Apple Surveying MacBook Pro Users About Headphone Jack and Other Ports

[kirky29]

I deal with audio and photographs daily so both the audio port and sd slot are 'vital' to me and my productivity.

Please don't remove them Apple.

 

[djdj]

You think Apple removed the headphone jack because they are full of themselves? One year from today, and you'll be thankful Apple removed the headphone jack. People are making a stink out of nothing. Apple *still* sells a high-performance iPhone with a headphone jack, if people really want/need that. Amazing!

Why would anyone be happy about that? Replacing something that works flawlessly and is compatible with every other product they've ever owned with something that is proprietary with virtually no selection of products that work with it?

Oh, we are talking about Apple users, aren't we. Never mind.

 

[sofila]

So what we're going to see instead of the 3,5 audio jack? The same solution placed on iPhones?

 

[gnasher729]

or, you know, just get wireless headphones..
then there are no wires/plugs/ports/adapters etc. (well, a charger is still needed)
you get that, right?

Where do you get wireless headphones that are not rubbish?
[doublepost=1473927864][/doublepost]

Why would anyone be happy about that? Replacing something that works flawlessly and is compatible with every other product they've ever owned with something that is proprietary with virtually no selection of products that work with it?

Oh, we are talking about Apple users, aren't we. Never mind.

No, we are not talking about Apple users. Apple users all want headphone jacks, sd card slots, and so on. We are talking about Apple fanatics who just turn their brain off, avoid actual thinking, and do as they are told by Apple. Or by anyone else who they accept as being in command.
[doublepost=1473927989][/doublepost]

So what we're going to see instead of the 3,5 audio jack? The same solution placed on iPhones?

Well, that would be a lighting port, right, or some other kind of port with an adapter? Well, if they ship a USB to 3.5mm adapter with every Mac, that's fine with me.
[doublepost=1473928091][/doublepost]

The problem with legacy ports on laptops is not from the user/consumer end, it's about the interface with most of the offices out there. Go to any university or office meeting rooms, and I bet majority still uses VGA projectors. What's the solution for audio? Analog 3.5mm jack. That's the bottleneck, and also explains why most enterprise focused laptops are still sporting VGA ports. Few starts to switch to HDMI, but still a wired solution. Very few have Widi enabled TVs, and extremely rare ones use Airplay.

I have seen places where every projector had an Apple TV attached.

 

[blagovest]

If they are yet to decide about jack and ports, I wouldn't hold my breath for a new MacBook Pro.

 

[djdj]

those are pre-apple.

but again ------->
it's 100% impossible for you to sit in front of me.. in person.. put those headphones on.. and say 'this sound like crap' or 'these sound bad'... impossible.


-----------------
and btw, being such an outspoken anti-fanboy is the same exact thing as being a fanboy.. they go together like peas & carrots..
try being neither.

No, anyone who knows better knows that Beats sound HORRIBLE! Compared to real headphones from Grado, Sennheiser, AKG, Sony... the list goes on and on... they all sound A TON better and cost a fraction of the price. Beats are absolutely awful. All of them. The only thing worse is EarPods/AirPods.

 

[Starfox]

You know why this sucks? Because for a good chunk of people here, they're stuck with OS X for a few apps they use. There's no other option. And that means they'll end up having to buy whatever Apple puts out, and so Apple can follow any design direction without getting economic signals indicative of what people _want_.

I was in that position a few years ago, and I started transitioning to Windows - but that won't work for everyone. Some people can't use it due to lack of certain apps, or just plain don't like it. And that sucks. I'm glad I was able to make the transition, and it worked pretty well for me since my usage can take advantage of extra CPU / GPU power and the 6 GB of VRAM in my Razer Blade, a laptop that I strongly recommend.

But in the end, for the demographic without an alternative, we as Mac users are stuck buying whatever Apple makes at whatever price point Apple decides and calling the s**t sandwich "yummy"...

 

[SoAnyway]

What the deuce? I use my MacBook Pro every day and I've never gotten asked this by Apple.

Hey you guys at 1 Infinite Loop, I USE MY HEADPHONE JACK ON MY MBP EVERY FRAKING DAY!

 

[djdj]

YES! Take the headphone jack away on everything. Push for wireless. Move forward.

I really hope the next iPads and MacBook Pros don't have one. I'm ready to move on. There's plenty of older models to tide people over for a few years while the industry transitions and new tech/products are developed. The 6s series is great! The iPad Pros are great! Even the current Macbook Pros are still good.

