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Yes, you can. The most expensive audiophile headphones still have 3.5 mm jacks (or bigger), not to mention the MBP's jack has optical out. Who has lossless audio on an iPhone anyway? My lossless audio takes up over 300 GB of space. And what person who uses earbuds as their primary listening device cares about lossless audio?

I have lossless audio on my iPhone and other iOS devices. I actually don't use my iPhone very much for music listening, just have a small collection of my favorites just in case. I have another iOS device connected to my main home stereo, and another one that stays in my car. I'm not a crazy audiophile with high-end equipment, but I have the storage space on these devices, and I prefer to have a curated subset of music on these devices instead of my entire collection, so why not do lossless?

I don't care that much about the 1/8" audio port because my home/car iOS devices are connected via USB, and on the rare case where I listen on my iPhone, I'm fine with using the Lightning port or Bluetooth.

My wish: USB-C port
 
Quite annoying this jack removal thing. Apple must want iPhone sales to slide further I guess.
 
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Why use the lightning port for earphones? Honestly, stupid to remove the jack. You wear out that port, you are screwed. It's very easy to see someone break their port using headphones. If you break the 3.5 jack, you'd lose just the audio output. If you break the lightning connector, you'd no longer be able to charge your phone, etc.
 
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Over the past few weeks, images have claimed to show Apple's upcoming Lightning-enabled EarPods, but most were found to be fake as the design language of the headphones largely deviated from Apple's usual aesthetic, especially in regards to not having a thin, rectangular Lightning plug. Today, MobileFun posted a video of a working pair of Lightning EarPods, and the overall look of the accessory appears more in line with Apple's design than any of the previous leaks.

iphone-7-lightning-headphones.jpg

As is expected, the headphone part of the new EarPods is structured the same as the EarPods currently being sold by Apple, with a clean, white design, right and left markers on each earpiece, and in-line volume and play/pause controls. Interestingly, the in-line controls are placed farther down on the EarPods, directly below the right/left split in the cable design. If real, this would mark a design change from the current generation, which places the volume rocker along the right cable, above the bifurcation in the cord.

The most notable part is, of course, the long-rumored addition of the Lightning plug onto the EarPods, adapted to take advantage of the removal of the 3.5 mm headphone jack from the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The plug on the Lightning-enabled EarPods appears slightly bigger than Apple's traditional Lightning adapters thanks to the inclusion of a digital-to-analog converter needed for music playback and not just straightforward charging.


In the video, the EarPods are proven to be completely functional through the playing of a few songs as well as using the in-line controls to play, pause, and skip some tracks. MobileFun concluded to its viewers, "as you can see, these are fully working, they aren't just a mock-up of what you might receive," believing that the working headphones will be what Apple sells alongside the new generation of iPhone in September.

Multiple solutions for the removal of the 3.5 mm headphone jack have sprouted up over the past few weeks, with one of the most prevailing alternatives centering around a Lightning to 3.5 mm dongle that the company could potentially bundle into the box of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus to cushion the transition for customers. More recently, it was reported that Apple could be working on completely wireless "AirPods" as an option for iPhone users, allowing simultaneous iPhone charging and headphone music playback, which is one of the most commonly occurring grievances surrounding the loss of the 3.5 mm headphone jack.

Previous Coverage: Lightning Headphones: Are They Better or Just an Inconvenience?

Article Link: Fully Functional iPhone 7 Lightning EarPods Shown Off in New Video
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HOw long will it take the Chinese to start making these ear buds using an Apple Box? Going with the lightening cable is a solution to a non-existent problem....the standard cable we have been using is much more reliable than the Lightening Cable....."Hey, its not broken....so lets fix it!"
 
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I would definitely consider picking up some wireless Earpods in the $129-149 range, but they better have much better audio quality than the standard Earpods. My favorite in-ear headphones so far (without spending a ton) are the Sony XBA-CP10IP. I'd be willing to step up for wireless, similar or better audio quality to my Sonys, good battery life, integrate the battery life into the battery widget, sleek design, some kind of magnetic way to keep them together, and if they're lost then maybe the iPhone or AW could locate them by making them emit a loud beep.
 
Why use the lightning port for earphones? Honestly, stupid to remove the jack. You wear out that port, you are screwed. It's very easy to see someone break their port using headphones. If you break the 3.5 jack, you'd lose just the audio output. If you break the lightning connector, you'd no longer be able to charge your phone, etc.

That says more about the manufacturer quality than inconvenience. Because if one port stops functioning I would be equally pissed. Regardless of it's function.
 
