This is going to infuriate many loyal customers. One of the reasons I first bought an iPhone was its music capabilities. I don't mind using adapters for other connectors but Apple needs to protect the standard 3.5mm jack. I want the option to be able to buy any headphones/earphones I want and be able to plug them in.
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Apple May Replace 3.5mm Headphone Jack on iPhone 7 With All-in-One Lightning Connector
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I love iPhones and iOS but if they remove the headphone jack I'm jumping ship. I don't do wireless near my brain sorry Apple.
Apple doesn't do any price with xx.99 . It's 20.00, 29.00 etc.
As for the idea to mess with 3.5 , I see nothing pressing in getting rid of that standard. Will be a while before the howling dies down and before we see Apple **** us with that.
But, I'd like to wait and see if there is any logic in this.
I'm down, been wanting to get Bluetooth earbuds anyway....which is what Apple should include if they drop the jack, not just lightning connected ones
3.5 mm technology is antiquated.
However, Apple solution is not entirely wireless - it offers Lightning.
I would say yes, 3.5 mm is becoming a bottleneck for thinness.
There lightning headphones:
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-M2L-27-Headphones-Lightning/dp/B00V4X6QGY
LIghtning is needed if you play high res Audio, I presume, that's where Apple is heading.
LIghtning allows for higher density signal and probably much higher quality. Even if you use wireless phones, I bet that the sound will be better than current one.
New DAC will compete with Sony offers. Should you have an older headphones, you can still use them with the adaptor.
Quote from LIghtning headphone user:
Build Quality
Build quality is excellent.The M2L's are very similar to the M1's and M2's.Styling is understated,with real leather surrounding the headband.Volume dial is located on the right earpod,along with a multifunction button which can be used to pause,FF,RWD tracks and also answer calls.Protein leather cover the memoryfoam earpads.Which are very comfy.The cord is a little stiff though,but not too bad.Headband adjustment seems a little limited also.I have a average size head(size 7 1/4" hat size)and I have to adjust the headband one click in from it's maximum size.So people with larger heads may find the headband might not have enough adjustability to fit their head.
Functions
Volume can be adjusted from either the phone or using the volume dial on the right earpod.Also the entire right side cover is a multifunction button.
Click once to pause current track.Double-click to go to next track,triple-click to go to previous track.You can even answer calls even though there is no inline mic.You just click the multifunction button to answer calls,and use the mic on the phone to speak into,just as if you're talking using the speakerphone.
Sound Quality
Sound quality is excellent.The external DAC and AMP really do make a difference.Clarity is excellent,with no harshness in the highs.The midrange in particular is wonderful.Tonal balance between the high and mids is right on to my ears.Bass is powerful and deep.In fact,the bass was almost too powerful at first.When I first got the headphones the bass was a little overbearing compared to the mids and treble.But as I played them for 100+ hours the highs and mids have really opened up and the bass has tightened up and is more articulate.
These headphones do not have a flat frequency response though.Bass is accentuated,which is what I prefer.I would say the bass response is very similar to the RHA T10i IEM"S,except the high's are much better on the Fidelio M2L's.
I would say these phones are excellent with modern genres of music like hip hop,R&B,pop,EDM,etc...I'm not sure how they would sound with genres like classical or jazz as I don't really listen to those genres.
While they have a strong bass signature,it is not as high as say the V-Moda M-100's,JVC HA-FX850's,or the Sennheiser IE80.
Overall I'm very happy with these headphones.And I think my search for the ultimate portable headphones has ended...for now atleast.
However, Apple solution is not entirely wireless - it offers Lightning.
I would say yes, 3.5 mm is becoming a bottleneck for thinness.
There lightning headphones:
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-M2L-27-Headphones-Lightning/dp/B00V4X6QGY
LIghtning is needed if you play high res Audio, I presume, that's where Apple is heading.
LIghtning allows for higher density signal and probably much higher quality. Even if you use wireless phones, I bet that the sound will be better than current one.
New DAC will compete with Sony offers. Should you have an older headphones, you can still use them with the adaptor.
Quote from LIghtning headphone user:
Build Quality
Build quality is excellent.The M2L's are very similar to the M1's and M2's.Styling is understated,with real leather surrounding the headband.Volume dial is located on the right earpod,along with a multifunction button which can be used to pause,FF,RWD tracks and also answer calls.Protein leather cover the memoryfoam earpads.Which are very comfy.The cord is a little stiff though,but not too bad.Headband adjustment seems a little limited also.I have a average size head(size 7 1/4" hat size)and I have to adjust the headband one click in from it's maximum size.So people with larger heads may find the headband might not have enough adjustability to fit their head.
Functions
Volume can be adjusted from either the phone or using the volume dial on the right earpod.Also the entire right side cover is a multifunction button.
Click once to pause current track.Double-click to go to next track,triple-click to go to previous track.You can even answer calls even though there is no inline mic.You just click the multifunction button to answer calls,and use the mic on the phone to speak into,just as if you're talking using the speakerphone.
