Fully Functional iPhone 7 Lightning EarPods Shown Off in New Video

[GoodWheaties]

Continuing your guitar analogy, then you see that band in concert and they're all wearing Shure body packs.

I have both wired and wireless headphones. My Bluetooth headphones are both quality products but yes I occasionally experience a click or pop, that's very rare. I'll replace my wired headphones with lightning cable equipped units, I accept that technology advances and I move with it but if I weren't willing (or able) I'd be comfortable with the adapter it will likely ship with.

I can understand the possible inconvenience of wanting to charge while listening but do you really never take your headphones off? The iPhone 6s is rated for 50 to 80 hours of audio playback (depending on whether you have the plus or not). In that time are you never going to sleep or go to the bathroom or go to work or shower or anything else that would have you remove your headphones and put the phone on a charger? Maybe if you use headphones for 10+ hour long movie marathons but even then that has to be an extreme use case. Eventually you can put the device down long enough to recharge without using your headphones.

If you are busy synching to iTunes you can also just play your music back from iTunes while you synch (it can do both, I do so frequently).

It's clear a lot of people have concerns about this move but I think we'll find reality doesn't have any significant impact for 99.9% of users (and that's probably being generous).

FYI regarding musician wireless packs, they do use radio frequencies but not Bluetooth. Shure just came out with their PGX-D digital wireless systems in the last few years. Basically it allows the system to disregard any analog signal which allows them to get a cleaner transmission. It also operates in the 900mhz range whereas Bluetooth operates in the crowded 2.4Ghz range.
Also, I think you underestimate the distaste some of us have for having another thing to charge. I would love it if I never had to charge my phone, and now I'm supposed to charge my headphones everyday too? Hairy no.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Anger will change nothing.

Condescending a bit? This is a forum. We're voicing our opinion and discussing with others. Which is the purpose of a forum.

 

[gregoryalee]

Yes. Makes no difference. Apple will do what it wants to do. Anger will change nothing.

Yep you are right about the first two.. anger or in my case frustration will reduce App$es sales by 3 iPhone's, and two computers over the next year. Small change. Unless there are many more like me.

 

[deany]

Not seen one argument for the loss of 3.5mm that stands water

 

[MacHiavelli]

Condescending a bit? This is a forum. We're voicing our opinion and discussing with others. Which is the purpose of a forum.

No.

As am I.

Just pointing out that the posts will change nothing, however forcibly expressed.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Not seen one argument for the loss of 3.5mm that stands water

Of course. It doesn't ADD anything, it just remove a hole - as I keep stating. All the other functions are already there.

 

[manu chao]

Ahh, the "Let them Eat Cake" line or reasoning. This isn't a never user floppy drive, nor a very infrequently used cd-rom drive, this is something used everyday by millions.

You forget that a large majority of those millions isn't wedded to the 3.5 mm plug but is simply using whatever wired headphones came bundled with their iPhone. They certainly would notice the difference but would not be affected much if forced to use bundled Lightning earphones (they would only be directly affected during charging).

 

[gregoryalee]

FYI regarding musician wireless packs, they do use radio frequencies but not Bluetooth. Shure just came out with their PGX-D digital wireless systems in the last few years. Basically it allows the system to disregard any analog signal which allows them to get a cleaner transmission. It also operates in the 900mhz range whereas Bluetooth operates in the crowded 2.4Ghz range.
.

Yep those wireless systems work very well. Did you notice the SIZE those are? Just the transmitters are about the same size the phone. The receivers are measured in half rack spaces. The iphone won't have low latency rates like those professional wireless systems have.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Just pointing out that the posts will change nothing

Has anyone in this 20 pages of discussion claimed such power?

 

[Count Blah]

Sure, Bluetooth will not appeal to everyone (even when putting its costs aside) but bundled Lightning earphones and optional adaptors won't require users of the next iPhone to use Bluetooth or re-buy costly higher-end Lightning headphones. You might consider the 3.5 mm plug to be vastly superior to Bluetooth but that gulf is clearly much smaller when you compare the 3.5 mm plug to bundled Lightning earphones (if you currently use the bundled ones) or consider the extra money and bulk of adding a Lightning to 3.5 mm adaptor.

