Belkin's $40 Lightning Adapter Lets You Listen to Music and Charge Your iPhone 7 at the Same Time

[CFreymarc]

I wonder how many times the adaptor can be daisy chained to itself...

It comes down to power and signal attenuation. When the dual Lighting connectors comes out (IMO this should have shipped four years ago with the first Lighting connector iOS devices) I am sure there will be lots of videos and crazy connector trees. If you have external power connected, less signal attenuation.

 

[gonze]

People need to calm down about the audio jack removal. I mean, who is really crazy... the one who removed an ancient connector from their modern pocket computer, or the one who bought analog headphones for $350 now screaming and shoking... jeez.

USB has been around for 22 years.
Its too old, time to get rid of it.

And the alphabet's been around for a few thousand years. Time to get with the program. Everything is digital now and desk space is at a premium, so where's my binary keyboard? Only two buttons required

 

[gonze]

By this logic we should continue to burn coal and other fossil fuels, because adopting cleaner solutions will cause the equipment that burns the dirty fuel will go to waste.

If Apple lacked the courage to move toward wireless solutions, all those millions of wired headsets would wear out in a few years and then get replaced by other wired headsets, which would get replaced by more wired headsets when those wear out. Long-term, keeping the 3.5 mm headphone jack just encourages you to keep contributing to environmental waste for the rest of your life. By courageously thinking of the long term, rather than the short-sighted approach, Apple is helping usher in a more responsible tomorrow.

Wow. I hope you got paid for that comment because that's the only way it makes sense to me. Do you really think that more battery dependent wireless technology is more ecologically sound than a small, easy to manufacture 3.5 mm metal connector which requires almost zero maintenance and, in case it does break, is pretty easy to replace?

There isn't that much about getting a new version of everything every couple years that's 'ushering in a more responsible tomorrow'. I have quite a few boxes cluttering up the place full of what once was future technology, often wireless, but that's now utterly obsolete, because we've moved on. I get that. It's IT; in the grand scheme of things it's still an emerging field. But when it comes to audio, I still have speakers, amplifiers and what have you, some of which are older than Apple itself. And they don't need to be replaced, or end up in a landfill, because they still work, day in day out, brilliantly, because they were designed to not only work, but also to last. It's not the old but tried and true jack based wired technology that wears out and ends up as environmental waste here, it's rather the new but soon obsolete wireless and/or battery based equipment that ends up as pollution. And that doesn't even factor in the environmental cost of production and shipping.

 

[InuNacho]

Long-term, keeping the 3.5 mm headphone jack just encourages you to keep contributing to environmental waste for the rest of your life. By courageously thinking of the long term, rather than the short-sighted approach, Apple is helping usher in a more responsible tomorrow.

LMAO, good one! Each wireless headset easily has magnitudes more e-waste in it than any wired headset.

 

[dilbert99]

People need to calm down about the audio jack removal. I mean, who is really crazy... the one who removed an ancient connector from their modern pocket computer, or the one who bought analog headphones for $350 now screaming and shoking... jeez.

Everyone has analogue headphones

 

[n2arkitektur]

So, for an extra $40, a third-party will enable us to do with our iPhones what we previously could do, but using two clunky, ugly adapters, until they remove the lightning port next year to make way for wireless charging. Genius! What an engineering marvel the new iPhone is!
[doublepost=1473891972][/doublepost]

is this an article or an opinion piece? How can you review something that's not even been shipped?

This is a rumor site. It's all about products that haven't shipped.
[doublepost=1473893317][/doublepost]

It will work just fine for the target use case. The vast majority of people, despite the whiners out there, don't sit there with a phone plugged in and headphones on. They don't sit in a hallway and watch movies in a phone with the plug in the wall. They aren't on international flights every day. They don't go to rooftop parties and then hook up a charging pack and the put in headphones to "escape" from the electronic music.

They charge their phones while they sleep, then they go to their jobs, and if they listen to headphones it's while walking or at the gym about 99% of the time. If they drive, they usually have a car with either Bluetooth or USB. It really is time to move on and stop acting like this is the end of the world.

And, NO, buying an Adele CD at Target or playing around on Garage Band a few times 5 years ago doesn't make you an "audiophile" any more than having spent hundreds on a single pair of high-end headphones when you were trying to impress someone. Almost no one has those, either.