Sound Quality
Sound quality is excellent.The external DAC and AMP really do make a difference.Clarity is excellent,with no harshness in the highs.The midrange in particular is wonderful.Tonal balance between the high and mids is right on to my ears.Bass is powerful and deep.In fact,the bass was almost too powerful at first.When I first got the headphones the bass was a little overbearing compared to the mids and treble.But as I played them for 100+ hours the highs and mids have really opened up and the bass has tightened up and is more articulate.
These headphones do not have a flat frequency response though.Bass is accentuated,which is what I prefer.I would say the bass response is very similar to the RHA T10i IEM"S,except the high's are much better on the Fidelio M2L's.
I would say these phones are excellent with modern genres of music like hip hop,R&B,pop,EDM,etc...I'm not sure how they would sound with genres like classical or jazz as I don't really listen to those genres.
While they have a strong bass signature,it is not as high as say the V-Moda M-100's,JVC HA-FX850's,or the Sennheiser IE80.
Overall I'm very happy with these headphones.And I think my search for the ultimate portable headphones has ended...for now atleast.
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This will be foolish, especially if I have to decide between music and charging the thing. I really don't think Apple will do this tbh. The iPhone has many other things to "improve" on like display tech, glass, wireless charging, fast charging, etc. I don't need to have my perfectly functioning headphones rendered outdated because literally no reason at all.
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?
Everybody says something that Apple does is dumb idea. And then many millions of them go out their way to pay extra for Apples "bad idea" instead of the cheaper thicker with more connectors alternative devices from the competition.
Some of Apples bad ideas are bad ideas. But given their current batting average, betting against Apples bad ideas is very often a bad idea.
No, this has absolutely nothing to do with higher resolution audio.
The phone doesn't need to be thinner -- it needs more battery life. It also doesn't need to add the cost of licensing the lightning connector to every set of headphones or earbuds. And for those who travel, it certainly doesn't need to monopolize the charging port for headphones when we're on an airplane. Apple just may dig their own proprietary little grave if they keep this up. But hey, I bet that Beats will come out with lightning-connected overpriced and over-bassed headphones, so it's all good.
Nope. It means they'll drop the headphone jack on the Macbook too and integrate it into the single USB-C port. You can now choose whether you want to charge, connect a USB device, connect a monitor, or use your headphones. Isn't that great? Who didn't hate how that hole on the right side disturbed Jony's design purity. Two ports were way too many.
Which would be incredibly inconvenient. Now instead of carrying a slim cable, I have to carry a cable plus a charging pad.
I'm finding less reasons all the time to stick with Apple. The one thing keeping me with Apple is the software ... and restoring your iPhone if things are weird is a thousand times easier on the iPhone than Android ... that and update frequency and availability of the OS.
Them removing RAID support in El Capitan made me jump ship to Windows. Seriously ridiculous decisions they make. It's little things like this that drive me nuts.
Them removing RAID support in El Capitan made me jump ship to Windows. Seriously ridiculous decisions they make. It's little things like this that drive me nuts.
It ... doesn't need to be thinner.
Too true. We'll cry about it for about 2 weeks, try out an Android phone for a few days, get pissed off and come back to the iPhone like a runaway teenager coming home.
So no connection to the car stereo because driving a car is so last decade...
I connect my phone to my stereo just fine over Bluetooth.
What functional benefit is there to an iPhone being 1mm (one freaking millimeter) thinner? If this happens, it would be yet another example of Apple making stupid design decisions for no functional purpose (disappearing scroll bars in OSX, translucency). 75% of my iPhone use is listening to my ripped CD collection. They already screwed up the Music app for that purpose (which is why I'm staying on iOS 8.3 as long as possible) now they want to force me to choose between charging and listening. Great.
I've been an Apple user since the late 80s. They're not making me happy lately. Google is evil so there's no chance I move to Android. What do I do when the iPhone finally sucks?
I've been an Apple user since the late 80s. They're not making me happy lately. Google is evil so there's no chance I move to Android. What do I do when the iPhone finally sucks?
Come on tell me you wouldn't drool at a tri-fold iPhone that would fit into the credit card slot of your wallet.
If they have a backward compatible adapter that isn't 40 dollars, I don't mind this. Mind you, it will probably be 39.99!!
To be honest, I think Tim has driven the company in a awful direction. While I hate the million of adapters apple makes you carry (can't even make freakin doggles so you don't lose them), this easily enables noise reduction and using bluetooth headphones when there is no power. I see the macbook getting a lighting female port too.
I do believe wires are going out the door in 5 years (because of tech like Cota from Ossia). If wireless charging isn't included in iphone 7, than all there best engineers really did go to tesla, and might as well include the regular 3.5 jack.
Seriously. I'll switch if Apple arrives at their own lightning jack. Ridiculous.