Fully Functional iPhone 7 Lightning EarPods Shown Off in New Video

[ENduro]

REVOLUTIONARY! It's like the old headphones only with a more expensive connector.. that jets out further... and costs more... and will break easily... and only works with other Apple products (but not their laptops, Desktops or AppleTV)!

GAME CHANGED. For the worse.

 

[NOV]

I don't understand the value in this. You still need a DAC either inside the phone through a minijack, or inline after the digital lighting out.
Or am I misunderstanding that Apple will place analog signals somewhere in the Lightning connector based on accessory type?

The convenience is that you free up the phone with some space that now is reserved for the headphone plug. The lightning cable has no role in the DAC process, DAC still needs to be in the phone because of regular phone conversations or putting sound on the internal speaker system.

 

[zubikov]

"Incredible"? "Benefits"?

The person in the video is a mindless pawn.

 

[yaxomoxay]

You would agree that reading people's complain about removed floppy disc would be laughable, wouldn't you? You may say the time is not right?

The floppy disk is a whole different story. Doesn't compare, except to the fact that they are both removed.

 

[Precision Gem]

I personally love the idea, and image in a few weeks following the release of the iPhone 7, Bose and other companies making headphones will release headphones with a lightening connector.
I see the benefits outweighing the negatives here, and by next year this will be considered the norm.

 

[sidewinder3000]

I won't be left out in the cold. It appears that Samsung and Microsoft want my money (PCs with more than one port and the Note 7).

Samsung (and shortsighted consumers) will will mock Apple for the next year, then remove the audio jack in their 2017 model or 2018 model. Guaranteed. Just like they mocked Apple for not having a removable battery, then removed the removable battery. They're a tasteless, gutless behemoth.

If you want to abandon the best designed, smartest, most innovative phone and ecosystem on the planet for a "me too" product that will pretend to have fidelity for legacy technology until it's unfashionable (and then drop it like it's hot) then by all means, get going.

 

[LordQ]

Good, wireless technology is the future. The less ports and hardware buttons, the better.

Adapt or die I guess.

 

[odds]

These look super FAKE to me. Current EarPods don't have the volume controls connected to BOTH left and right wires, only the right! F-A-K-E.

 

[deany]

The "7" will come with a FREE lightning to 3.5mm adapter in the box to keep the 10% who use their own earphones happy. Plus of course the important android migrators.
Also in the box will be a set of quick charge bluetooth earbuds (like the apple pencil) again FREE.
The only difference would be be if apple included a FREE wireless pod - this I think is very unlikely - until June 2017.
You have to think of folk who want to listen to music but have
a flat or low battery iPhone.
just my two pence / two cents.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Bose and other companies making headphones will release headphones with a lightening connector.

Do you really think that Bose will bend over to Apple's technology for such a common item in a way that an iOS update could render a normal BOSE item worthless? Won't happen.

 

[mtbgtr]

Wrong.
You obviously know nothing about digital vs. analog, lossless audio, 24-bit audio, etc.

YOU keep thinking that your $400 pair of analog headphones weren't a scam.

By your ignorant response I can clearly see I am light years ahead of you in knowledge of this subject. Respond if you like but I don't argue with village idiots cheers

 

[whiteonline]

The convenience is that you free up the phone with some space that now is reserved for the headphone plug. The lightning cable has no role in the DAC process, DAC still needs to be in the phone because of regular phone conversations or putting sound on the internal speaker system.

But you still need an analog signal to the headphone speakers. If plugged into the lightning port, where does this signal come from?

 

[yaxomoxay]

Good, wireless technology is the future. The less ports and hardware buttons, the better.

Adapt or die I guess.

So instead of focusing on the useful part (home button + huge bezels) they focused on the only hw piece that never hurt anyone and is probably the only worldwide accepted standard? yeah, smart move.

 

[jujufreeze]

I personally love the idea, and image in a few weeks following the release of the iPhone 7, Bose and other companies making headphones will release headphones with a lightening connector.
I see the benefits outweighing the negatives here, and by next year this will be considered the norm.

Name 1 benefit.

 

[aliensporebomb]

The biggest problem is those apple earbuds are harshly painful to my earholes. I've got other headphones with bluetooth connectivity that I sometimes use but I also have a high end set of earbuds with the 3.5" mm jack.

Thinking. Apple will have thought this through - my prediction: some kind of dongle for wired headphones, a new type of bluetooth for wireless and they probably have some kind of wireless charging setup devised no doubt.

Maybe.

 

[Frosties]

Breaking news, dead phone after headphone contact broke single port makes terrible vacation with children not able to play Pokémon go.

 

[Mac 128]

i would have thought they'd have chosen to include the bulk of the A-D converter in the volume control fob.