Make them lighter! Give us more USB-Cs. And a Lightning port on the MBP would be nice, especially if they wanna push people to get Lightning headphones.

Wireless is great. So great you can't use it on an airplane. You can't use it when the batteries in your headphones are dead. It works flawlessly in radio wave saturated places like airports, hotels, conventions, etc. The device drivers never ever mess up. And I really love having the quality of my audio reduced so it fits in the tiny bandwidth that Bluetooth provides instead of getting the full range of sound from the original recording.

It's too bad someone doesn't invent something that works 100% of the time, no matter what. Something that is standard across brands so you can buy a product and have it work in every device made by every manufacturer, instead of having multiple to interface with different products. If only someone had thought of doing something like that.

 

[thewolfro]

If they will go ahead and remove the jack and the sdcard i really hope that apple will split at one point.
One part to do the fancy-trancy things for users that just want an apple logo on their accessories and another part that does something usable for people that are actually using apple products for productivity.

 

[BeamWalker]

Next month on the Apple Store: New watch bands and a line of convenient travel Bags to put all your adaptors in.

 

[sofila]

Where do you get wireless headphones that are not rubbish?
[doublepost=1473927864]
Well, that would be a lighting port, right, or some other kind of port with an adapter? Well, if they ship a USB to 3.5mm adapter with every Mac, that's fine with me.

This exactly. Or another dongle or a proprietary port for definitively lock in users in Apple's garden

 

[baryon]

Seriously if they remove the headphone jack from the MacBook Pro then I'm switching to Windows and I'm not even kidding. How else are you supposed to use speakers or headphones?

Oh, right, use AirPlay, don't make me laugh. Throw your existing speakers in the trash. Get expensive speakers that connect to your WiFi, then disconnect for no reason in the middle of a movie. Oh and the lag. Ever watch a movie where the audio lags 10 seconds behind the video? Yeah welcome to AirPlay. Ever want to throw your ultra expensive wireless speakers out the window, because your brain just can't deal with video and audio never, ever being in sync with each other? Yeah, AirPlay does that too. Ever press Play on a YouTube video and your entire system completely freezes for 20 seconds to try to avoid lag while your system tries to connect to your AirPlay speakers but fails, starts playing the video anyway with lagging audio? Headphone jacks don't do that, ever.

Oh and the SD card slot, it's great to not have to lug around an SD card reader all the time. Also, cheap SD card readers are slow and crap, while expensive ones are... expensive. It's nice to not have to buy one.

And HDMI, I couldn't believe it when Apple finally included it on the machine. It's great to be able to connect to TVs and projectors without a stupid adapter that you have to remember to take with you, oh, and spend a lot of money on.

Yes, Apple removed the CD drive, but CDs were becoming obsolete. SD cards aren't becoming obsolete. Headphones aren't becoming obsolete. Speakers aren't becoming obsolete. HDMI projectors and TVs aren't becoming obsolete.

Maybe the Retina MacBook Pro is the best laptop Apple has ever made, and it may be the last. Say goodbye to being able to do whatever you want without specifically buying stupid adapters for the task. Better decide if you want to listen to music or charge your laptop, or if you want to watch something on a projector or connect a hard drive, or if you want to be able to watch the video or listen to the audio. Apple says no one wants to do these things. Apple decides for you, because you know, you're an idiot.

 

[ivan86]

A perfect new rumoured MacBook Pro 15 for me:

ports:
- 2x Thunderbolt 3 ports, instead of Thunderbolt 2 (with the ability to connect rumoured external 5k Thunderbolt display); allows to connect 2x USB 3.1 type C devices to them as well
- 2x full size USB 3.1 ports (type A)
- 1x HDMI 2.0b
- 1x 3,5mm jack
- speedier SD card reader
- MagSafe could go only if it will turn into a "USB 3.1-Safe", with ability to keep all present MacSafe power bricks
*basically all existing ports should remain, but just get updated spec wise

design:
- thinner bezels with the same screen size, somewhat smaller footprint; True Tone display (OLED would be awesome)
- bigger trackpad
- maybe 100g lighter then it is now (weight is fine already though)

internals:
- top Intel Kaby-Lake H with GT4e graphics (rumoured to come out only in Q4 2017?); or whatever comes after Intel Xeon E3-1575M v5...
- If it would have to be released sooner than at the end of 2017 (and everybody is pushing for an update) then mentioned above Xeon is currently the best option (most powerful, but also most expensive)
- up to 32GB of RAM
- up to 2TB SSD

Overall for me personally the only big upgrade to my existing late 2013 MacBook Pro 15 would be the imaginative device above, that could run external 5K display on integrated Iris GPU. If the rumoured 5k Thunderbolt display would come with integrated graphics card - that would be awesome.

