Apple's Phil Schiller Recommends Lightning Dock for Charging an iPhone 7 While Listening to Music

[Marcus1984]

So let me get this straight - we now have to carry around an adaptor AND a dock with us, just in case we might want to charge and listen to our iPhone at the same time. What about in car use?

These are cheaper and not a single wire to the phone.
I've got one in my car.
AirPlay
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0...-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=airenabler

 

[pat500000]

Perfect for money making scheme.

 

[tech3475]

I find it funny how bulky portable devices are becoming at Apple thanks to all these adapters.

 

[bennyf]

How many additional millimeters thick would have needed to be added to keep the jack? I'm guessing around 1-1.5 mm.

Making a thicker phone and keeping the jack. Now that would have been courageous.

 

[Scellow]

So let me get this straight - we now have to carry around an adaptor AND a dock with us, just in case we might want to charge and listen to our iPhone at the same time. What about in car use?

It is illegal to drive with headphones so please forget this, some people might die because of your stupidity

 

[Gilligan's last elephant]

Apple is NOT pushing the industry forward here.

Digital media is superior to CDs. CDs were superior to tape cassettes. USB was/is superior to everything being a proprietary port.

The lightning cable is NOT superior to audio jacks!

Digital media? Do you mean mp3/flac type files? These are absolutely NOT superior to CDs.

 

[RuffyYoshi]

But Phil gets one for free! Or if not then it's a penny off his salary!

 

[pat500000]

looks like they are drowning....

 

[duffman9000]

I bought my first Bluetooth headphones two months ago. Haven't looked back. Cables feel all wrong now.

I like good audio, and I can't hear any difference in quality.

Don't chastise us for having better hearing than you.

 

[Sedrick]

Because first they developed the tech and only after thought how the customer was going to use it and not the other way round as poor Steve taught them.

I was never a huge fanboy of Steve Jobs, but man how the company has changed focus since he passed. It's 100% about the almighty dollar now. Ease of use and any kind of affordability has gone straight down the toilet.

 

[AppleBytes]

Actually you made a whole bunch of assumptions about a product you haven't even tried to know if sound quality is bad or that the price is too much. I bought a pair of $300 wireless headphones that sounded terrible and couldn't keep a blue tooth connection to save its life. Secondly, I've never had a good set of wired headphones that lasted or even might last 20-30 years. I'm doing pretty good if I can get them to last a couple of years without the wires breaking or becoming frayed or just stop working altogether like the bose wired headphones I used to own 3 years back.

I don't trust people who guess at stuff they haven't used for themselves. At least when I'm criticizing something I've had the benefit of actually using the product.

Battery life on apple products, and every other product that has non-user replaceable batteries goes down with usage and over time. I've also never experience and apple "battery life" estimate to be accurate. They tend to be about 10% more optimistic than I experience when the product is new. My iPhone 6 would last 2-3 days on a charge with my normal usage levels, and now 2 years later it needs a charge by the time I eat dinner if i want to use it in the evening. I figure the Airbuds will also start at 4-4.5 hours continuous play and then fall by 1 hour per year. If you think that's unrealistic, maybe you've never owned an apple product with a non-removable battery.

In terms of wired headphones lasting a long time, I've got an 11-year old pair of Shure inears, a set of 7 year old grado onears and 12 sets of 10-year-old sennheiser studio cans in my studio that all still work great. Some of the sennheisers have needed their cables patched/repaired, but that's always been something I can easily do myself or pay any electrician $10 to do. If something went wrong with the batteries or bluetooth in a set of airbuds, i'm assuming a minimum of $75 for an authorized apple repair.

 

[lordofthereef]

Just don't buy the phone folks. If it matters enough to the majority they can simply put their money where their mouth is. And by that I mean keep your current hardware or go to another platform. Ultimately the consumer has the power here. Not Apple.

 

[citysnaps]

Right because users aren't allowed to complain about a feature that has been in iPhone since first generation. If people are silent then change won't happen.

And tiny rants on MR will for sure result in change not happening. Even when there's a whole dozen or two making noise.

What will, is standing up and purchasing a competing phone. Though in a year or so that will be moot because others will have ditched the phone jack as well, following in Apple's steps.

 

[obiwan]

It is illegal to drive with headphones so please forget this, some people might die because of your stupidity

Who said anything about driving with headphones? Not heard of an auxiliary port to plug an iPhone into the car stereo?

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

For those saying "just go wireless", "I'll never go back", "Bro you're still using wired headphones?" and referring to the age of the 3.5mm jack (Because Apple did, so sheep gotta sheep...) - many people were happy using those headphones up until the 7 was released.

There is absolutely no question that, if the 7 did retain the jack and there were no leaks, rumours or test parts without such, people would NOT be complaining about its inclusion or promoting Lightning/wireless headphones.