Not everyone uses their phone that way every day, but a lot of people do use their phone that way every day. Millions of iPhone users sit in airport terminals every day. Millions of iPhone users take international flights every day. Millions of iPhone users are small business owners who process Square payments through the dongle on their phone while charging. Millions of iPhone users have mobile work lives, and in the course of a work day talk several hours on their iPhone, use their iPhone to browse the web in places with poor cellular or WIFI signal, and yes, also listen to music. In that use case, the iPhone does not have "all-day battery life" and needs to be charged. This essential functionality should not be taken away before Apple has solved the battery life problem.

The bottom line is that people ought to be able to use their $700+ 'smart phones that they spent their hard earned money on any way they see fit, any way that works for them, that serves their needs. The fact that millions of people are complaining and that you have to defend Apple, suggests that Apple made a mistake. They either failed to listen to their customers before they made this move, or they simply ignored them.

 

[HABI7A7]

Oh thank goodness! Now to plug in my headphones and charge while driving, I just plug my headphones into my 3.5 to lightning adapter, plug my usb cable into my car charger, plug that usb into Belkin's new adapter, plug the 3.5 to lightning adapter into Belkins adapter, and plug Belkin's adapter into my phone.

Thanks Apple for working closely with Belkin on this solution to your courage!

Why are you using headphones while you're driving?
[doublepost=1474301853][/doublepost]

USB has been around for 22 years.
Its too old, time to get rid of it.

The difference there is that USB has seen a great deal of progress and upgrades. I can't remember the last time I saw anything less than USB 2.0 for sale. So in a way, they have gotten rid of it, or at least the one that was introduced 22 years ago.
[doublepost=1474302847][/doublepost]

So far almost all BT headphones have been crap, even the expensive ones. Some sound quite good but that's only if you can manage to pair them and keep them connected.

A lot of people have been burned by the experience and it is going to take a while to convince people.

I honestly think Steve would have realised this and stuck some wireless cans in the box. Not a usual stunt but because of how poor previous BT headphones have been. If the Air Pods were included and were a genuine game-changer, Apple kills the criticism on arrival.

I'm not sure what BT headphones you've used, but I have a $20 pair of SoundPeats that have never cut out on me while listening, and are very easy to pair.
[doublepost=1474303279][/doublepost]

Headphones - no. Speakers - yes.

I plug my iPad into my HiFi with a 3.5mm cable while its on charge - I'm sure plenty of people do something similar with iPhones. Also, if your car doesn't have a swanky iPhone-aware/bluetooth stereo then you might use a 3.5mm jack to the stereo + USB adapter in the cigar lighter. The existing iPhone dock is probably a better solution to the first.

The Belkin adapter does look gratuitously large, though - there ought to be room for a 3.5mm jack in there as well!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004CLYJ2I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This will take care of the car issue. I used that for the last four years until I got a car with bluetooth built in. Worked perfectly for me, and includes a USB slot so you can still plug in the charging cable.

 

[HABI7A7]

Exactly. Apple, we get it. You're pushing us into wireless.
But this is pretty stupid, eh?

If you're plugging into a wall, is the adapter really an inconvenience? I understand for people who use battery packs while out and about, as it adds more bulk on top of the battery pack, but if you're sitting at your desk or at home while plugged into a wall, are you even going to notice the adapter?

 

[DevNull0]

If you're plugging into a wall, is the adapter really an inconvenience? I understand for people who use battery packs while out and about, as it adds more bulk on top of the battery pack, but if you're sitting at your desk or at home while plugged into a wall, are you even going to notice the adapter?

I charge at home and at work since the battery doesn't last the day. I have tons of chargers/cables from a long line of devices.

So, am I supposed to buy 2 $40 adapters or carry one with me in my pocket. There's some bulk I don't need.

 

[HABI7A7]

Actually, any shape can be used perfectly well as a wheel. You just need a compatible ground surface. And round is the correct shape for a flat ground.

Here's an animation of a square wheel running along an inverted catenary surface. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_wheel#/media/File:Rolling-Square.gif

So, actually ditching the wheel would be ideal for Apple's current mindset. It means you can use a proprietary shaped wheel that will only work on Apple's proprietary roads. Much as Apple is doing with the headphone jack.

Except the lightning headphones are not the only headphones that work. Bluetooth, which is not a proprietary standard, also works.

 

[Kabeyun]

If you're plugging into a wall, is the adapter really an inconvenience? I understand for people who use battery packs while out and about, as it adds more bulk on top of the battery pack, but if you're sitting at your desk or at home while plugged into a wall, are you even going to notice the adapter?

