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

[G-News]

Worst idea ever and not the first time anyone in a market leading Position tried it.
Sony, in the late 80s tried it and failed:
http://www.google.ch/url?sa=i&rct=j...es0J9VbjSgBdQA1oRTztroNw&ust=1448988694226133

And Apple itself made the original iPhone with a recessed 2.5mm jack that required a dongle to connect a normal headphone. Bad idea and was rectified promptly with the iPhone 3G.
In the last century, several car manufacturers experimented with 3-wheeled cars. Most of them were an utter failure too. Innovate, but don't innovate by making things worse than stuff that's worked fine for centuries.

 

[Toltepeceno]

I'm sure we are all dazzled, but that type of statement only weakens an argument.

You mean like calling someone a troll instead of backing up claims?

 

[Gary Z]

People are also ignoring that apple patented a half-height 3.5mm not long ago so it may not actually be about going to a totally different type of connector but one with a proprietary shape.

http://9to5mac.com/2015/09/22/apple...dphone-jack-ready-for-slimmer-future-iphones/

Hey everyone.... Let's keep in mind that Apple patented the Lightning connector so they make money directly plus off of licensing. This isn't about improved technology going from something antiquated to something newer and beneficial.

This is purely about improving their profit margin. I say this as a loyal Apple customer and an investor with a multi-million dollar position in AAPL. Apple has a history of doing this in other products in their line and everyone gets pissed and annoyed for awhile and then life goes on.

I don't like what they're doing from the customer standpoint but that's the way they've chosen to do business. I'm not going to sell my stock because of it but I stay mindful that sometimes they act only in their self-interest and not a win-win for the customer.

 

[Thunderhawks]

Unless wireless runs out of battery. Most Bluetooth earphones only last a few hours, not enough for an intercontinental flight or a long road trip. I guess we're going to replace tangled earphone wires with tangled power cables.

Yes, agreed,. I have my own struggles with batteries and charging devices all the time.
Annoying
Now Apple work on mini nuclear power plants to be inserted into these iPhones to last 30 years.

 

[Mac 128]

You've got it backwards.

I would argue you're being myopic. All of your arguments are about how it will inconvenience you as someone who uses a non-Apple, wired headphone. And does nothing to address how eliminating an antiquated, dedicated port can benefit the iPhone as well as the massive customer base that's already moved to wireless headphones, or use Apple's free earbuds, and when they rarely want to share a song with someone, they just play it over the built-in speaker.

People are also ignoring that apple patented a half-height 3.5mm not long ago so it may not actually be about going to a totally different type of connector but one with a proprietary shape.

http://9to5mac.com/2015/09/22/apple...dphone-jack-ready-for-slimmer-future-iphones/

Worst idea ever and not the first time anyone in a market leading Position tried it.
Sony, in the late 80s tried it and failed:
http://www.google.ch/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=&url=http://forum.munkonggadget.com/detail.php?id=123034&bvm=bv.108194040,d.ZWU&psig=AFQjCNGKE5es0J9VbjSgBdQA1oRTztroNw&ust=1448988694226133

And Apple itself made the original iPhone with a recessed 2.5mm jack that required a dongle to connect a normal headphone. Bad idea and was rectified promptly with the iPhone 3G.
In the last century, several car manufacturers experimented with 3-wheeled cars. Most of them were an utter failure too. Innovate, but don't innovate by making things worse than stuff that's worked fine for centuries.

The half-height headphone jack would be the worst kind of adapter, since it does nothing to reclaim internal space, or offer additional features, yet will still cause all the same problems with using non-Apple headphones. Indeed it would be more like the original Apple iPhone jack that required an adapter to accommodate the plug hole, only. And frankly this is NOTHING like that.

Headphones and external speakers are moving away from wires altogether, and moving to a digital connection for audio offers far more options for the consumer and Apple to pack more good stuff into the phone. Imagine if Apple couldn't add Pay because there was no room for the addional hardware in order to keep the headphone jack. That's really what's being discussed.

 

[Toltepeceno]

Hey everyone.... Let's keep in mind that Apple patented the Lightning connector so they make money directly plus off of licensing. This isn't about improved technology going from something antiquated to something newer and beneficial.

This is purely about improving their profit margin. I say this as a loyal Apple customer and an investor with a multi-million dollar position in AAPL. Apple has a history of doing this in other products in their line and everyone gets pissed and annoyed for awhile and then life goes on.

I don't like what they're doing from the customer standpoint but that's the way they've chosen to do business. I'm not going to sell my stock because of it but I stay mindful that sometimes they act only in their self-interest and not a win-win for the customer.

Exactly right.

