Apple Said to Be Removing Headphone Jack From Upcoming 2018 iPad Pro Models

[Roadstar]

I guess you don’t only have the delay of the wireless connection but also the touch screen as well. If you are that Pro that you need that, then maybe looking at other options is better. I still see it very much as a consumption device primarily.

Well for music I’m just a hobbyist, not a pro, but even a novice musician will notice the difference of picking a note and hearing it straight away instead of half a second later. I don’t typically use the touch screen when recording but a guitar or a midi keyboard, so touch screen latency isn’t an issue here.

And you didn’t think wired connections were on their way out? No Bluetooth in your cars? No Bluetooth headset? Don’t know where you are but it’s been for over a decade since that capability became standard here in Europe.

I’m not the one you addressed here, but at least my 2010 Ford does Bluetooth only for phonecalls. The original owner should’ve checked more BTO goodies to stretch that capability also to media audio, so for music and podcasts I need to hook up the aux cable.

 

[alexgowers]

I just don’t see much point in eradicating the 3.5mm headphone jack.

Bluetooth/wireless introduces latency that means many time critical productivity pursuits are harder, unpleasant or impossible.

For the iPhone that was ok because the only people that suffered were gamers and niche content creators. The iPad is still not used like a laptop but it is used more for content creation, audio production, video editing etc where audio is more critical.

Having 3.5mm as a fall back is clever, Apple has loads of redundancy in software but ZERO in its hardware these days. It’s disappointing to see Apple making these decisions on larger devices where no such space constraints or waterproofing demands are there.

 

[DNichter]

Which is an unneeded complication. I'm sure people can put up with the 3.5mm jack which has literally no negative impact on their lives.

Haha yes, so complicated. Attach to a wire and never touch it again. Well looks like I won’t have to put up with it for much longer, it’s a waste of space.
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You do realize that it’s not just about headphones, right? Square payment system, audio out for soundboard use and many other uses that Bluetooth just does not work for.

Yup, I’m aware. I suppose you could use lightning in those scenarios.

 

[theluggage]

As for using an iPad as a DAW, this is kind of a ridiculous concept:

...sure, you're not going to build your pro audio studio around an iPad (although Timmy doesn't understand why you'd need anything else), but for a bit of jamming/experimentation away from the den, something like this is a more sensible proposition:

BTW, those headphones can do Bluetooth or wired - but in Bluetooth mode there's almost a 1s delay between pressing a key and hearing the note - and before anybody suggests it, no, that lightning socket in the dongle is charge-only.

Now, there are Bluetooth 'MIDI' keyboards around too - but then you've got a more restricted choice, can't use your existing equipment, plus another device that needs batteries and/or re-charging - many USB mini-keyboards have been designed to run off iPad power.

So even if you can work around the lack of a 3.5mm jack, you have to ask what exactly would be gained by removing it that would make the extra constraints and complications worthwhile?

 

[drumcat]

Thank you, this is what we readers have to know about these sources when reading a new rumor.

MacRumors should have a page for every source linking to all of their good / bad predictions and summarizing their credibility.

Should be a colour code next to a rumour based on source reliability. This would get a red.

 

[Arndroid]

I use my iOS devices horizontally like 95% of the time, especially the iPad. Considering a pro in the future but that is a huge whip to only be able to unlock vertically.

 

[rocknblogger]

Yup, I’m aware. I suppose you could use lightning in those scenarios.

In some instances yes. In some you can’t. And in some you may need both. In any case I don’t think it’s a good idea to get rid of the jack. There are many uses for it and there are many users who prefer it over using dongles. On a device where internal space is not an issue it’s a bad move, if in fact this rumor is true.

 

[Playfoot]

Well, I had better hurry and buy another iPad Pro before they remove the jack.....What is the obsession with sub-par audio?

 

[dilbert99]

In the iPhone lineup, the headphone jack was removed for improved water resistance

False, when you think about it, there are water resistant headphone jacks and you also have water resistant lightning jacks, no reason for the headphone jack not to be as water resistant.

 

[DNichter]

In some instances yes. In some you can’t. And in some you may need both. In any case I don’t think it’s a good idea to get rid of the jack. There are many uses for it and there are many users who prefer it over using dongles. On a device where internal space is not an issue it’s a bad move, if in fact this rumor is true.

Well ultimately it’s not up to you or I and it certainly seems that Apple is headed in this direction regardless of the rumor. Probably best to prepare for that.