Both true. It's just two more dongles to have to keep track of. And when they do get lost you're hosed until costly replacements show up via costly express shipping.

It's also an aesthetic irritant for those of us who appreciate integrative design.

Growing pains, I'm sure.

 

[HABI7A7]

Dreadful comment. Your solution is to spend more money? As a student? You've not really thought your post through but congrats on the unnecessary snark.

BTW it's your beloved Apple that bangs on about enriching lives. Forcing people to remember to charge their phone at night or go without their music is not really falling in the enrichment category.

Not saying it's right that you need to buy an adapter to have both functionalities available simultaneously, but if you can't afford $40 for an adapter, maybe you shouldn't be spending $700+ on a new phone?
[doublepost=1474308421][/doublepost]

By spending yet more money.

Apple have done a lot of things but they've never done this before ie make you spend additional money to use what's in the original box.

What can't you use in the original box without spending more money?
[doublepost=1474310812][/doublepost]

Friendly reminder, this is how it'll look when trying to listen to audio and charge at the same time:

And this is how it looked before.

 

[HABI7A7]

Antiquated tech? You mean the gold standard in audio, as used by virtually every pair of headphones on the planet? A universal, open, free standard that works on pretty much every device which outputs audio (except the iPhone now), and one with uncompressed, unrivalled audio quality. Do you really think it's a good idea to take already compressed MP3 audio and compress it again to broadcast it to bluetooth headphones? That will do wonders for audio fidelity. Some of us still think quality matters.

Apple's reckless and pig headed move will condemn countless millions of pairs of headphones to an early grave in landfills around the world. It's stupid to a degree never before seen in tech, and environmentally imbecilic. After Apple finish trumpeting how their products are free from various chemicals I hope they then show how many pairs of headphones have now gone to waste because of them.

Except they are still perfectly usable with 3.5mm headphones without you needing to buy anything extra. The only real downside to this move is that people can't listen to music and charge their phone at the same time.
[doublepost=1474317438][/doublepost]

WOW ARENT YOU PRETENTIOUS AND FULL OF FINANCIAL ADVICE?

We can debate all we want. The removal of the headphone jack without a substantial bump in battery life, creates problems for many users. Can people adapt? Sure they can. And will they? Well most likely. Because apple is controlling and calling the shots. It is however a very anti consumer move that apple just made. But if their "courage" pays off, apple will get HELLA PAID. Everything points to them making out very well $$$ wise. People will buy bluetooth headsets (many of which will be beats or airpods), and other companies now have to pay to play to make a lightning based product. And now apple has all the control of their ecosystem. Good for apple, for the consumer? Zero benefit. People need to stop acting like it is something different than it is.

Except they don't. Most companies aren't going to alienate half of their market by making an Apple-only product. However, they can continue making headphones with the 3.5mm jack and they will continue to work with all devices, including iPhones.
[doublepost=1474317601][/doublepost]

Just realized if I needed to give a presentation with audio using my iPhone 7, and the Apple Lightning to VGA adapter, I would need to do this:

... And I'm not even sure it would work.

How long is your presentation that you would need to charge your phone while it's going on? You're just being facetious.

 

[Mr.CB]

Haven't read the thread, but i guess my only concern is charging time using something like this. Any ideas ? Im sure I'm gonna have to buy one anyway

 

[Mac 128]

How long is your presentation that you would need to charge your phone while it's going on? You're just being facetious.

I think you missed the larger point I was making. I could be showing a a 120 minute movie, which would be a considerable power drain. Or the presentation might be at the end of a long day, and my iPhone is almost out of juice. Or I might not need to plug it into power at all, but in order to run sound out of the adapter for a VGA connector, or HDMI, I would have to plug it into the Belkin splitter, which may or may not support this kind of daisy-chaining. I did a test with my Lightning adapter, and it will not initialize through the passthrough port in the Apple HDMI, VGA, or USB 3 adapters.

So the main issue is that in order to run wired sound output separate from anything else plugged into the iPhone, whether powered or not, it will result in a collection of dongles strung together. Let's say I want to use a midi keyboard with my iPhone, plugged in through the USB 3 adapter. That's something I'd also want to provide power to my iPhone as well if I were spending a day using the phone to record a project. So, assuming the Belkin adapter is even capable of splitting this kind of configuration, I'd need the two dongles stacked as they are with the VGA scenario pic I posted. There are times even when using HDMI, the audio needs to be routed to an external sound system. So this is not so unusual a situation, whether a person needs power as well or not.