The half-height headphone jack would be the worst kind of adapter, since it does nothing to reclaim internal space, or offer additional features, yet will still cause all the same problems with using non-Apple headphones.

It allows what apple wants, to go thinner. It's not about apple claiming internal space. The prediction of them using the lightning connector may be wrong, they just recently patented the half height jack 22 September of this year.

Headphones and external speakers are moving away from wires altogether, and moving to a digital connection for audio offers far more options for the consumer and Apple to pack more good stuff into the phone. Imagine if Apple couldn't add Pay because there was no room for the addional hardware in order to keep the headphone jack. That's really what's being discussed.

What? Where is internal space being discussed? The patent is clearly about making it thinner.

Citing a reliable source, a report from Japanese blog Macotakara claims that Apple plans to remove the 3.5mm headphone port from the upcoming iPhone 7, helping to achieve a “more than 1mm” reduction in thickness compared to the iPhone 6s. While the screen shape and radius will remain similar, the device will once again become Apple’s thinnest iPhone ever, albeit with a new restriction: headphones will only be able to connect over Lightning or Bluetooth…

http://9to5mac.com/2015/11/27/iphone-7-headphone-jack-lightning/

It's about thinner, I'm not sure where you are coming up with making room for apple pay which they already have. Nobody is discussing reclaiming space inside

 

[KJL3000]

I can't take it anymore... Please, take a moment to VOTE for or against the 3.5 mm headphone jack!

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/poll-3-5-mm-headphone-jack.1941615/

 

[beanbaguk]

Who cares. Apple will find a way to make the audio sound just as good without an audio jack and that's all that really matters to me.

Strange. This tells me the same about you!
Did you know that all audio on the phone is digital? I've been listening to it for years now using just my Lighting connector (and various wireless options (also digital) when not in my car).
The headphone jack has been a complete waste of space (and money!) for me for years.

Don't you think having a useless component in the phone degrades it?
How long do you expect others to keep subsidizing your use of steam-era tech?

Well done boyo. But how do you think it converts to analog format?

It really is getting boring the number of times the same explanation for this has to be repeated.

 

[mistafro]

Or headphones.

Does your monitor still connect to your Mac via VGA? Uuum no, we still use monitors and they connectors have changed a multitude of times over the years...

The future being what exactly? A crappy DAC and amp small enough to fit in a lightning connector? I can imagine the rich and powerful sound now. This will make wired headphones worse than Bluetooth which I suppose is a strategy of sorts.

So far the future has been good and bad. Now that things have been sufficiently miniaturized and converged maybe we can get back some of the quality lost. Phone calls that sound good, keyboards with feedback, etc.

Yeah cause Apple is going to do this and make the sound worse... *rollseyes*

If this ends up happening on iPhone 7 you can better that improved sound will be a flagpole feature. The beats acquisition will bear more fruit here...

 

[milo]

Headphone jack has been industry standard for years. Not including that on a device like this is a deal breaker.

Does your monitor still connect to your Mac via VGA? Uuum no, we still use monitors and they connectors have changed a multitude of times over the years...

Monitor resolution has changed many times. Last I checked people still have two ears. Analogy fail.

 

[mistafro]

Headphone jack has been industry standard for years. Not including that on a device like this is a deal breaker.

Ok let's talk in 5 years and see how your iPhone 6s is holding up while all of us are laughing at it...

 

[mistafro]

Headphone jack has been industry standard for years. Not including that on a device like this is a deal breaker.



Monitor resolution has changed many times. Last I checked people still have two ears. Analogy fail.

How is that a fail? It's ok to change the connector on everything else but the headphone jack? With this lightning update you can bet there will be an audio quality improvement along with it.

 

[quandmeme]

I was in two different Apple Stores this weekend and exactly zero of the BT headphones we wanted to try were paired when we wanted to sample. Bluetooth has promise as an eventual replacement, but right now, it's lying through its teeth.

 

[diamond.g]

How is that a fail? It's ok to change the connector on everything else but the headphone jack? With this lightning update you can bet there will be an audio quality improvement along with it.

Wouldn't that make the adapter expensive?

 

[~Shard~]

Wouldn't that make the adapter expensive?

Apple would never make an expensive adapter

 

[milo]

Ok let's talk in 5 years and see how your iPhone 6s is holding up while all of us are laughing at it...

You honestly think that in five years, the only phones with headphone jacks with headphone jacks will be old iPhone 6s? Speaking of laughing...

How is that a fail? It's ok to change the connector on everything else but the headphone jack? With this lightning update you can bet there will be an audio quality improvement along with it.

I already addressed that. Connectors on other devices have changed because the content sent over those connections has changed. Monitors are higher resolution and required different connections, same with many data formats.

