The fan? Weak sauce. Removable RAM? Most low profile devices no longer offer user removable RAM. It's physics. Removing the floppy disk, DVD drive, and 30 pin connector are much more legitimate, accurate parallels.
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Fully Functional iPhone 7 Lightning EarPods Shown Off in New Video
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Removing the headphone jack will cause many issues in the short term but this is the type of thing that Apple does. If they do not remove the headphone jack now then manufacturers will not make for lightning connector and continue to make standard headphones.
It will also encourage companies to innovate and work on new wireless headphone and earbud technology. If there is no incentive or large market then they simply won't do it. I believe that the Lightning connector for audio support is merely a stop-gap until everyone is using wireless earbuds. Compare market demand for wireless earbuds now and then after an iPhone without a headphone jack is released!
Again, there will be growing pains etc. but I guarantee that in a few years, most will look back and laugh at how we all used to have to plug in an earbud or headphone to our iPhones. Same as how I can't remember the last time I physically connected my iPhone to my car for audio playback (except by accident when charging in USB port) because I use Bluetooth audio.
It will also encourage companies to innovate and work on new wireless headphone and earbud technology. If there is no incentive or large market then they simply won't do it. I believe that the Lightning connector for audio support is merely a stop-gap until everyone is using wireless earbuds. Compare market demand for wireless earbuds now and then after an iPhone without a headphone jack is released!
Again, there will be growing pains etc. but I guarantee that in a few years, most will look back and laugh at how we all used to have to plug in an earbud or headphone to our iPhones. Same as how I can't remember the last time I physically connected my iPhone to my car for audio playback (except by accident when charging in USB port) because I use Bluetooth audio.
If they do, then good for them. A wireless option would be, in my opinion, more elegant than the lightning earbuds on display in this news post.
While that may solve the problem of charging+listening, I think it poses a couple of additional problems. (1) the wireless headphones would be yet another device required to be charged every few hours of use - I would hate to get on the train in the morning having forgotten to charge my headphones the night before. (2) it would further limit those looking for a truly lossless, audiophile-grade solution to listening to music on their phones. (3) for those who wanted to use their better headphones with their iPhone 7s, they would have to buy a dongle for 19.99-29.99. A dongle means that listeners are saddled with another connection through which quality may be lost, an additional part that can fray or break, and an additional cost that they wouldn't have to incur otherwise.
No they are not legitimate parallels. That has been established in almost every single thread by competent and experienced IT and audio professionals and ignored by those who don't even use the jack.
I'd been looking at Jaybird for running. Hadn't gotten around to ordering a set, looks like now is the time. Thank you!
Arrogant move by an arrogant company. No headphone jack? Fine, no dollars. I will choose something else. That sexy Note 7 is tempting me...
Sir, you are confusing product diversification with standardization. Of course Bose (or anyone else) can release a product for a portion of the customer line. It's diversification; they would be crazy in not doing so. As of today if Apple kills the line, no big deal for Bose; yes they might take a loss, but it won't affect much.
Apple is trying to standardize, removing a standard widely used and harmless for another one, more expensive. Worse, they created that standard which means that if the headphone industry allows the market to be widely dependant on lighting then all the companies will depend on Apple. They won't allow it because it's not a disruptive technology.
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I wonder if they'll have a break off cable that has the line out and a lightning in like the ones 3rd parties made for the 30 pin connector. That seems like the best current solution for simultaneous charging and headphone use when they remove the headphone jack. I also wonder if they will make the Smart Connector a charging option.
I believe this was an actual selling feature of the first iPhone. Like I think there is actual footage of Steve Jobs saying (paraphrased) "our phone has a real 3.5mm headphone jack, not a proprietary jack."
The same can be said of 3.5mm. I rented a car that didn't have USB or BT and didn't have a 3.5mm male-to-male cable with me. The convenience store I stopped at didn't sell them either, but they did have lots of Lightning cables. So I was unable to use my iPhone to listen to music on that trip.
I actually believe that the adapter to use Lightning headphones on 3.5mm sources will be even simpler and cheaper than the the reverse. Especially since this would help promote upgrading to Lightning headphones. Apple currently has no analogue Lightning devices, intended to be connected to analogue sources. The exception to that would be Lightning headphones and speakers that would need to connect to older Mac and iOS equipment.
Now we know that Lightning is dynamically assignable, so my theory here is that the 3.5mm (male) to Lightning (female) adapter would simply consist of wires and a an identification chip that tells the headphones they are connected to an analogue source. In which case, the Lightning chip will bypass the DAC and route the incoming analogue signal directly to the headphones.
It makes so much more sense than building an adapter that converts an analogue signal (that may have already been converted from a digital source), to digital to get into the headphones, only to have the headphones convert the signal back into analogue. There are no specs providing for this at the moment, but then again, there are no devices that would need this functionality, since everything plugs into the iPhone which is itself only supplying digital signals.
While Lightning is technically capable of routing an analogue signal from the internal, I doubt Apple will allow this. If they were going to do it, they would have allowed it when they converted from 30-pin to Lightning, and created adapters. But they didn't. The only adapters Apple permits have built in DACs and ADCs.
