It's not just about thinner at this juncture. Do you really think Apple would change a well intrenched standard if they didn't have to? But in any case, when you make a product thinner, just where do you think they're going to expand all that stuff which used to take up more thickness? That's right, in the space where the gigantic headphone jack used to be. Pay was just an example of new features Apple may introduce in the future -- you don't see Pay on anything smaller than an iPhone 6 do you -- which suggests they may have needed the extra size to make it all fit. And there's nothing stupider than that shaved-off phone plug patent, which by the way, the patent was granted this year, but the patent itself was filed in May of 2011. So I'm sure you're right and an idea that originated before 2011 makes more sense than the Lightning connector which appeared on Apple devices a year later, audio standards for which were just released a year ago December. /s Apple is not going to create a new standard for audio jacks that themselves need an adapter without providing some other benefit. ALL of the arguments being made against the Lightning connector also apply to the half-height proprietary mini-phone jack. 3rd party headphones won't be able to use it without an adapter, they will be forced to pay more for an Apple license to build a native plug, or include an adapter with theirs. The only benefit is that the free headphone Apple gives their customers will work with third party audio products, and where's the advantage to that for Apple?
But you clearly know far more about all this than I do. /s