But I'm sure someone will come up with an adapter that will simplify this kind of specialty solution.

 

[OllyW]

But I'm sure someone will come up with an adapter that will simplify this kind of specialty solution.

Korg have already come up with a decent solution for musicians.

 

[Mac 128]

Korg have already come up with a decent solution for musicians.

True. It's too bad it uses micro-USB. Did this come out before the iPhone 7 was announced? If so I wonder if we'll see more native Lightning devices now that Apple seems to be licensing the femal Lightning port, as in the case of the Belkin adapter with not one but two female Lightning ports.

 

[OllyW]

True. It's too bad it uses micro-USB. Did this come out before the iPhone 7 was announced? If so I wonder if we'll see more native Lightning devices now that Apple seems to be licensing the femal Lightning port, as in the case of the Belkin adapter with not one but two female Lightning ports.

Yes it was announced in June so wasn't specifically designed as a fix for Apple dropping the 3.5mm jack.

It's a proper audio and MIDI interface rather than just a simple adaptor so it costs £90/$100 and I guess they went with micro-USB to stop it going over the magic $100 price point.

 

[Mac 128]

Yes it was announced in June so wasn't specifically designed as a fix for Apple dropping the 3.5mm jack.

It's a proper audio and MIDI interface rather than just a simple adaptor so it costs £90/$100 and I guess they went with micro-USB to stop it going over the magic $100 price point.

Right it just means carrying around another charging cable, and one of the main reasons to upgrade to the product is to simply the connection, since a Lightning to USB adapter can be had for as little as $10. So if someone already has a USB midi interface they've been using with this adapter it means spending money they didn't need to for essentially the same tech in a different package.

I presume it provides pass through power to charge the iPhone at the same time, which is something I don't believe the USB adapter allows (although the USB-3 adapter does). So that's potentially one benefit to upgrading.

 

[OllyW]

Right it just means carrying around another charging cable, and one of the main reasons to upgrade to the product is to simply the connection, since a Lightning to USB adapter can be had for as little as $10. So if someone already has a USB midi interface they've been using with this adapter it means spending money they didn't need to for essentially the same tech in a different package.

I presume it provides pass through power to charge the iPhone at the same time, which is something I don't believe the USB adapter allows (although the USB-3 adapter does). So that's potentially one benefit to upgrading.

It's not really the solution you are looking for, it's designed for musicians to use with MIDI keyboards and get a 1/4" audio output with a decent levels which can be plugged into an amp or a PA system. I would think most buyers will be using it with an iPad anyway as most of the best iOS DAW apps and virtual synths are able to take advantage of it's larger screen estate.

 

[kyykesko]

People need to calm down about the audio jack removal. I mean, who is really crazy... the one who removed an ancient connector from their modern pocket computer, or the one who bought analog headphones for $350 now screaming and shoking... jeez.

You keep listening to those crappy airpods. I prefer to enjoy my music. I also don't want an ipad-sized monstrosity made of little pieces connected together by a bunch of short cables to be able to perfom simple tasks like charging my phone while listening to music. It might've made some sense had they thrown that second useless speaker away and made the iphone 7 have two lightning connectors side by side by default. I still wouldn't buy it but at least it'd show they had stopped to think even for a second.

 

[PracticalMac]

The difference there is that USB has seen a great deal of progress and upgrades. I can't remember the last time I saw anything less than USB 2.0 for sale. So in a way, they have gotten rid of it, or at least the one that was introduced 22 years ago.

But none of that progress has improved USB ability to deliver DA.
A USB 1 port (12mb/s) can still play audio as well as USB 3.

 

[deckard666]

This all over a headphone (or lack of it) jack ? Don't you people have lives or better still another phone with a headphone jack you could buy.....

 

[freepomme]

This is why...

This is EXACTLY WHY.. the Bluetooth Airpods ARE NOT a replacement for the 3.5mm headphone jack.

You CANNOT EXPECT THE WORLD TO MOVE ON when you HAVE NOT DEVELOPED a more convenient technology.

And people wonder why I'm not buying the iPhone 7.

Apple is going to take that loss.

 

[SBMH.online]

A little late to the party on this discussion... I'm ok with Apple doing away with headphone port and giving us a free adaptor instead. If I gotta buy a lighting splitter so be it, but that's where the real issue is. How the heck did Apple not create one from the get go?!

The Belkin would be fine (even at the ridiculous price) if it actually worked for data passthrough.