If you switch to Android over a $20 adaptor, then switching to Android over a $150 surcharge (when getting the 128 GB iPhone vs getting a 128 GB micro-SD card for an Android phone) should have driven you over already a long time ago (and that is without taking into account even before looking at the storage issue, you could have gotten a fairly similar Android phone noticeably cheaper). Assume for a second that Apple had offered a micro-SD card slot in iPhones all along and then would remove it on the next model. Wouldn't that have been a similar (and financially even larger) move that should people turn off in regard to the iPhone? There are differences between these two 'features' but the biggest one is loosing something you had before vs never having something in the first place. The former registers much more heavily with most people.

It's not all about hardware. I said in an earlier post that I prefer OS X and iOS to the alternatives. But there is only so far one can be pushed towards the door by Apple. At some point, it's easier to simply walk out on your own.

The adapter is a big inconvenience that will cause me to change many routines. The crappy fraying of multiple lightening cables alone has me utterly disgusted with the thought of using this adapter multiple times a day. It's a crappy connector, prone to fray/failure. And THAT is the solution? Bahahahahahaha


I'm not convincing you and you are not convincing me. The only hope for people in my camp is for Apple to listen a little bit, and like the iPhone SE, throw us a bone here and there. The iPhone SE seems to be doing quite well, and it helped shut up all the apple fanbois who giggled with glee when apple moved away from the 4" phone factor initially. I'm seeing A LOT of the same smug, holier than thou, attitudes here as well.

 

[deany]

Of course. It doesn't ADD anything, it just remove a hole - as I keep stating. All the other functions are already there.

not sure are your for or against losing 3.5?

 

[dyt1983]

Please explain to Samsung that they actually need to eliminate the 3.5mm headphone jack to waterproof their phones. They seem not to be on your wavelength.

What magical technology is in a Lightning jack that makes it more waterproof than a 3.5mm jack? None. Design the 3.5mm jack to be waterproof, no problem. I have a Sony phone with such a thing that has no problems being used in the pool, hot tub, shower, or bath, for more than a year.

Do most of you think that a Lightning jack is more water resistant than a 3.5mm jack just because someone mused that in the past? There's no basis in reality for that. If you make a Lightning jack with a hole in the end, the water will leak through. Just like a 3.5mm jack with a hole in the end. Plug the hole, as the French say, et voilà!

 

[Souponastick270]

Apple removed the 3.5 inch floppy disk. They're doomed!
Apple removed the CD/DVD drive. They're doomed!

1) Floppy disks were superseded by CDs on multiple grounds such storage, durability and CDs became the standard format at the time for music, videos, software, games and used by every manufacture and content provider.

2) Apple removed the CD drive at the point when physical music purchasing was declining, and when a physical 'hard' copy of something wasn't needed as it could just be downloaded or streamed over the internet. Again, CDs were superseded by the internet. This is something that has become the norm to most people.

But to remover the headphone jack just so that you can push some cheap nasty earbud headphones that literally won't work on any other product in the the world apart from one with a lightning connector is just plain stupid. Lightning is not an industry standard like the headphone jack, USB, USB-C, micro USB, or like CDs or Floppy disks WERE. If you want high quality sound you can already use the lightning connector to do so.

To me, Lightning and Thunderbolt the new FireWire and they too shall die a death.

 

[MacHiavelli]

Yep you are right about the first two.. anger or in my case frustration will reduce App$es sales by 3 iPhone's, and two computers over the next year. Small change. Unless there are many more like me.

Although this is just a rumour. Presume you will make your mind up when the next iPhone is released. You might even be happy with the tech, design, and functionality.

Personally, I doubt many people will ditch their iPhones over a headphone jack. But I might be wrong.

 

[yaxomoxay]

You forget that a large majority of those millions isn't wedded to the 3.5 mm plug but is simply using whatever wired headphones came bundled with their iPhone. They certainly would notice the difference but would not be affected much if forced to use bundled Lightning earphones (they would only be directly affected during charging).