Now let me see you charge your phone and listen to music 
Also, the fact that the 3.5mm headphone jack can swivel round with out losing connection was a nice advantage to the 3.5mm headphone jack, but this thing sticks out like a sore thumb and is bound to snap at the point where the lightning connector meets the phone.
Also, the fact that the 3.5mm headphone jack can swivel round with out losing connection was a nice advantage to the 3.5mm headphone jack, but this thing sticks out like a sore thumb and is bound to snap at the point where the lightning connector meets the phone.
I've seen this question multiple times. I wonder if they will include wireless charging also to compensate for this. Personally, the times I charge my phone while using headphones are few. So this would not affect me.
I hope you are right~! That would tip the scale for me to actually get this phone.
I'm looking forward to the iPhone 8 and it's new power delivery mecmecham... I give you, September 2017: "For years now, we've been constrained by the limitations of the antiquated power system. We've been using 50/60hz power for over a hundred years! This gigantic, inch wide plug has seen its day come and go. We think it's time to change that, and with the new iPhone 8, we've made our greenest innovation yet. The new iPhone Air. It doesn't have a battery or charging ports. It runs entirely off hot air! We think it's pretty exciting, and it's only at Apple.
We'll of course offer a power brick in our stores for customers who have made investments in legacy power systems, roughly the size of a classic Mac pro at a reasonable 149.99.
We think this is the future, and it's right here at Apple, today.
Moving on, Here at Apple, we've seen a huge rise in the popularity of emojis, so now we've made the emoji selector the default keyboard..."
We'll of course offer a power brick in our stores for customers who have made investments in legacy power systems, roughly the size of a classic Mac pro at a reasonable 149.99.
We think this is the future, and it's right here at Apple, today.
Moving on, Here at Apple, we've seen a huge rise in the popularity of emojis, so now we've made the emoji selector the default keyboard..."
Enter the lightning to 3.5mm adapter. It'll probably be the best selling adapter Apple has ever made, and of course, that's totally what they're hoping for.
I know I'll be buying one (unfortunately). And I'll probably have pick up a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter eventually too. Welcome to the future.
Yeah, but it was recessed slightly into the phone so that most headphones were incompatible. They reversed that retarded decision with the 3G.
It will kinda defeat the portability, flexibility and ease of use concept of a smartphone... oh well.
This probably means Apple won't give you a free adapter with the iPhone 7, I can't imagine that happening now that it's not necessary for the earpods. If that's the case, then about everyone will have to spend extra money on an adapter, which will probably cost way more than it should because Apple.
The adapter will also probably be more bulky than this connector in the video to fit both the headphone jack and the digital to analog converter, so really the cubic millimeter they shaved off the iPhone will now just sit, multiplied by 100, on whatever you plug into the phone, in a much more awkward place.
Might as well remove the battery, the screen, the antennas and the motherboard too, and sell those all separately. That would sure allow for a super thin iPhone.
The major selling point of the iPhone, initially, was that it had a full featured music player. What kind of "full featured" music player can't even play music without an adapter, sold separately? It's not like the world will transition away from the 3.5 mm jack towards the lightning port either, since the lightning port is proprietary and unnecessary for most audio applications. The vast majority of headphones will continue to use the 3.5 mm port. This isn't like USB-C where in 3 years everything will have adopted it. This is one of the rare successful standards that isn't subject to obsolescence, and Apple is screwing with it. Way to go!
The adapter will also probably be more bulky than this connector in the video to fit both the headphone jack and the digital to analog converter, so really the cubic millimeter they shaved off the iPhone will now just sit, multiplied by 100, on whatever you plug into the phone, in a much more awkward place.
Might as well remove the battery, the screen, the antennas and the motherboard too, and sell those all separately. That would sure allow for a super thin iPhone.
The major selling point of the iPhone, initially, was that it had a full featured music player. What kind of "full featured" music player can't even play music without an adapter, sold separately? It's not like the world will transition away from the 3.5 mm jack towards the lightning port either, since the lightning port is proprietary and unnecessary for most audio applications. The vast majority of headphones will continue to use the 3.5 mm port. This isn't like USB-C where in 3 years everything will have adopted it. This is one of the rare successful standards that isn't subject to obsolescence, and Apple is screwing with it. Way to go!
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You can't be serious. The comeback of vinyl is absolutely a niche phenomenon, fueled by hipsters and nostalgia. It will never reach critical mass again. It certainly does have a few benefits, but myriad drawbacks that will cement it's place in obscurity. Regardless, are you actually suggesting we should all still be on the vinyl standard? Didn't think so.
As far as the other stuff, get your facts straight. The one button mouse had nothing to do with "research", that was simply Steve Jobs' stubborness. And FireWire was THE standard for serious multi-media editors for over a decade. It helped change the course of movie history. And your Ping reference makes zero sense. It wasn't a new standard that anyone was forced to adapt. Just an idea that didn't work. It happens.
That makes sense, I don't know enough about the lightning spec so just made a (wrong) guess.