I think you overestimate how much I care. This thread is basically just my way of procrastinating so as not to do any work this Sunday afternoon.
Frankly, I don't really care how much you do or don't care.
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Best argument against "headphone jacks are old tech!"
- Thread starter joeblow7777
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Frankly, I don't really care how much you do or don't care.
The existence of the headphone jack impedes advancement in wireless audio technology. Why would manufacturers spend money on R&D when they can use the same old 1960's interface for audio? Apple is going to bring change again to the industry with this move. There is a reason that there are not many audio CD stores around these days. Apple's push with the iPod and iTunes changed how we consume music.
Well, you said you commented to make me go "agro" (agrivated?) so that would suggest that you want me to care... (shrug) Maybe I misunderstood.
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Time will tell, I suppose. Maybe you're right.
It's just Apple doesn't just do something for the hell of it. Sure, they used the real estate left behind by the headphone jack to add a taptic engine and barometric vent but it also nudges audio companies to push their wireless R&D forward.
People are poking fun at the Apple Airpods but the tech behind it is pretty amazing. 5 hours of play time from such a small device. In contrast Samsung's new wireless ear buds last 1 hour before they need to be re-charged.
Why do you choose next year?
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MacBooks not having a lightning port is indeed the only flaw I see. I suppose someone will make an adapter to go from lightning to 3.5mm.
Well, there's also this article discussing Apple's possible motives. I hope people can see it. It's from a Canadian news paper and sometimes these things block non-local IPs. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repo...-tempest-in-a-headphone-jack/article31767127/
It's a huge flaw. Might as well not have provided Lightning EarPods at all, and just stuck a 3.5mm pair into the box with the adapter, which is going to be far more useful for most.
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Oh please, that doesn't discuss "motives". It alleges a single motive, and it's pure troll bait.
Looks like we're already over 50% market penetration for Bluetooth headphones.
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/headphone-news-august-2016#r8QsldAz0zRzOe34.97
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/headphone-news-august-2016#r8QsldAz0zRzOe34.97
By the by, I agree with you that the DAC in the old iPhones is pretty good. I'd say good enough for 99.9% of people. I'm quite happy with it and I do audio mixing when I work on films. The amp can drive casual headphones well too. I've got a Fiio music player that is better sounding and can drive my studio headphones, but the convenience of the iPhone wins for me, especially because I mostly listen to podcasts when I work. I do listen through Bluetooth into a stereo as well, but I often work on an opposite schedule of my wife. Other times, I'm just being courteous to the neighbors as I go well into the night.
The joke of it all is that I listen on $300 Lightning headphones, but with the 3.5mm cable attached. They're really great sounding Sony headphones with 3.5mm. When you use Lightning though they have to be charged via micro USB separately, volume can only be controlled on the headphones, and the battery dies all the time (no auto-off or anything). For music, I'd say they sound a whole 5% better via their internal DAC/AMP. For talk, I much prefer Apple's internal DAC as voices have far less sibilants.
I've already heard the future. I've already paid my $300 entry fee. And it was a whole lot of money and hassle for nothing. I haven't pulled the Lightning cable out of the big bag of proprietary (on the headphone end) cables these headphones use since the week I got them.
Don't misinterpret the data -- Bluetooth headphones still only account for 17% of the market share. This chart is showing gross earnings. BT headphones cost more, therefore they made more, even if a disproportionate smaller unit sales.
I'd say you're the victim of being an early adopter. Hopefully this won't happen to you:
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...“bricked”-set-of-lightning-earphones.1992848/
I rarely buy Apple products the first day they're released anymore. I think the iPhone 4 was the last product I did that with. Too many downsides, especially with reliability in business. I don't have the time to screw around with the technology I need to do my job unless I really need the new thing it's offering.
I feel like headphone makers have been royally screwed by Apple here, which is nothing new, especially in light of threads like the above I posted. Third party implementation is almost never as good as Apple's because Apple tends to hold back the best stuff for themselves.
I'm not remotely interested in the iPhone 7 (though I might buy the 4.7" if it had that dual camera, but the Plus is too big for me). However, if I were, I wouldn't likely buy it for at least 6 months until I knew what was going to happen with third party audio accessories for it. I don't really use the headphone jack, but I also wouldn't want to get caught in a situation where I didn't know how to easily solve the problem.
The fact Apple included Lightning headphones in the box without any hint of a way to use them on a Mac, much less anything else makes them completely useless for many. The inexpensive headphone adapter is great, a single purpose adapter for charging and listening at the same time is not. No way to easily split a Lighting audio signal, or via BT is another problem. These are things that don't come up often, but would be great if I could solve them when they did.
After a weekend of swapping the charger and the earpods around, I'd say it is a bit of a nuisance, especially w/o a dongle to connect both at once. More of a nuisance than to carry the 3.5mm earpods with my Mac or iPad. But to Apple's credit, it is sheer brilliant product + marketing: I laughed off the airpods before, but suddenly I am a little bit interested.