My late 2013 MacBook Pro is quiet (thanks to good cooling and only integrated GPU) and powerful. Allows me to work on two displays with external 27" (2560x1440) screen connected, while running multiple VMs. Meanwhile everything runs smoothly and again - quiet. Basically, Intel Core i7-4960HQ that is in my machine is able to cover my present workflow completely, with grace.

I understand that there are many users who need a powerful external GPU for work, but I believe it is the minority. GPUs generate a lot of heat, so if you want a GTX 1060 in your notebook - you get MSI GT73VR 6RE... It will be a heavy notebook with compromised battery life and nowhere near to be portable. This is not an image of MacBook Pro that I have in mind.

Recently I successfully launched a friends AutoCad project in a VM, just to prove him that MacBook Pro is not a toy and car run pretty much anything already. Granted - it is not for gamers (as for me a proper gaming rig is a proper desktop computer).

Today, two most powerful CPUs are: Intel Core i7-6970HQ and Intel Xeon E3-1575M v5. Now while they both offer a pretty big jump in graphics performance compared to the options found in existing offerings (speaking of integrated graphics) - there are still limitations in regards of maximum supported resolution on external display and ports (no 5K support, no HDMI 2.0 support).

I believe Apple do wants to go for an integrated GPUs only solution for their MacBook Pro line and I am up for that. However, they need a non-compromise solution which seems to be still unreleased Intel CPUs (Kaby Lake H with GT4e, or equivalent Xeons), with that ability to run 5K Thundebolt display (with integrated graphics card, which will be external to MacBook Pro) - this would allow a professional with big budget "to have it all": very powerful portable machine with non-compromise connectivity options.

The fact that present MacBook Pro has Haswell CPU in it (no change since late 2013 other then minor frequency increase of Core i7-4980HQ vs Core i7-4960HQ) does not make it less of a great machine as it is: awesome display with best (and only?) OS that properly supports high resolution making user experience truly enjoyable, super fast SSD, best trackpad experience out there, great connectivity, really good speakers, quiet operation (can speak of integrated GPU model).

I am fine with Apple skipping Broadwell in MacBook Pro. That would not be an update at all in my eyes anyways. I can also wait until a proper '5K machine' comes out with no problem, thanks for late 2013 model being awesome.

But Apple, please don't remove the headphone jack. MacBook Pro should remain a MacBook Pro.

 

[keithtae]

I voted no, because I really need that one minute extra of battery life. It's very important.

 

[ofarlig]

I love how in these threads show who seems incapable of adapting their thinking and try to solve initial problems in a hypothetical situation.

 

[Virinprew]

Me : I use the headphone jack on MacBook Pro everyday.
Apple : But we are going to remove it anyway. Thank you for your answer.

 

[purplefuku]

I agree to an extent with what you said.. until you said "Make them lighter!".
Go for your life in minimizing the weight on the Air, and to an extent the Macbook.

But the Macbook Pros are not about weight. They're marketed towards professional use.

Chuck in a big fat battery, bump the processors way up, put in a decent gpu.
Now you're talking..

Fair enough! You're right on point with maximizing specs on the Pro. I would love a lighter iPad Pro, though.

How about "Make them balanced between performance/battery and lightness?" I'm personally willing to sacrifice a bit of battery life/performance for better weight/size. But I also wouldn't buy a 15". Maybe make the Pro 13" super light with decent performance, and beef up the 15" as far as it will go for those pros who need the best?

 

[tentales]

Remember when everyone had an issue with Apple removing 5.25" floppy discs, 3.5" floppy discs, SCSI, parallel ports, CD drives, Flash, Ethernet ports, FireWire, optical etc.

I do, and they all soon got over it because there was a better solution.

If you honestly think uprooting your entire ecosystem over a single use port is the better solution then so be it, everyone else who's not stuck in the past will move on.

Seems to be the favourite point made by Apple apologists.
Those were computing legacy products that needed replacement and I was fine with that.
FYI, I've been in this industry since the 1980s and I wouldn't have been successful in my IT career if I'd be living in the past.