It depends. If they own a laptop, or some other device without a Lighting they're going to be very unhappy.

 

[manu chao]

Not seen one argument for the loss of 3.5mm that stands water

Do the arguments against a micro-SD card slot stand any water with you? It's something most (I think) phones have but that Apple had omitted since the first iPhone.

 

[SSDGUY]

I've been firmly on the fence about everything we've heard about the iPhone 7. As a musician, I place a fairly high priority on being unencumbered in listening to material on my phone. It is looking like it's increasingly likely that the use of the lightning port for headphones will not be mated to a method of charging by some other non-lightning means.

That's simply infuriating to me. And - get this - it's actually a deal breaker. I know, so many talk the talk about abandoning the iPhone, but I am willing to walk the walk. I will wait until the iPhone 7's official announcement before finalizing my decision, but since my contract's expiring this fall, I'm fully anticipating purchasing a Nexus device instead of a new iPhone. Further, the 6P is $0 from my phone provider; I'll save a couple of hundred bucks in the process.

In no way does the inconvenience of migrating some of my iCloud information to Google's cloud suite outweigh the inconvenience of not having the 3.5mm headphone jack on my phone.

Shame on you, Apple! While you may think the elimination of the 3.5mm jack is innovation or progress, I only see a reversion to the pre-smartphone era of awful proprietary earbuds bundled with flip phones. Except you could charge and listen simultaneously with those.

I'm with ya. I use my phone to port audio to all sorts of other devices and the mini jack is everywhere and works great. Plus it's durable, unlike the lighting connectors I've used. It's hard for me to see the upside. Thinner? Who cares. A few minutes more battery life? Meh. This move makes the iPhone useless in many situations unless you want to purchase and pack around a special dongle or a lighting-to-mini jack cable … no thank you.

 

[yaxomoxay]

not sure are your for or against losing 3.5?

Against. The 3.5" should remain.

 

[gregoryalee]

Although this is just a rumour. Presume you will make your mind up when the next iPhone is released. You might even be happy with the tech, design, and functionality.
But I might be wrong.

Ok I can agree with you on the points I left in lol.

 

[otternonsense]

So often we see naysayers scoff at Apple when they make it their responsibility to break with the past and move forward to newer technology only for competitors to copy Apple's moves shortly afterwards. Then those same naysayers all quietly fade from the limelight because they reluctantly accept that Apple were actually right! I believe this will be another example of that phenomenon.

What the naysayers usually fail to realise is that it's not about this one product decision, it's about all the future decisions, many of which Apple will already have made, that the removal of the 3.5mm socket enables. They may choose to share some of that thinking when (if) they announce the removal of the socket as expected. Perhaps we should all just calm down and wait until that time.

Personally I think it's a great idea to get rid of the 3.5mm socket because I never actually use it. I keep my earbuds in my bag but far prefer my Backbeat Fit bluetooth earphones. I would be delighted if Apple actually stopped shipping earbuds with the iPhone and just reduced the price of the phone so I can spend my money on whatever suits my needs. I think that's unlikely though because the white earbuds remain iconic and reinforce the Apple branding.

In any event, let's just wait for the official announcement before we all decide if the sky is truly falling or not...

I like how you digress to theatrics like "breaking with the past, naysayers fading from the limelight" etc just to point out YOU won't miss the 3,5" jack because YOU don't use it. I suppose the deaf won't miss it either, though they aren't exactly the key demographic. Maybe blind people are, since the overall 7 design is a bollocks iteration of the 6/6S, but that's another matter entirely.

Personally I'm going to miss it lots. I always listen to music on the go while charging from a powerbank. I got a sweet pair of high end in-ears I would rather use over the stock pods. And I care about backwards compatibility, say, to be able to stick my Apple earphones to the 3,5" jack of my MacBook to make a Skype call. But you don't need that anyway, so noone else should either, right?

Just look at the pods themselves. Same pair with a lightning port. There is a key difference between removing the 3,5" from an otherwise unchanging product, and building a whole new product without it. With the available information we have so far, Apple seems to have done the first. Hardly an industry-defining move.