I gladly turned my back on this greedy company after they eliminated the floppy drive on the iMac. And they absolutely lost me when they abandoned the opitical drive. Apple needs to understand how to make computers and gadgets that are useful to its users, but instead they give us locked-down bendable crap that is ugly and user hostile. They need to make computers that are fast and efficient so I can maximize my day.

If their motivation behind this latest stunt was to make more internal room in the next iPhone while making it thinner and to deliver a superior audio experience, then they really need to fire all of their product designers and start fresh. Preferably engineers who know what a real computer is and not some art school graduate who wants to "humanize" computers. No. That is not what we're asking for. We don't need stupid 3D Touch. We don't need stupid thinner and lighter phones. We don't need Lightning EarPods. What we need are things to stay the same, but better. What we need are heavier and thicker phones with enormous battery life, because I live on my phone for hours and hours at a time. What we need is a different Apple. An Apple that is more like Google.

No.
With this proposed design. You can't charge your phone and listen at the same time. You can't sync to a computer and listen at the same time. Wireless sync is terrible. Bluetooth headphones need batteries and require syncing. These are all added inconveniences and, to be honest, downgrades.
 
Once we are all wirelessly charging our phone it wont really matter if you care to use the port for audio and not get a bluetooth set of headphones/earbuds.

As others have said, lets be serious - no one should be using their iPhone for lossless audio unless you are connecting it to a serious DAC and quality headphones.
 
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Bad idea to remove the ubiquitous 3.5mm audio jack that works on laptops, desktops, automobiles, music players, mobile phones, even the in-seat audio connections on airlines.

Millions of people have spent good money on high quality headphones and earbuds that use the 3.5mm standard to be left out in the cold.

If Apple really does ditch the standard audio jack its going to go down as the biggest mistake the company made since the round puck mouse. There is literally no upside to this. I don't need my phone to be one more mm thinner. I need it to have a better battery. Its small enough as is (actually the screens are too big, 4.5" would have been better than 4.7"). *sigh*

Yes because a Multi-Billion Dollar Company haven't thought about it at all. I bet there's been no research into the effect replacing the audio jack will have and the advantages to gain.

Do you still play records and watch VHS?
 
EarPods are terrible in my opinion. They don't stay in, they're hard and uncomfortable, and audio quality is mediocre.

I do love Apple's in-ear headphones (the soft kind), but they haven't been updated in a while and they probably won't be. They're also too expensive to include with every iPhone.
 
Bluetooth headphones need batteries and require syncing. These are all added inconveniences

Yup. Heading out? Make sure your phone is charged. And make sure your headphones are charged. Going to be out long? Make sure you have your phone charger. And make sure you also have your headphone charging cable ...

"Wireless" devices only really mean wireless in short intervals. Otherwise you still have to carry wires around with you.
 
if this is true, and Apple does indeed get rid of the audio jack, then I foresee a wireless charging puck, a' la the Apple Watch. magnetic puck that sticks to the back and offers wireless charging. I for one never liked being corded to my phone, but if Def Tech comes out with a lightning adapter for the Symphony 1's, then ill maybe go back to it. If not, I will continue to use them in bluetooth mode along with my bluetooth exercise ear buds.
 
I can't wait to upgrade to a 6S. Because that's exactly what I'll do. I spent too much on high quality headphones for them to just take that away from me to make an already too thin phone even thinner. Stupid stupid stupid.
 
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I can't believe so many people (including Macrumors) have fallen for this bogus video. If these were real why did the video work so diligently at never showing the complete cord?

This is a 21st century version of the old cut rope magic trick.
 
Yes because a Multi-Billion Dollar Company haven't thought about it at all. I bet there's been no research into the effect replacing the audio jack will have and the advantages to gain.

I keep thinking about this too. I'm sure they have a reason for this, but it concerns me that I can't figure out what it is. The best I can think of is that wireless is the future... but I think that will fall flat as a reason if they're not willing to include wireless headphones with the iPhone 7. If they don't, it will clearly be for cost reasons, which will just highlight a problem with wireless headphones -- they're expensive.

Lightning headphones seem like a nonstarter for me if I can't use them with my Macbook also. I switch back and forth over the course of the day. Listening to podcasts on the iPhone on my way to work, then music on my MacBook at work.
 
When has Apple ever given us premium earbuds. What comes in the box now is the quality you will get with lightning almost assuredly. Margins margins margins
Do Android OEMs ship their phones with high quality headphones or wireless earbuds?
 
You know why the connector is so massive? It's because there's a DAC and an amp in there to convert the digital signal into an analog signal. You know, like the phone already does for the built-in speakers/microphone. You know, the one used for the 3.5mm jack.

Apple's phone sales were down last I heard. This won't help them go up again.
 
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