 

[oldmacs]

Haha yes, so complicated. Attach to a wire and never touch it again. Well looks like I won’t have to put up with it for much longer, it’s a waste of space

Have you looked how much space there is inside an iPad?

And I have multiple headphones and multiple devices, I also like to charge and listen to music so the Adaptor is crap.

Siri is a waste of my phones storage space but I don’t demand its removal because I know other people use it.

Some people need to look paste their own fanboyismn to the fact that people have different use cases, requirements and situations.

I understand my opinions and thoughts on here don’t matter to apples decision, but I also find the fact that people will support this based purely on the fact that it is rumoured Apple will do it, and if Apple do it, it must be right off putting.

 

[jellyjeff]

Final nail in Apple coffin for me. Pointless exercise in making something smaller that actually benefits from having something "hold on to". My mum's not going to go out and buy wireless headphones, so she'll just get an android. Never seen a company implode so consistently, with everyone telling them that they could easily avoid it.

 

[DNichter]

Have you looked how much space there is inside an iPad?

And I have multiple headphones and multiple devices, I also like to charge and listen to music so the Adaptor is crap.

Siri is a waste of my phones storage space but I don’t demand its removal because I know other people use it.

Some people need to look paste their own fanboyismn to the fact that people have different use cases, requirements and situations.

I’d rather them put in a bigger battery and a Taptic Engine. Sounds like you should look for a different tablet then? I don’t get why people get so up in arms about this stuff. If you don’t like the product, don’t buy it. It’s an electronic device. If I don’t like a microwave because it doesn’t have certain features, I don’t go complaining on the internet about it. I buy one that has the features I want and move on with my life.

 

[aevan]

Have you looked how much space there is inside an iPad?

Seriously? Even laptops make compromises to cram everything inside, and you think a super-thin, super-light tablet that runs faster than most laptops has enough space?

No, space is a premium on a tablet - you’re just plain wrong there.

If Apple removes the headphone jack, that would mean they weighed the pros and cons and made a decision they thought would benefit the majority of users. If they are wrong, most people will keep their old iPads or go to competing products, like the Surface Go. But I have a feeling that the headphone hack removal will not slow down the sales of new iPads.

 

[Piggie]

Flash was/is ****, that was all nothing more and nothing less. In addition it doesn’t scale well for a mobile responsive interface, and utilises way to much power.

See this is where I will disagree 100% with you.
It was only this way with Apple products as Steve Jobs/Apple kept secret the means to make flash access Apple Hardware/routines correctly so it had to brute force it.

Flash runs, like a dream on my PC, barely taking any power whatsoever.

Steve could of got Apple to design Apple products to run Flash like a dream if he wanted.
But he didn't and went all out to block it, so he could develop their own little apps/games to sell.

When all this was a hot topic, I has multiple full screen flash animations on screen with a tiny CPU loading, as the hardware was dealing with it all, which was never allowed on Apple devices.

 

[aevan]

I’d rather them put in a bigger battery and a Taptic Engine. Sounds like you should look for a different tablet then? I don’t get why people get some up in arms about this stuff.

Because Apple and because this forum. Here, we get drama when Apple removes the glowing logo from laptops, ffs.

It’s more symbolic than anything else. People like to hate Apple - so people criticize for the sake of criticism.

 

[Khedron]

If Apple removes the headphone jack, that would mean they weighed the pros and cons and made a decision they thought would benefit the majority of users shareholders.

Fixed.

 

[theluggage]

And yet still, BluRay delivers the best quality of image to the general public.

So if you want BluRay, get a USB BluRay drive - I know they are/were available because I've got one in a cupboard somewhere (having confirmed that Jobs was right about the "bag of hurt" thing). Don't forget to buy the software that lets you play back commercial BlueRay movies and pay for updates every year so you can play new movies.

Or, at least, that's what the first church of Apple are telling people who want headphone jacks... because 3.5mm jacks are such a bag of hurt and must die: they're heavy and take up 20% of the space inside a laptop or mini. They are expensive because of royalties to the 3.5mm consortium, who will only license them to you if you implement all of their restrictive and buggy DRM features. Moreso you need extra, expensive, software to actually play sound through them - and that software has to be updated regularly for compatibility with the latest songs. 3.5mm jacks have never been fitted in Apple products before so its not like anybody is going to be left in the lurch by their ommission... and there are several competing 3.5mm jack formats so at the time of writing we don't even know that they are going to take off.