Analog audio going to a headphone isn't any different that how it worked decades ago. And specifically what "audio quality improvement" do you imagine that requires a new connector? The connection to headphones can already handle pretty much any sample rate or bitrate (or frequency response and dynamic range, coming from an analog source). I'm sure there are probably digital headphones but that's really just moving the D/A converter from the player into the headphones and isn't an inherent improvement in quality, just makes headphones more expensive for most people.

Apple isn't doing this for the sake of improving quality, the only reason would be thinner devices and at this point I don't need a phone to be any thinner than a 1/8 plug allows. If they absolutely had to go thinner, going to single lighting connector is a bad idea, it would be better to come up with a tiny audio connector that allowed for dirt cheap adapters (included with the device, and third parties could make them without paying a licensing fee).

 

[designcouch]

do you wanna charge? or do you wanna listen to Apple Music?

Both. Because wireless charging.

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

Strange. This tells me the same about you!
Did you know that all audio on the phone is digital? I've been listening to it for years now using just my Lighting connector (and various wireless options (also digital) when not in my car).
The headphone jack has been a complete waste of space (and money!) for me for years.

Don't you think having a useless component in the phone degrades it?
How long do you expect others to keep subsidizing your use of steam-era tech?

I can guarantee that without a doubt you have never listened to digital audio. It was converted to analog at some point before it hit the speakers that produced the sound you were really hearing. So you decide whether the phone can do that better and pass the analog to your small and light ear buds, or an external kluge is better just so you can show off all that fancy new tech that would otherwise be hidden inside the phone.

One of the things I like about Apple is they go the extra mile to avoid kluges. Take the internal power supplies in ATV and AirPort as examples of something most other manufacturers don't bother doing. So avoiding an external brick on those not so portable devices is great, but an external brick on the iPhone is somehow moving us into the future?

 

[morespce54]

They might as well add a USB-C like on the MacBook and AppleTV...

Actually, I'm afraid they can't do that...
You know, because there is some other devices that use a USB (even the "C" type) connector. They need something that nobody else's use


/s

 

[Vjosullivan]

In the last century, several car manufacturers experimented with 3-wheeled cars.

Three wheel cars, brilliant fun! (Unless you don't like being different.) http://www.morgan3wheeler.co.uk/desktopindex.html

 

[inplainview]

I think we're getting to the point now where wireless headphones are good enough to replace wired ones for most people.

If you think that you've never listened to a pair of good wired headphones or your hearing is shot. Try a pair of Shure SE846's with custom ear inserts and 4 or 6 strand Double Helix cable and you will hear something special.

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

How is that a fail? It's ok to change the connector on everything else but the headphone jack? With this lightning update you can bet there will be an audio quality improvement along with it.

Fail because a monitor cable is an interconnect, not a final output stage as is a speaker / headphone output.

As others have said, any audio improvements can be made inside the phone if that is the goal.

 

[milo]

Love the people saying they'll jump to Android/Samsung if Apple drops the 3.5mm jack.

What, Android/Samsung won't copy Apple (again)?

Other companies have copied Apple, but rarely when it comes to connectors.

 

[Mr. Buzzcut]

Does your monitor still connect to your Mac via VGA? Uuum no, we still use monitors and they connectors have changed a multitude of times over the years...



Yeah cause Apple is going to do this and make the sound worse... *rollseyes*

If this ends up happening on iPhone 7 you can better that improved sound will be a flagpole feature. The beats acquisition will bear more fruit here...

Go ahead and roll your eyes. Apple has worsened a number of products in performance, capacity, and upgradeability all in the name of thinness or increased profits. They may have succeeded in appealing more the the masses but a lot of use choose Apple for something a little better. Well, the little better may be shrinking to the point of not at all better.

 

[draugminaion]

I can guarantee that without a doubt you have never listened to digital audio. It was converted to analog at some point before it hit the speakers that produced the sound you were really hearing.

And then converted to digital for transmission over the auditory nerve to the brain.

So you decide whether the phone can do that better and pass the analog to your small and light ear buds, or an external kluge is better just so you can show off all that fancy new tech that would otherwise be hidden inside the phone.

I prefer for the kluge to be optional and external to the phone. I've been using this external kluge for years now, lightning to AUX in my car, it's fine. Then the space for the kluge internal in the phone (mostly air) can be used for something useful.

One of the things I like about Apple is they go the extra mile to avoid kluges. Take the internal power supplies in ATV and AirPort as examples of something most other manufacturers don't bother doing. So avoiding an external brick on those not so portable devices is great, but an external brick on the iPhone is somehow moving us into the future?