I would think the same thing. I seriously doubt these are legitimate.

Too lazy to read the whole thread, so please forgive me if this has been speculated previously, but doesn't the DAC now have to reside somewhere in the headphones themselves? Likely in the volume control pod? If so, then of course said pod would have to be located prior to both ear buds.

No, the DAC & amp could easily be in the right earbud and wire run around to the Left earbud. They don't have to be at a central point. Note that there are a number of well reviewed separate bluetooth earbuds, both of which have a DAC & amp, as well as radios and a battery.

Unless that adapter also has a charge port, it's an issue.

There will likely be any number of cheap headphones of this type with fixed Lightning cables, meant to be used for phone calls, and brief listening periods, not these all day marathons that some people claim to be doing on these forums. Apple doesn't need to cater to them. If someone has an extraordinary need, they will simply buy what they need. And yes, Apple has most likely thought this through and there will be headphones that have a simple passthrough built right into the connector. There will be adapters with and without passthroughs. And there will be many, many other ways to charge and listen at the same time. This is a non-issue, or at the most -- the very least of the problems associated with this move.

I know that the entire forum is waiting on my opinion, but if this is the case I will be skipping this.

I am a heavy user of the earbuds, both apple and non apple. I am not really interested in great quality but I want availability and low prices for music. I use Apple's earbuds, my kids use their stuff on my phone when needed, I leave them around etc.
Last week I forgot my earbuds at home, and I want to listen to radio shows or even some music during the day. Choice: don't listen to anything or buy $4 earbuds so that I can listen to SOMETHING, although not at a great price. I got the $4 earbuds, you know they're compatible. This would've been IMPOSSIBLE with the (alleged) iPhone 7. Nope, I can't.

And removing the jack is far more different than removing the floppy drive.

You don't know that there won't be cheap Lightning earbuds available at your local convenience store, especially if you don't care about quality. You might have to pay $5 for a set of cheap Chinese counterfeit Lightning earbuds instead of $4, but they will still be available. This is another non-issue, or at least minimal.

 

[jmgregory1]

Vinyl shipped 17MM units in 2015 vs over 2BB digital downloads. That's not touching on streaming or on non-vinyl legacy physical purchases. There will always be audiophiles who go to niche products and technologies to squeeze out a marginal return in their listening experience. More power to them, they have passion and enjoy it, that's great. They represent a small fraction of a percent of the total audience though and we'll fine that outside of enthusiast circles (such as ourselves) the world will use the lightning earbuds, their existing bluetooth devices, buy new, or be satisfied with the adapter. There won't be a massive uprising in the streets or a huge exodus from Apple over this, we will move on.

I agree completely. I certainly don't understand how some people are so doom and gloom on change. Change is going to happen and keep happening, be it headphone connectors or file types, wifi connectivity. Funny how just a few years ago people were roasting Apple for not including Flash capability on iOS devices and yet it's really not an issue anymore - because people moved on and technologies changed.

 

[DotCom2]

You know we are all just going to get over it in a year or two.
Just like we did with the lightening connecter in the first place!

 

[leroypants]

You get no better quality but you keep thinking that.

That's the power of Apple, they can convince people that things are magically better if it has an Apple logo on it even if facts prove them wrong.

 

[ineedamac]

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.

What if Apple provides wireless headphones with the iPhone 7?

 

[sidewinder3000]

The floppy disk is a whole different story. Doesn't compare, except to the fact that they are both removed.

Please explain, in detail, how the floppy disk is "a whole different story". I don't believe you, or anyone, can make that case. I lived through it and that change was actually way more painful than this blip on the radar will be.

 

[Sasparilla]

Looking at that picture, there's going to be alot of snapped off lightning connectors in the bottoms of iPhone 7's - it looks much weaker compared to an audio jack (bending them front to back) - especially if it has that "handle" on the audio connector sticking out like that.

Still planning on upgrading, but would rather they had kept the old jack in place - I haven't wanted "thinner" for several generations now, give me more capabilities instead (including an audio jack).

 

[BvizioN]

The floppy disk is a whole different story. Doesn't compare, except to the fact that they are both removed.

Yeah yeah yeah, I know. Is a totally different story now that it is obvious it was the right move. I bet it wasn't different story then. It's a topical thing, people hate changes, particularly on stuff that they pay money and expect to remain unchanged for a lifetime. I still remember crys about the 30pin connector, like the whole world had ended!!

 

[yaxomoxay]

You don't know that there won't be cheap Lightning earbuds available at your local convenience store, especially if you don't care about quality. You might have to pay $5 for a set of cheap Chinese counterfeit Lightning earbuds instead of $4, but they will still be available. This is another non-issue, or at least minimal.

Do you honestly think that the entire industry will move to lightning before Apple says so?