counter, and we use our phones when plugged in all the time). Wireless charging will only take off once it can be done via simply being in the same room as the charger.

Bluetooth is pretty good for audio these days as it's reasonably reliable, but it's another device to charge, pairing is not always flawless, and it's prone to interference. My wife asked me to find her a set of bluetooth headphones for running. I bought her one of the most popular models on Amazon and they skipped all the time with her iPhone 5s just being located in her back pocket. We exchanged them for another set. Same thing. She took over my iPhone 6. Better, but they still skip. They mostly just sit in a drawer now.

 

[zhenya]

The article says the iPod Touch is only 6.1mm while still retaining the headphone jack. Surely it's something else which is the reason it's still thicker?

I would say the cameras are a huge part of it.

 

[gnasher729]

3.5 mm headphone jacks are trash, its the component that fails every time on a portable device, giving you static unless you spin the headphone cord within the jack to the right point. a lightning port headphone jack will likely eliminate that completely.

Maybe you need to buy some decent stuff. Get some decent headphones and this isn't going to happen.