There's a plethora of excellent options for less than what apple was charging available to all who dare order them off of Amazon. Makes sense for apple to stop this product as they're not going to sell any devices with lightning for much longer.
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
Why not just get USB-C or Lightning EarPods and forget about dongles?
Instead of using this dongle, why not just get a pair of USB-C or Lightning earbuds?
And they all have the option of using USB-C or Lightning earbuds/headphones instead of playing with their dongles!
The answer to your question is literally in the text of what you quoted in posts 152 and 153
Really? The appke one was about €10 (just ordered lne yesterday) and had a decent DAC. I also got a headphone jack on a lightning card-reader/usb-adapter, but it sounds like ...
I might be out of the loop, but the only usb-c or lightning headphones I've ever seen were pretty cheap/low quality.
Do you know some?
(Also, some people have decent headphones for work - e.g. as a soundie or camera operator - usb-c or lightning isn't an option there. But we like to use our wired headphones with our phones occassionally)
Last edited:
I do. I'm not willing to spend several hundred dollars for AirPods.
In case anyone is seeking a good quality alternative lightning -> 3.5mm adapter, i use this one:
This is from this site searching for brand "inline": https://mfi.apple.com/account/accessory-search
The audio quality is on par/better than the Apple adapter and most importantly the microphone and volume sliders work as intended. Also the quality of the cable itself is a lot better.
[edit] I bought this, when i got the iPhone SE 2020 for using the better headphones and still use it today.
This is from this site searching for brand "inline": https://mfi.apple.com/account/accessory-search
The audio quality is on par/better than the Apple adapter and most importantly the microphone and volume sliders work as intended. Also the quality of the cable itself is a lot better.
[edit] I bought this, when i got the iPhone SE 2020 for using the better headphones and still use it today.
I got bored sitting at my desk today, so I put on some music videos and did some non-blinded A/B/C testing.
I'm not sure I notice much difference between the Apple USB-C to audio dongle plugged into my Thunderbolt hub, vs the front Mac mini audio jack. However, both were an improvement over the monitor's audio output. It didn't make a difference for the news and YouTube videos, but it did make a difference for music. The difference in bass wasn't much because my speakers don't have much bass anyway but the mid's were fuller.
Yep. Over ears when I'm working (editing video, etc.) and still love my Apple EarPods, take 'em with me everywhere in my computer bag. No battery to die, and less concern about frying my brain cells.
I normally carry/use a pair of AirPods Pro 2, but I have a pair of EarPods (the wired ones, USB-C) in my car to handle the rare occasions where I'm out and about and either forgot my AirPods or forgot to charge them (so rather than taking a long walk without something to listen to, I take out the EarPods).
I also have a pair of the 3.5mm-jack EarPods that I use with my PS5's DualSense controller, if someone wants to chat while gaming (game sound goes to the home theater system, chat goes to the EarPods).
I kinda gave up on wired earbuds long ago when the cable broke on my Etymotics. They had fabulous sound (and really good physical isolation, and they even had an app to bleed in some of the microphone sound if the outside sound was over a set level - years before Apple's Adaptive Noise Control), but wireless is just so much more convenient.
Yes. I'm using 6.3mm to 3.5mm adapter too.
Thomann Buy Studio Headphones at Thomann
Buy Studio Headphones + accessories online at Europe's largest music retailer ✔ Fast shipping ✔ 30 days money-back ✔ 3 years Thomann guarantee
www.thomann.de
Do you see there, headphones with a different connector.
It really isn't... Every time I listen to music on AirPods Pro I'm left feeling very frustrated that they're nowhere near as good as my IEMs but then again my IEM setup is not as convenient as AirPods.
So you don’t understand the meaning of the word forced, got it.
I guess you missed the point about the sound quality… 🤷♂️
Lightning earbuds only work with Apple devices and usb-c earbuds would take up a valuable port even on devices with a headphone jack. They have way less utility.
As for sound quality, Apple’s lightning or usb-c earphones are 10€ earphones sold at 30€ because of the connector and because of the brand name. They are an even worse deal than wireless headphones, excluding Apple’s basic Airpods, those are the same 10€ earphones, that sell for 30€ with a wire and 130€ wireless.
And I already have quality headphones plus a pile of Apple’s earphones with a headphone jack.
To each their own, but I will never replace my trusty Sennheiser headphone cans with cheap earbuds or Apple AirPods.
It would be AMAZING if the EU did that. I'd love to see all phone manufacturers forced to include not only USB C but also headphone jacks. Apple should never have been allowed to drop it in the first place.
I am by and large an AirPods Pro user, it’s very convenient and they sound alright.
But, I still keep a pair of (relatively) inexpensive KZ IEMs in my bag with the dongle on. It’s genuinely surprising how vast the difference in audio quality is between the two options. I hope that Bluetooth can one day rival it but I’d personally prefer to see mobile devices return to providing a port should a user wish to take advantage of it. I like the idea earlier in the thread of an audio centric device with a higher quality DAC, although my take would be to just put that on all the phones anyway lol.
But, I still keep a pair of (relatively) inexpensive KZ IEMs in my bag with the dongle on. It’s genuinely surprising how vast the difference in audio quality is between the two options. I hope that Bluetooth can one day rival it but I’d personally prefer to see mobile devices return to providing a port should a user wish to take advantage of it. I like the idea earlier in the thread of an audio centric device with a higher quality DAC, although my take would be to just put that on all the phones anyway lol.
It's amazing isn't it?
No matter how much marketing gets pumped at telling us AirPods Pro are amazing -- and for what they are, they are -- they still don't match up with wired IEMs and a huge range of wired cans of course also
It would be amazing if a company was forced by the government to include a feature it doesn’t want to include and the overwhelmingly majority of its users don’t want or need, a feature that would force the device to be thicker and ruin its water resistance just so you and a handful of others can get what you want? Really? That’s your take?