Oh, wait, no, those were all the valid arguments against BluRay and optical drives, and have no relevance whatsoever to 3.5mm headphone jacks, USB-A sockets etc. or other useful features now getting thrown under the bus purely to save a few cents and/or be 1mm thinner than Samsung.

OK, we're talking about a (hopefully) fake rumor, but its really depressing that so many people are coming out to defend it, as if a 3.5mm jack killed their brother. Plus this stupid "removing features must always be right because Jobs did it in the past" fallacy...

 

[curtvaughan]

If those rumors are true, the only good news is that the existing models are going to be getting cheaper in the fall!

Yeah, might be time to get a 2017 iPad Pro 10.5 at a cheaper price - I have the 12.5, but there are times I'd like the smaller form factor AND landscape keyboard use AND phone jack AND touch id. If all that's out of date for Apple, so be it. Up to now the iPad is still the superior tablet, IMO. I'm hoping that competing phones, tablets, and computers will continue to support features many people still need for daily use.

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

Stupid decision removing the headphone jack on a iPad
It’s all good saying get with the times and go wireless
What’s happens on a plane when you stick it in Airplane mode

 

[Shanghaichica]

False, when you think about it, there are water resistant headphone jacks and you also have water resistant lightning jacks, no reason for the headphone jack not to be as water resistant.

There are phones that have higher water resistance ratings than the iPhone 7,8 or X and they still have headphone jacks. Apple didn’t even say it was removed to make it water resistant. They actually didn’t give a reason at the iPhone 7 keynote. Unless courage is a reason.

 

[entropi]

Regardless of who preferers wireless to wired headphones, the simple matter of fact is that by removing the headphone connector they are removing our ability to choose what best suits our needs.

Which seems ironic, since Apple's corporate message is all about freedom, self expression and liberalism but their products are prime examples of totalitarianist design.

Very well put! It's an interesting paradox...

 

[oldmacs]

I’d rather them put in a bigger battery and a Taptic Engine. Sounds like you should look for a different tablet then? I don’t get why people get some up in arms about this stuff. If you don’t like the product, don’t buy it. It’s an electronic device. If I don’t like a microwave because it doesn’t have certain features, I don’t go complaining on the internet about it. I buy one that has the features I want and move on with my life.

Again, the headphone jack takes up a very minute amount of space. Try taking a look inside an iPad Pro and you’ll find that the speaker design prevents the battery getting too much bigger. Have a look at an iPad Pro tear down.

Apple currently does build iPads with the features I like and there is no alternative. Removing the 3.5mm port is a significant blow to the suitability of the iPad for me.

I don’t get why you get so up in arms at the slightest hint of anyone not agreeing 100 percent with everything Apple does.

If Apple removes the headphone jack, that would mean they weighed the pros and cons and made a decision they thought would benefit the majority of users. If they are wrong, most people will keep their old iPads or go to competing products, like the Surface Go. But I have a feeling that the headphone hack removal will not slow down the sales of new iPads.

Of course it won’t slow sales down. People accept mediocrity. Sales is not equal to the best product.

Apple will have made the decision they think reflects their ‘vision’ and laziness.

No, space is a premium on a tablet - you’re just plain wrong there.

There is free space in the iPad pros.

 

[0095059]

...sure, you're not going to build your pro audio studio around an iPad (although Timmy doesn't understand why you'd need anything else), but for a bit of jamming/experimentation away from the den, something like this is a more sensible proposition:

View attachment 773365

BTW, those headphones can do Bluetooth or wired - but in Bluetooth mode there's almost a 1s delay between pressing a key and hearing the note - and before anybody suggests it, no, that lightning socket in the dongle is charge-only.

Now, there are Bluetooth 'MIDI' keyboards around too - but then you've got a more restricted choice, can't use your existing equipment, plus another device that needs batteries and/or re-charging - many USB mini-keyboards have been designed to run off iPad power.

So even if you can work around the lack of a 3.5mm jack, you have to ask what exactly would be gained by removing it that would make the extra constraints and complications worthwhile?

The answer is simple. Get a lightning to usb splitter, and then two lightning to usb dongles.

That might sound like a lot dongles but it’s only 4.

 

[oldmacs]

It’s more symbolic than anything else. People like to hate Apple - so people criticize for the sake of criticism

Or they criticise because Apple does things that are pointless and off putting.

People also like to defend Apple to the death. Happens a lot on this forum.