Most likely not.
Maybe there would've been a way when the analog headphone jack was still around, but I would bet that Lightning headphones don't work as FM radio antenna.
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FCC Urges Apple to Protect Safety of Americans by Activating FM Radio Chip in iPhones [Updated]
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Most likely not.
Maybe there would've been a way when the analog headphone jack was still around, but I would bet that Lightning headphones don't work as FM radio antenna.
No thanks I don’t trust the FCC and radio is dead
It's not like Apple went out of their way to disable the FM Radio (or at least we have no reason to think they did.)
It's more that they just invest the resources into writing an app that uses it, or building it into an existing app.
They also didn't write an API to use it, so other app developers can't use it.
Does make me wonder though... maybe the jailbreak community has an app that can take advantage of it? Unless, as someone else suggested, there's some key wiring that was omitted (to save cost on manufacturing) that makes the FM Radio non-usable.
It's more that they just invest the resources into writing an app that uses it, or building it into an existing app.
They also didn't write an API to use it, so other app developers can't use it.
Does make me wonder though... maybe the jailbreak community has an app that can take advantage of it? Unless, as someone else suggested, there's some key wiring that was omitted (to save cost on manufacturing) that makes the FM Radio non-usable.
This depends ENTIRELY upon the strength and proximity of the FM transmitter. I have listened to FM signals without an antenna connected. Granted, the antenna helps immensely, but for those who live in or near large cities, the radio may work very well without any antenna at all. As this chipset is already connected to the existing antenna for LTE, the radio connections may be made internally to the modem chipset. Without a detailed schematic, and the datasheet for the chipset - neither one of us know; we both are speculating.
But, as a R&D Engineer who has built FM radios; you do not NEED an antenna to listen to signals, if you have a strong FM station nearby.
How many times will we have to repeat that Apple could not enable this with a software update? If it was possible, don't you think that it would've been available via a Jailbreak by now?
The chip is most likely not even connected to an antenna. FM antennas need to be a certain length and on phones are usually connected through the headphone jack because of this. And guess what? There's no headphone jack on the iPhone 7/8....
The chip is most likely not even connected to an antenna. FM antennas need to be a certain length and on phones are usually connected through the headphone jack because of this. And guess what? There's no headphone jack on the iPhone 7/8....
The guy running the FCC also said it was better for consumers to have their data sold by your ISP. I recall a couple of years ago the lobbyists for the radio stations tried this. “Save the Children” rings very false here.
Heck, they already sell emergency radios that are hand-crankable so no (disposable) batteries nor electricity needed. And those living in the areas they’re so concerned about already know this stuff.
Just sayin...
Don't forget they had FM Radio in the iPod Nano with DRS
I remember something from long ago about Steve Jobs not wanting FM radios in iPods. But I don't think enabling FM would cut into Apple Music subscriptions. After all, I don't subscribe to Apple Music and instead listen to my own playlists as I would have on an iPod. My choice has nothing to do with FM radio. And it's really a chore to listen to music on FM; it basically involves listening to back-to-back ads with a few songs occasionally sprinkled in. That's no competition for Apple Music.
They’d rather make it an exclusive feature of iPhone XI while acting like no iPhone was capable of this until now.
Apple shouldn’t be afraid of loosing Apple Music subscribers. People pay for it because they want it. Otherwise they would be listening to Free Pandora Radio or one of the zillion FM Stations over the internet.
Subscribers have Apple Music because it’s what they want.
After listening to music at 48khz of higher, 22Khz FM sounds like AM without the tuning whistles.
So, what is Apple afraid of? During Hurricane Irma, we lost power, internet, LTE, cellular and landline phones. Our only way to be receive communication was a windup FM Radio we had in the garage.
The rest of our technology was useless, iPhones, iPads and MacBooks were as good as a piece of wood.
So Apple, please enable the FM Tuner in our iDevices. ALL OF THEM!
Subscribers have Apple Music because it’s what they want.
After listening to music at 48khz of higher, 22Khz FM sounds like AM without the tuning whistles.
So, what is Apple afraid of? During Hurricane Irma, we lost power, internet, LTE, cellular and landline phones. Our only way to be receive communication was a windup FM Radio we had in the garage.
The rest of our technology was useless, iPhones, iPads and MacBooks were as good as a piece of wood.
So Apple, please enable the FM Tuner in our iDevices. ALL OF THEM!
??? Of course new iPhones have headphones- what are you talking about? The lightning port does everything the old headphone jack did plus much more. If you mean that more and more people are using AirPods and other Bluetooth headphones instead of wired ones, that’s true, but it is a feature, not a bug
And with no headphone jack, there's nothing to use as an antenna. This is just another example of Pai showing that he's a buffoon.
The problem lies in the language of just "turning it on" or "activating it". It needs at minimum a proper antenna connected, and Apple likely has not made provisions for such in the existing phones. They could build such into future designs, but that won't help anyone who already has a phone.
This request has the same sort of "technological illerate in charge" ring to it as politicians who insist that encryption algorithms be modified so police - and only police - can read the unencrypted traffic.
I don't think the risk from hurricanes is very high in Switzerland.
The pressure is because more people are streaming and less listening to radios. This is not some altruistic move by the National Association of Broadcasters. They've long wanted to have the radios enabled so the apps can be rolled out and compete against streaming services.
He hoping the record will show him passionately saying "won't someone think of the children?!?" and conveniently leave out the technological problems in his plea.
Apple has already been there, they had that facility in nanos. They finally EOL'd the nano and shuffle not long ago so if desire for FM radio was driving that decision, case closed...
The radio of choice for emergencies is a crank radio anyway , what is wrong with that FCC dude?
Putting on my dev hat... am I the only one thinking of this possibility:
FM radio API
+
Song recognition API
+
Recording
=
Apple Music Competitor
If they limit recording, then it wouldn't be a threat. But opening up the API to devs and prohibiting recording wouldn't be a popular move.
FM radio API
+
Song recognition API
+
Recording
=
Apple Music Competitor
If they limit recording, then it wouldn't be a threat. But opening up the API to devs and prohibiting recording wouldn't be a popular move.
I don't blame Apple for not turning it on (as if it was that simple) because it would be another part of the phone that the federal government regulates and that is one less thing that Apple can control. It's a niche case feature that people want immediately after natural disasters and forget about immediately afterwards.
I am not positive but I think it would be a net battery savings compared to streaming music over LTE. It would certainly save a lot data.