This is not a coincidence or accident.

There is nothing wrong with the 3.5mm jack technology, which is precisely the reason why it hasn't changed in all that time. Apple in their usual wisdom have indeed had the 'courage' to create a problem from nothing, with the intention of generating an aura of sophistication - that less is more, and that we should look up to these guys for their vision.

Wow. Hey wait, Sony produced more waterproofed Xperia phones with 3.5mm jacks time ago.

Since they're including a dongle with the phone I'm willing to give them some credit, but it is baffling to me that they would not place a Lightning port next to the jack. Not elegant or comfortable, but the functionality would be there. Come to think of it, it's actually masterstroke as Apple can now sell docks and dongles galore with ridiculous profit margins.

Speaking of which, Schiller's email is upselling at its worst/best. "Yes there is a solution - please hand over more money for a large piece of plastic with two ports on it.".

My beef with Apple stems more from the culture at present. Granted, their products have never been the most affordable, but they are no longer as accessible and that is the key difference. They're trying to appease a demographic that is largely alien to this Briton; consisting of middle-upper class people who care less about recycling and reusing technology that does "just work", and more about the status of owning a particular product and its role in their life. The Jet Black iPhone 7 is a clear example. No reason to drop the lower tier option, but they did because, hey, that makes it more exclusive. They openly admit it will scratch easily, so that's a cover to add to it.

But guess what? I own a Jet Black 7 and AirPods.

 

[Stuey3D]

For those in this thread that already use wireless headphones with their iPhone can you leave a little mini review on the below linked forum page.

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ce-for-those-considering-an-iphone-7.1993026/

I set it up earlier so we could document our experiences with wireless tech to create sort of a buyers guide for those who do get an iPhone 7 and want a wireless solution.

Thank You

 

[BeamWalker]

The world's answer for dealing with legacy technology . . . adaptors.

The Headphone jack might be very long lasting technology, but neither it's age nor Apple's decision to abandon it makes it legacy technology.

 

[JEDB]

Digital media? Do you mean mp3/flac type files? These are absolutely NOT superior to CDs.

Flac are exactly like CD's given they are properly ripped (exact audio copy for example). Flac can also be superior to CD thanks to higher maximum sample rate which on the CD is at 44.1 kHz.

 

[RedOrchestra]

That product has been around for a long time. People have actually used it the way Phil described

GREAT ... if Phil thinks it's the way to go THEN Phil should be tucking one of those into every 7 box for FREE ... rather than upselling Apple users ... see the difference.

Did you notice that they so subtly changed the location of the camera on the 7 that the 6 and 6s silicone cases won't fit ... new iPhone new case.

Are you liking that cha-ching sound emanating from your pocket on the upsales BUT hey, look at all the times you get to show off your Apple Pay, cool huh?

 

[soanis]

GREAT ... if Phil thinks it's the way to go THEN Phil should be tucking one of those into every 7 box for FREE ... rather than upselling Apple users ... see the difference.

exactly! that would have taken real courage

I also wonder how Phil is adjusting the volume while walking around the house, away from his device...
"Turn the volume down" "further down" "no, that's too much, turn it up" "no, turn up to 60%" and so on...

 

[2010mini]

Don't chastise us for having better hearing than you.

High end Bluetooth headphones sound very good.

 

[smacrumon]

Apple has basically orchestrated the best free advertising campaign to let the world know a new iPhone has just dropped. Controversy sells.

 

[deany]

Well at least we know apple diextor pay VERY vlose attention to posts on macrumors.

Interesting why Phil didn't tell
us about this yesterday at the Conference.

 

[Nunyabinez]

No, no. Not BY the ocean. ON the ocean. At Tanagra.

Shaka, when the the walls fell.

 

[smoledman]

I am very pissed off at Apple today. I use wired headphones for working out.

I specifically use these Sony sport headphones that fit over the ear and have shallow earbuds which I like. I don't like all these other deep earbuds that force you to shove them deep into your ear canal. This is a healthier option IMHO.

Second, I don't want to get another Bluetooth headphones because it's yet ANOTHER thing to charge. I like that when I'm ready to go to the gym I just plug this in and I'm good to go.

Third, don't say that I can just buy the 3.5mm to Lightning adapter. I put my iPhone in a exercise belt and the adapter dongle would not allow me to close the zipper.

Fourth, let's say Sony updates these headphones with lightning connector. The Lightning connector is going to be prone to breakage compared to the durable 3.5mm one.

Point is there are a lot of good reasons that 3.5mm headphones are important to people and 'if it aint broke why fit it'? Apple should have gone with USB Type C connector which I feel is more durable before asking people to ditch the 3.5mm jack.

I have the iPhone 6S so I'm good for another 2 years. But if the iPhone 8(2018) will not have a solution to this, I will be thinking VERY hard about just not getting it.

Rant over.