Apple's Confusing Design Philosophy MBP/iPhone

[Patcell]

I doubt there is a DAC in the iPhone 7. Lightning is a digital-only connection; it is incapable of transmitting an analog audio source. This is another issue... DACs will need to be made smaller to fit into digitally-connected headphones, perhaps sacrificing quality..?

 

[xmonkey]

I doubt there is a DAC in the iPhone 7. Lightning is a digital-only connection; it is incapable of transmitting an analog audio source. This is another issue... DACs will need to be made smaller to fit into digitally-connected headphones, perhaps sacrificing quality..?

At the minimum they need a DAC for the speakers on the phone, so it still has some kind of DAC. We'll have to wait for the teardown to really confirm (both of the phone and the 3.5mm dongle)

 

[Patcell]

At the minimum they need a DAC for the speakers on the phone, so it still has some kind of DAC. We'll have to wait for the teardown to really confirm (both of the phone and the 3.5mm dongle)

Very good point! I forgot about the built-in speakers... There must be a DAC. I don't think Lightning is able to output any analog signal, however. This was an issue back during the transition from the 30-pin connector to Lightning - 30-pin could send analog audio out, but Lightning required the DAC to be in the old Lightning to 30-pin adapters.