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You mean the AirPods? The EarPods are wired.
If so, you'll have to put up with the inconveniences you have been experiencing juggling the EarPods and charger until "Late October" and hope it doesn't turn out to be October 31.
I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it -- Apple totally botched the removal of the headphone jack.
Correct, my bad. Airpods!
Problem w/ any bluetooth headset right now is that there is so much interference in the city, connectivity sucks, and it un-pairs itself randomly. Hoping that the W1 chip and/or the Apple ecosystem solves all that.
Listen the real reason of removing the headphone jack is so obviously, if you cant see it then you didnt listen carefully at apple..
1. Apple said it was outdated..
2. more tech needs space
3. their vision or they see the future is wireless
Well lets dispell these myths
1. outdated doesnt mean it is not effective the lightining cable doesnt offer better audio
2.More tech more space well samsung has wireless charging/water proof and 3.5mm jack
3. their vision is wireless well see number 2
HERES THE REAL DAMN REASON!!!!!!
IS IT NOT OBVIOUS THEY INTRODUCED A $160 PAIR OF WIRELESS HEADPHONES ALONG SIDE THE IPHONE 7 THAT DOESNT HAVE A JACK....
THATS THE REAL DAMN REASON
1. Apple said it was outdated..
2. more tech needs space
3. their vision or they see the future is wireless
Well lets dispell these myths
1. outdated doesnt mean it is not effective the lightining cable doesnt offer better audio
2.More tech more space well samsung has wireless charging/water proof and 3.5mm jack
3. their vision is wireless well see number 2
HERES THE REAL DAMN REASON!!!!!!
IS IT NOT OBVIOUS THEY INTRODUCED A $160 PAIR OF WIRELESS HEADPHONES ALONG SIDE THE IPHONE 7 THAT DOESNT HAVE A JACK....
THATS THE REAL DAMN REASON
I try not to be an early adopter with Apple now after my launch iPhone 5 was a lemon. Scuffed out of the box. Replacement had a far different display temperature (kept the scuffed one). Battery would die at 40% (I paid to replace it, months later my serial number was recalled). Then power button broke (months later THAT was recalled). That sent me on a months long quest to switch to Android, where I was in audio hell, trying to find any phone that sounded halfway decent and could power even consumer headphones with decent volume. Apple had a real leg up here. I ended up with an HTC M8, which is known for having great sound, but it also had a horrible crackling in the highs on both phones in my house. Came crawling back to Apple.
If I'd had my Lightning headphones then, I'd probably have never returned to the iPhone! Apple has leveled the playing field for audio quality.
I wouldn't say I was an early adopter of the headphones though... in all honesty, I bought them because they were much cheaper than Sony's flagship cans, but have the same drivers and basically turn into the flagship model when you use the 3.5 and bypass the internal electronics.
Companies test to the standard they want to use, they don't test to failure and then go with the last one passed. It's absolutely possible that an IP67 device could also pass IP68, but the manufacturer didn't want to certify at that level. As for why, certifying at a higher level holds the product to higher liability for manufacturing defects that might cause failure at IP68 but not at IP67, requires additional testing (and thus cost), may encourage more inappropriate use by end users, etc. Inappropriate use like, as one video has shown, testing the phone to 35 feet for 5 minutes. That test killed the IP68 Samsung S7, the iPhone 7 survived by the way. But again, it was out of spec for both phones so neither phone should be expected to.
What Apple seems to have forgotten is that there are a lot of older cars and even some new economy cars that don't have Bluetooth. I travel a lot, sometimes to small towns and I use my phone to listen to podcasts and hook up using an aux cable. "Just use the adapter..." except then I can't charge my phone.
Because clearly the general consumers do not care. You know, the ones Apple is selling this too.
I ran into this exact problem recently. I use BT and USB in my car, so I was caught without a way to connect in an older rental car. I stopped at a convenience store that had a rack of Lightning and USB products, but no 3.5mm aux cable. Plus do I really want to buy a new aux cable every time I need one, or carry something I rarely need?
Instead I rediscovered my $20 BT audio dongle. That adds BT connectivity to any car with only an AUX jack and allows charging and listening at the same time without another expensive adapter on the iPhone 7. I also found it comes in useful while traveling as I can plug it into the American Airlines seat back entertainment systems, and don't have to worry about wires, or unplugging every time somebody wants in or out of their seat. I can plug it into hotel room equipment too.
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There's that specious reasoning again.
Mine's so old it hasn't even got a 3.5mm Aux socket.
I've just upgraded it with a 30 pin iPod adaptor that uses the CD changer interface. I could have paid extra and added Bluetooth but I've still got 3 old iPods to cover car duty.