 

[lordofthereef]

L

You forget that a large majority of those millions isn't wedded to the 3.5 mm plug but is simply using whatever wired headphones came bundled with their iPhone. They certainly would notice the difference but would not be affected much if forced to use bundled Lightning earphones (they would only be directly affected during charging).

I'm unsure there's really any way to say what percentage of users stick with what came packaged with the phone, regardless of who's narrative it better supports.

 

[hagar]

people are probably right defending Apple that it's a step forward to abandon an old technology for something new (like removing the Superdrive) . But... In this case they are replacing it with a proprietary solution. I can connect my old headphones to any audio device in the world. My new Lightning headphones will only work on the iPhone 7. Not even on my Mac.

Headphone companies will have to create multiple versions of their products: Lighning, analogue and whatever Samsung and the rest of the industry will adopt. Not good for the customer, more confusion, less choice and higher prices. In the end, it's just another lock-in into the Apple ecosystem as no other audio device will ever adopt the Lightning port.

By the way: if you wondered why no new Apple laptops were released yet, here's your answer. They will also include a lightning port but Apple cannot announce them before the iPhone 7 comes out.

 

[5105973]

People were mad at a lack of cd drive in the macbook pro, but guess what? It still sells. The App store is the new norm, even on windows pc's. 3.5mm is outdated. We are moving to a wireless world. Everyone wants wireless charging now, and wireless bluetooth speakers. Your precious 3.5mm headset manufacturer will make a superior bluetooth/lightning version of your headset with better quality, more features, a lighter design, without pesky cords getting in the way. Guess what? You'll buy them and forget 3,5mm even existed telling all your friends they need to move on. Innovation is taking over. **** or get off the pot.

"Everyone" actually seems to be complaining about Apple's latest decision on 3.5. Of course that's hyperbole as some are fine with it. Just as your statement that everyone is on board with being herded like sheep to a wireless utopia is hyperbole.

There are actually still people using optical drives and optical media. They are people like my friends in Vermont who don't have great reliable high speed internet. There are still people using wired peripherals and accessories. It's only in the Apple bubble where apparently everyone has money to endlessly upgrade and lives with perfect high speed internet connections that people have seemed fine with having their options and choices stripped away one by one with every new model computer, smart phone, tablet.

Happy Stepford People happily making do with one less component you could inexpensively repair or upgrade on your own. People happily making do with one less switch that was convenient, one less port that let you connect to your secured work network without a dongle. One less drive that let you load data locally. Every year it's more and more dependence on Skynet...um, I mean the Cloud.

I choose the device that will maximize my options at any given moment in time. I don't need Apple or any other manufacturer dictating my choices to me.

Offer me an option and demonstrate why it is compelling in its own right and I'll use it.

And how is a lightning version of a headset wireless? It's another wired device but it will work only with iPhone. Lightning is not a ubiquitous standard and I doubt it ever will be. So I'll have these wireless lightning earbuds I won't be able to use with anything else unless I get a hokey dongle.

 

[manu chao]

The adapter is a big inconvenience that will cause me to change many routines. The crappy fraying of multiple lightening cables alone has me utterly disgusted with the thought of using this adapter multiple times a day. It's a crappy connector, prone to fray/failure. And THAT is the solution? Bahahahahahaha

Since my first iPod in 2003, I have frayed exactly one 30-pin/Lightning cable (and even that only visibly, it still works fine). During that time, I have probably frayed about a dozen headphone cables, including third-party ones.

 

[ENduro]

The Lightning connector is one of the most robust connectors I've ever used. In contrast, Ive had a lot of 3.5mm jacks and plugs fail over the years.

Wow. The most robust connectors is one of the most laughable lines of text I've read all week. Thanks for that. I guess lightning connectors never fray within the first couple months of use. And they are as water resistant as 3.5mm. The big selling point of the lightning connector was it's thin profile and the fact it could be used either way. Well, I've never met anyone who didn't work for Apple that was excited about a thinner connector and you can use a 3.5mm jack in 360 degrees.

I wish my company had suckers, I mean customers like you.