If Apple offered an iPhone Studio focused toward creatives with a high impedance jack I would buy one instantly.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Seemingly Discontinuing Lightning to Headphone Jack Adapter Introduced Alongside iPhone 7
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I should buy a pair of those for when I receive an important, unexpected phone call so I could just plug in the EarPods instead of putting in my AirPods/Beats and realizing that they were last paired to another device, and I either mangled or didn't understand the setting and my doctor is on the phone talking to me and we can't hear each other.
I bought my AirPods Pro in 2022 when the second-gen came out. So far doing great, and since the case is the battery and the case supports Qi charging, running out of juice is a non-issue. I own and acknowledge that high-quality wired HEADphones are superior in audio quality, but I'm out walking in the real world so that's really not an issue, and I don't like having five pounds of headphone on my head unless I'm doing some really critical listening.
The cheapy wired earbuds I see most people (who use wired earbuds at all) walking around with are complete garbage that they paid $10-$20 for. AirPods (wired) or AirPods Pro (BT) blow them completely out of the water.
I still use wired headphones. For example, I use Etymotic ear canal headphones on the plane with my iPhone 12 Pro Max. They block out all the ambient noise, and the quality is way better than AirPods. I will be getting the 17 Pro Max with USB-C next year, but my kid will get the 12 Pro Max, and my other kid will be using an iPhone XR too.
We do have the adapter, but the issue is they wear out with time, so you need to periodically get new ones. People also lose them of course. And I was just planning on getting a new one, but I guess I missed out. Ironically, I just bought the USB-C version last week for my Mac mini. I should have picked up the Lightning version at the same time. Doh!
We do have the adapter, but the issue is they wear out with time, so you need to periodically get new ones. People also lose them of course. And I was just planning on getting a new one, but I guess I missed out. Ironically, I just bought the USB-C version last week for my Mac mini. I should have picked up the Lightning version at the same time. Doh!
Yep. Many don't work reliably despite claiming MFi certification. There are proper legit MFi certified adapters out there from reputable brands, but they cost twice as much as the Apple ones.
Wireless must be the future. Read the other day that the new AIrPod Max with usb c can no longer be used with a wired connection. Thought that was a bit weird.
Does this mean they’re bringing back BOTH the Lightning connector and the 3.5mm jack?!? Can’t wait for the new iPhones and iPads!
And what about people that are still using an iPhone 14/13/12??? I hate Tim Cook. He is such an *******.
Last edited by a moderator:
For the record, you can still buy legit MFi certified adapters from third party companies. However, you have to be careful, because most of the cheap adapter manufacturers lie about MFi certification and consequently those adapters suck, whereas the good legit adapters cost twice as much as the Apple ones. So instead of paying $9 for Apple's, you might be paying $15-20 instead.
Not good news IMHO, but I tend to use Ugreen‘s adapters, which feel more solidly built than Apple’s and sound pretty good with my various wired headphones. I agree with those saying many of the cheap 3rd-party options are total trash though.
I‘ve actually grown to love my Beats for audio consumption. But there’s lots of good reasons why wired headphones are still superior in many situations. Apple like to position their devices as capable of so much more than just consumption and browsing, yet, as just one example, their own bundled music-creation app will warn you of the deficiencies of their hardware out the box…
I‘ve actually grown to love my Beats for audio consumption. But there’s lots of good reasons why wired headphones are still superior in many situations. Apple like to position their devices as capable of so much more than just consumption and browsing, yet, as just one example, their own bundled music-creation app will warn you of the deficiencies of their hardware out the box…
It's true that these are still available by 3rd parties but why should anyone be relegated to them? I bought an iPhone 14 Pro Max just last year with AppleCare+ because of the fit and finish problems of the 15 Pro series. The iPhone 14 Pro (Max) was released on 2022-09-16. Support and OEM accessories should be made available by Apple until at least 2027-09-15. Amazing to see a $3T market cap company acting so cheap.
Last edited:
A headphone jack is essential, as Apple realized when it put it on the front of the Mac mini.
Exactly right
Discontinuing a port for new products is one thing, but nuking accessories for the previous port, that are useful to the VAST majority of the existing install base now and for the next several years, is just straight up BS and consumer hostile
Yes ... agree 100%
It's such a bad experience, that we don't expect from Apple, when they choose to just outsource things to the third party wild west of great/good/garbage/scams options on the Amazons of the world
RIP a quality Apple product … that shouldn’t have had to exist.
A great sounding dongle, where many 3rd party ones are genuinely crap, and at £9 wasn’t a total rip off unlike a lot Apple stuff.
Zero latency audio matters, and the wired mics sound so much better than the bluetooth ones.
A great sounding dongle, where many 3rd party ones are genuinely crap, and at £9 wasn’t a total rip off unlike a lot Apple stuff.
Zero latency audio matters, and the wired mics sound so much better than the bluetooth ones.
That's great. I wasn't aware of that. Thx.
BTW, UGREEN is on the list and their 30756 adapter is listed.
It's currently $12.74 at Amazon USA, so I guess it's priced only $3.74 more than the Apple one was.
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Ironically, the reason I bought my USB-C to audio jack dongle was so I wouldn't have to plug my computer speakers into the front of my new Mac mini, cuz that just looks awful. However, in the end, I just plugged the amp into the audio jack on my monitor instead. However, I will use this dongle with my iPad Pro on the plane with my Etymotics.
And it still bugs me to this day that the 12" MacBook has two ports, but Apple chose to make one of them audio. I would have much rather have had 2 USB-C ports instead of 1 USB-C and 1 audio. Cuz with this US$9 dongle, you can convert USB to audio, but you can't audio to USB (iPod shuffle notwithstanding).
Asking out of curiosity since you sound like someone who knows a thing or two about it. I'm not the guy that can break down the minute details in the soundstage between two pairs of cans. So maybe I'm not an audiophile, but I do appreciate good sound.
Are modern day Bluetooth codecs "good enough" assuming the headphones themselves are adequate? As far as I understand it, you hit diminishing returns with audio bit rate the higher you go. I know that I, for one, have been quite surprised with Bluetooth quality in the modern day. Different story from ten years ago, say.
I use AirPods every day at my work computer. But I use my Sennheisers (cans) at night to watch content on my Apple TV and use my Etymotics on the plane (IEMs for sound isolation). I also use the Etymotics when mowing the lawn.
IMO it's not really about the whether or not Bluetooth can handle the quality. It's more about the design intent. Regular AirPods are not designed for top audio quality. Most are designed for "good enough" quality at a reasonable price and maximum convenience. OTOH, AirPods Max reviews generally say they have excellent sound quality, but they also cost a lot more money than decent wired cans. If you just want quality you can spend a lot less and get nice cans. But the AirPods Max are convenient because they are wireless.
Yes. Connection doesn't drop, battery doesn't run out, audio quality vastly superior.
This product was always way, way, way to fragile anyway. Some 3rd party options were superior, had better 3.5mm connectors and far more robust.
The third party options were never as good.
I don't think it was part of the MFI program for the longest time