The audio-jack is way older than the personal computing industry. In fact it traverses industries.
Try telling a music professional that he should change his whole gear from dozens of vendors, just because Apple decides to bury the audio jack. This goes beyond you listening to your fashionable new Beats pods on your commute in the morning.

As for ethernet ports. They are still in heavy use and removal (or replacement by dongle) especially on Pro models is a disservice to many IT pros.

I've worked with Windows, Unix and every type of proprietary system out there in 35 years and "uprooting" means nothing to me. I chose Apple for the lower TCO, ease of integration with its other products and solid build construction, but I'm quite capable of doing this with other hardware. Hackintoshes are quite easy to build these days, albeit, not as "pretty".

My threat to leave is not just on the basis of the Audio jack, where it to come true, but a whole range of missteps that Apple has made wrt. computing professionals in the last few years. They've gone from being tech focused to being fashion focused.

I used to defend Apple long ago when it wasn't fashionable, before the new generation of Apple fanboys, in fact before the term fanboy, but to me and a whole bunch of longterm Apple users, the company is becoming too arrogant and ignorant of its Pro user base.

 

[dazzer21-2]

I use my headphone jack daily and Apple better not remove it.

I already decided to skip the iPhone 7.

But it comes with an adaptor!!! What is people's beef with this? Apple are taking the analogue audio jack and are throwing it away in favour of an up to date substitute - which will eventually, no doubt, be adopted universally. It's not like you CAN'T use your existing headphones. Apple are even SUPPLYING the solution to your issue in the box that your nice new phone or - maybe laptop - comes in!

 

[dr34mc4st3r]

But it comes with an adaptor!!! What is people's beef with this? Apple are taking the analogue audio jack and are throwing it away in favour of an up to date substitute - which will eventually, no doubt, be adopted universally. It's not like you CAN'T use your existing headphones. Apple are even SUPPLYING the solution to your issue in the box that your nice new phone or - maybe laptop - comes in!

Adapters are painful.

 

[smacrumon]

Here's my answer Apple:

Dongles are rubbish

 

[ilian92]

Everyone is having a meltdown about this, but think about the following:

This is obviously about a future model, they don't have the time to change it in 1-2 months, so at least for the moment the headphone jack is safe.

And also, they could simply be testing the market. What if they got a resounding "no" to this? It might piss some people off, but at the same time if most people don't need it and they have something better in mind.

But if most people said yes, after having asked them, I seriously doubt that they'd end up removing it in the near future anyway.

If you're presented with the poll - answer based on your own usage. If not - stop freaking out, the headphone jack will stay on the next machine at least.

 

[Mildredop]

I will be incredibly annoyed if Apple remove the headphone jack from the Mac. I use it often.

But what annoys me even more is that Microsoft and all the PC manufacturers are still so far behind Apple. I would have no trouble moving away from Apple of Windows wasn't such a mess and someone made a PC that actually looked good.

Or even Google. What the hell is Chrome?? I tried it and it just confused me no end.

In the world of smartphones, Android is just as good ad iOS. But in the world of PCs, Apple are still light years ahead.

 

[shaunp]

I'd had 3 macbook pro's. No email yet..... They've all been registered for Apple care too so it's not like they didn't know I had them.

Apple, leave all the current slots you have in the rMBP alone. Add USB-C/TB3 as we still need TB2 without the need of adaptors while we transition, make the laptop a bit thicker so it has enough space for you to put the ethernet port back in there - it's not like it was particularly light anyway so I don't mind a bit of extra depth/weight. And offer a matte screen option again!

I don't care if my rMBP is pretty. I want it as a work machine and I want to be able to use it without adaptors and dongles all over the desk. Cos that's something else I have to buy, something that breaks and on top of all that it makes your pretty design look damn ugly by the time everything is plugged in. Remember this is supposed to be a desktop replacement not some lightweight minimalist thing for someone to write their novel in Starbucks!
[doublepost=1473930296][/doublepost]

I will be incredibly annoyed if Apple remove the headphone jack from the Mac. I use it often.

But what annoys me even more is that Microsoft and all the PC manufacturers are still so far behind Apple. I would have no trouble moving away from Apple of Windows wasn't such a mess and someone made a PC that actually looked good.

Or even Google. What the hell is Chrome?? I tried it and it just confused me no end.

In the world of smartphones, Android is just as good ad iOS. But in the world of PCs, Apple are still light years ahead.

Have a look at the XPS 15. I have one and can tell you that it is a very nice machine. I moved to this from a rMBP.